Geniza Lab

Fragment from the beginning of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic, mentioning that the addressee recovered (naqahtu) from an illness. Also mentions Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm [al-Q?]ābisī.

Fragment of a bifolium from a ledger, it seems containing copies of late, Judaeo-Arabic letters. Or perhaps a formulary?

This letter concerns a transaction in wheat (possibly one irdabb) and involving among others a haver ('member of the yeshiva'). If al-shaykh Yeshu'a (lines 3-4) is the same person as al-melammed ('the teacher', line 1), he may be identified as one of two persons attested in Geniza documents by the name Yeshu'a ha-melammed b. Avraham, who lived in the middle of the 12th and the early 13th centuries respectively; see Goitein, Med.Soc., vol. 2, p. 544 note 8. The verso contains fragmentary with (mostly illegible) writing in Arabic.

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Moshe (b.?) Avraham Bibas to Yaʿaqov Bibas and his partner Shomal (Shemuel?) Azulay, dated 3 September 1818 (2 Elul 5578). There are accounts underneath.

Very faded document in Hebrew, likely a letter.

Letter from Ezra Shelomo Bekhor(?). Sent to Fustat/Cairo. In Hebrew. Dated: Rahamim of 5572 AM, which is 1812 CE.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. In the hand of Yefet b. Menashshe. Mentions a dukkān and [Abū] l-Surūr.

Letter/petition appealing for charity or other assistance. Fragment (upper left corner). In Judaeo-Arabic. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Written on behalf of al-Maghribī al-Shaʿʿāb and addressed to two judges. None of the substance of the request is preserved.

Business letter from Abū l-Khayr(?) Yeshuʿa b. [...] to Abū Ibrāhīm ʿAyyāsh b. Ṣadaqa. Dating: 11th century. Very well preserved; needs further examination.

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Addressed to Abū Zikrī b. Yosef ha-Kohen the descendant of Yehosef ha-Kohen Bet Din. Mentions a suftaja; 30 dinars; possibly gems (jawāhir); how the addressee shouldn't blame the sender for blaming him; something arriving from Almeria; lac selling there for 20 [...]; a leader or captain (qāʾid); the ship of Ibn Ghattūsh returning to Alexandria. The back was reused for some additional jottings including the name Sulaymān/Shelomo Kohen.

Letter fragment in Hebrew. Late. The names Avraham and Nissim appear.

Correspondence of Moshe Gaster. There is a set of learned queries from Israel Isbitsky, 23 Lucas St, Commercial Rd, dated 1908 CE. There is a letter of appeal for charity from Meir b. Shelomo ("you have not answered me by letter or by telephone"). And there is sheet with the Amharic alphabet, and on verso, 'Son of Theodosius: Gebro(?) christas mother merkeza." MCD. ASE.

Letter draft in Italian on a bifolium which may have constituted a broader notebook. A date may appear on the right page of the recto but is too faded to be legible. The fragment is business-related given the weadspread discussion of quantities and the author's mention of "facendo informa di pagamento / giving notice of payment" (l. 7r). On the verso there is an intricate table and numerical calculations that involve a variety of ratios. MCD.

Letter in Ladino.

Short note to Saʿadya ha-Dayyan in Judaeo-Arabic. In the hand of Avraham Maimonides? Reporting that a certain affair was concluded successfully.

Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Very faded. Dating: Maybe ca. 1100, if the "Sar ha-Sarim" mentioned is the Nagid Mevorakh. Also refers to Ibn al-Jabīna(?), al-shaykh al-jalīl Bū l-Khayr Andūna, the late Mārūt(?) b. Yūnus, and the rains.

Beginning of a late Judaeo-Arabic business letter (abandoned after 6 lines), listing a number of goods the writer has to sent to his "brother."

Business letter that mentions men named Hasday and Ahmad, concerning shipments of cotton. The verso contains seemingly unrelated jottings in Arabic script.

Letter addressed to the physician (rofeʾ) Moshe b. Ṣadoq ha-Dayyan ha-Kohen. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script. The paper is darkened and the text is faded (damage from a book binding?). The addressee is given grand titles such as משה הרב המובהק הפטיש החזק דגל הרבנים. His two sons are blessed. After a very deferential introduction, the sender expresses his deep regret (al-nīrān wa-l-nadāma) for having neglected something. About two-thirds of the way down the front page, there is a small gap, and the sender turns to addressing a woman (plausibly his sister and the wife of the addressee; she is not his own wife, since he refers to her husband further down). He continues addressing the woman for the remainder of the letter. The next section is too damaged to read. The phrase "to Nāblus" appears at the bottom of the page. The sender then begins reporting on his pilgrimage to the graves of biblical saints in Palestine. He mentions Kafr Ḥāris and ʿAwarta and the tombs of al-Sayyid Elʿazar, Itamar, and Pinḥas; and apparently another village with the tombs of al-Sayyid Yehoshuaʿ, his father Nūn, and of Kalev b. Yefune. There are further descriptions of other places and sites he visited with his companions (including the tomb of Joseph in Bal[āṭa]), but the paper is torn and the names are mostly missing. He adds, "I have only told you these things because you sent a letter blaming me..." On verso, he refers to "[...] your staying there, other than your husband." May refer to her having ophthalmia (wa-antī ramida, v8). A few lines further down, "I have no silver and I cannot find anyone... Your cousin (ibn ʿammik)... Do not cut your (letters off from me)...." Note that the first fragment under this shelfmark is unrelated. The letter requires further examination, ideally with multispectral imaging.

Recto: Two late letters (or two versions of the same letter?), one in Arabic and one in Judaeo-Arabic. Needs further examination. Verso: Accounts.