Geniza Lab

Primary text: Letter from Maʿānī, in an unknown location, to his brother Mūsā, in Fustat. The letter is in Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic: to [Sūq] al-ʿAṭṭārīn, to Ibn al-Amshāṭī, to be given to [...] al-Ḥazzān, to be given to his son Mūsā. "By the milk with which we were nursed and by the womb that bore us. . . do not let your father cut me off because of what I said to him. You yourself should buy the paper from him. . . the copyist. . . exert (tajdahid = tajtahid) yourself for me." The letter ends here. Secondary text: There is a grid in red ink on verso, filled with Arabic, Judaeo-Arabic, and Hebrew. ASE.

Document in Arabic script. Appears to be a letter.

Letter signed by Yosef b. Avraham, Aharon b. Yo[..], [Yiẓḥa]q b. Aharon, and a fourth man. The content is not entirely clear. Mentions an Abū Saʿīd, a shaliaḥ, and uses the verb قشع for "see." Probably 14th century at the earliest. Goitein's attached notes do not correspond to this precise shelfmark but to multiple binders (labeled according to their Gaster shelfmarks) including BL OR10578A [alt: 1342], BL OR10578C [alt: 1344], BL OR10578E [alt: 1346], BL OR10578H [alt: 1349], and others. ASE.

Informal note. Possibly in the hand of the clerk of Yehoshua Maimonides. An order for various food items and materia medica, with the amounts listed, following a note urging the recipient to to take care of the matter and saying that the remainder of the silver will be paid. ASE.

Recto: Letter from Bū Manṣūr b. Abī Saʿd to Abū Isḥāq al-Talmid al-Muʿallim. In Judaeo-Arabic. Conveying good wishes for the high holidays. The content of the letter is mostly cut off, but mentions that something is in the keeping of R. Ezra. ASE

Fragment of a Judaeo-Arabic letter with 3mm characters and 3.5cm space between lines and upward-slanting lines (Goitein: "I have hardly seen anything like this").

Informal note in Judaeo-Arabic. "The shaykh Sibāʿ will give to the messenger a ratl of good-quality oil, none other."

Letter to Damsīs. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentioning the mother of the recipient... something to be purchased for the writer... capitation tax payments... receipts... [ei]ght dirhams and a hundred eggs (?).

Opening of a letter from [...] b. al-'Ajami to higher-ranked person, with several lines of Hebrew blessings, several lines of formulaic Judaeo-Arabic, then it is cut off.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1764 CE. Mentions numerous names: Yaḥyā b. Hādī, ʿAlī and his brother Ṣāliḥ, ʿAlī Ḥusayn, ʿAzīz b. Sinān, Yūsuf al-ʿAzīzī, Manṣūr b. Avraham, Mūsā al-Ḥajabī, and ʿAlī Ḥusayn al-Ashwal. It is cold in the village, and everyone is sick, and the writer requests a delivery of some kind. There is also a report on conditions in the 'upper village.'

Document in Arabic script, perhaps a trade letter/document. Mentions sending something, probably a letter and milk "ḥalība maḥmūla", in the companionship (suḥba) of someone and some greetings. Verso has two diagonal lines in Arabic, probably remnants of an address.

Letter of appeal to (the Gaon?) Netanel ha-Levi from a person newly arrived in Fustat requesting some food by way of charity.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, perhaps addressed to Eliyyahu the Judge. The writer worries about various family members: a woman whose brothers refuse to support her (r1-5); the niece (?) of the recipient and her daughter (r5-6). Mentions sending to Fakhr things that belong to her (r8). The writer has sent various garments with Suwayd (r13-14). Mentions the troubles of al-Rayyis al-Ḥakīm Abū Zikrī and that he is unable to send his children even 5 dirhams. "Have patience with Abū Zikrī, for he is your only remaining son, and do not do anything to him except what he deserves" (r14-v1). Sitt al-Khayr is preoccupied on behalf of the recipient (v2); Nissim sends his regards (v3); al-Shaykh Hiba sends his regards (v7). The remainder of verso is somewhat difficult to understand. See also Goitein's notes attached to BL OR 10578C.1 (PGPID 6310), where this document is mislabeled as Gaster 1357.8 (rather than 10). ASE.

Recto: page 7 of a literary composition on parashot petuḥot and setumot. Verso: Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Draft? The recipient's son Efrayim is living with the writer, who seems to be responsible for his education. The writer describes how greatly they miss the recipient and then provides a detailed, interesting update of their prayer and study schedule on Shabbat. On Friday night they read the parashah (qera ve-targum) and the haftarah, then study some of the Guide for the Perplexed ('the Dallāla), then sleep until midnight. From midnight until dawn, Efrayim reads psalms. In the morning, they recite the 'shir', the mizmors, the amida, the parasha (kera ve-targum), the prophets, and the psalms. Then they read some of "the Ḥibur" or the Halakhot, then pray Minḥa, then they study Kitab al-Amānāt by Saadya Gaon. The rest is cut off.

Letter fragment (lower left corner) in Judaeo-Arabic. In the hand of Yefet b. Menashshe. Mentioning business dealings ("pay him five dirhams... sell the indigo and buy with its price...") but mainly preserving the closing greetings.

Letter of an unknown welfare official reporting to a superior. He alludes to the plight of an orphan girl (1-6). He asks the recipient to investigate the matter of the physician Makārim who has left his wife an agunah; she has been beseeching the writer to write on her behalf (6-13). The rest of the letter has to do with granular details of houses, portions of houses, rents, payments, and interest. Names mentioned include Ibn Zikri, Ibn Rabi', Abu Sharif, R. Shabbetay, and the Kohen from Rhodes. A denomination of currency (?) called אפרנתי is mentioned twice. ASE.

Long letter in Hebrew, probably first half of the 11th century. Very damaged. Mentions the Mount of Olives and "this woman." The name Shemarya b. Moshe (?) appears at the end. Addressed in Arabic script to Abu Kathir Efrayim (possibly Efrayim b. Shemaryah).

Letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions al-Shaykh al-ʿAfīf Manṣūr and a qumāsh and various commodities.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, with interspersed Arabic script (header, footer, and sliding blessings). Eloquent and formal style, possibly copied from or for a literary source. Seems to mostly be expressing love for the a third person and sadness at his failure to fully reciprocate. Mentions Abū Isḥāq the cantor and Abū Kathīr. "When his late mother died, may her Creator have mercy upon her, I went to his house and consoled him and met his need as far as I was able to with speech. He showed me signs of love, and my limbs bore witness to him with many times the same. They (=my limbs) prayed for him and my soul thanked him, without any imposition (? takalluf) imposed on him or imposed on me from money or honor.... rather, that love for him remained in my heart like.... until the day of Shavuʿot... the soul praised her Creator and prayed to Him from its blackness(?), and my love and affection for him became like the trees whose [...] more than one branch (or root?), and no matter how the wind blows... it does not budge from its place... and it continued like this until he showed me aversion (jafā) from his soul... without any crime that I committed...." Join: Alan Elbaum. Needs further examination.

Letter in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Addressed to a dignitary with two sons named Mevorakh b. Yehuda, and also mentions two judges. The first four lines of verso seem to be praises for the power and honor of the addressee. Then there are cryptic references to "whoever opposes" someone."