Geniza Lab

Tiny fragment from the end of a Hebrew letter.

Tiny fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic, mentioning al-Talmid and Ḥalfon ha-Sar. Verso has some text in Arabic, perhaps accounts.

Letter draft or formulary in Judeo-Arabic that makes use of the common Hebrew abbreviation "אחדש׳׳ו" which appears at the opening of many early modern letters. Based on the paleography the dating can be estimated as 18th/19th-century. Because the passage is brief, it only mentions the common formula in which letter writers would initially discuss their most recent correspondence to each other. On both the recto and verso, there are calculations in eastern Arabic numerals which at times appear to be pen trials.

Recto: Letter from David b. Naʿim to Meir b. Naʿim. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 18 Elul 5580, which is 1820 CE. On verso there is a calendar for the year 5584 AM, which is 1823/24 CE.

Draft of the opening lines of a letter to the Nagid. Dating: Probably late 12th or early 13th century. The title al-Shaykh al-Makīn appears beneath. On verso there is a blessing for the holiday of Shavuʿot.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Wide space between the lines. Extremely faded.

Letter in Ladino dated Kislev 1719 CE (5480). The address is in both Hebrew and Latin characters: "Al Se[nyor] Alpalas y Sahalon, Cairro." See "Alpalas y Sahalon" tag for more documents from the same group.

Possibly a letter; late, in Hebrew.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic to Yaʿaqov Yuʿbaṣ, dated 3 June 1825 (17 Sivan 5585), with additional writing on verso.

Two copies of a late Hebrew letter (?).

Letter from Avraham ha-Levi, in Damietta (קפוטקיא), to Karo y Frances & Company, in Cairo/Fustat. Mainly in Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Tuesday, 25 Ḥeshvan 5569 AM, which is 1808 CE. Mentions people such as ʿUmar Serada(?), Ḥasan Abū l-Faḍl, Aḥmad Shaltūt, Yisrael ha-Levi, Saʿd Pinto, Avraham ha-Levi Skandari, and Avraham Maymūn. Also mentions 4 French ships.

Recto: Part of a Judaeo-Arabic letter, one of the few in this folder from the classical Genizah period. All that remains is a formulaic, very respectful opening, and good wishes for the holidays. Verso: piyyutim in a different hand.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic, from David b. Na'im to his brother Moshe b. Na'im. Same writer as in AIU VII.E.26.

Letter from Sadaqa b. Nufay', Tyre, to his father Shelomo b. Saadya, Fustat, October 1090.

Respectful greeting card to Maymun b. David. At the bottom are named Abu l-Husayn and Shemuel ha-Shelishi ba-Havurah, who lived ca. 1000 CE and may have written this note. ASE.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic.

Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Excerpts: "... and when he moved on in the lifetime of my father M[oshe(?)] Sanhedra Rabba, bless his saintly memory, his son assumed the judgeship... and opened for himself an academy (midrash) for teaching the Law (ʿulūm al-sharīʿa) in place of his father, and the judges who rose in the lifetime of the gr[eat?] rabbi, such as Rabbenu Yeḥezqel... and Yehuda ha-Neʾeman..." (Information in part from Friedman, Dictionary, p. 143.)

Letter from Yiṣḥaq ben Naʿim to his brother Meir ben Naʿim. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 5 Shevaṭ 5565 AM, which is 1804/05 CE. Yiṣḥaq is anxious to receive confirmation that Meir received a pair of legal documents that he sent him with Sheḥada Ḥamawī, who did not actually deliver them but mailed them from Damietta. MCD. ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, perhaps dated 1819 CE (579).

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic, reused for sums.