Geniza Lab

Instructions for the halakha/etiquette of comporting oneself during the ʿamida, including for eventualities such as needing to cough or urinate or developing a nosebleed. In rudimentary handwriting, arranged in two columns per side. From the siddur of RASAG (information from FGP).

Horoscopes in the name of Ilyās al-Ḥakīm, including prospects for currying favor with government and the effectiveness of medicines. On reused paper containing vestiges of enormous Arabic script in red ink (most visible on Image 2).

The beginning of the book of Shemot along with other calligraphic Hebrew jottings.

Bifolium from a medical treatise giving recipes for various powders (safūfāt).

Literary work in Hebrew and Aramaic citing biblical verses.

Leaf from a medical work attributed to Makārim b. Isḥāq (see tag).

28 pages from a cookbook in Catalan. The hand is 15th-century according to Eleazar Gutwirth. Many recipes for dishes containing meat and fish. Soups and baked goods, too. It is interesting to note that pork is mentioned several times. Information kindly provided by Ilil Baum via a discussion on Facebook, 01/2021.

Recto: The first page from an Arabic literary work, copied in Judaeo-Arabic in a late hand. The book seems to be a guide to witty conversation, and it is called "Kitāb al-Dahqana lil-ʿUqūl fī ʿIlm al-Faqhana wa-l-Dukhūl" = כתאב אלדהקנה ללעקול פי עלם אלפקהנה ואלדכול = كتاب الدهقنة للعقول في علم الفقهنة والدخول. The words "dahqana" and "faqhana" are respectively unusual and made-up. It is unclear whether this book has survived. Verso: Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic for deals involving livestock as well as some other jottings in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic.

Bifolium from a rabbinic literary work in Judaeo-Arabic.

One side contains a Judaeo-Arabic poem in the name of Abū Naṣr b. Faḍlūn.

Arabic booklet on astrological prognostications.

Recipes, probably medical or alchemical, in Arabic script, accompanied with pious invocations and some magical characters.

Biblical commentary, late. The description of a ketubba under this shelfmark in FGP is probably intended for CUL Or.1080 9.19.

Seʿadya's commentary on Psalms. Note that the identification and transcription of the Persian business letter on FGP belong instead with CUL Or.1080 6.30

Eleven calligraphic pages from Hayya Gaon's Book of Formularies (not used in S. Assaf's edition, Jerusalem 1930). Information from Goitein's note card.

Literary work in Judaeo-Arabic. Perhaps al-Faraj baʿd al-Shidda of Rabbenu Nissim. This page discusses Naḥum of Gamzu and Rabbenu ha-Qodesh when he was afflicted by illness (and toothache?). Needs further examination for proper identification.

Literary. Rhymed maxims in Judaeo-Arabic, organized alphabetically. Cf. T-S Ar.13.13, discussed in the November 2019 Fragment of the Month by Mohamed A. H. Ahmed. Information in part from Goitein's note card.

Booklet containing Judaeo-Arabic glosses on sections of Genesis and Noah. Of documentary interest because there are a great number of biblical place names given their Judaeo-Arabic equivalents (Kittim = Cyprus(!), Tuval = China, Meshekh = Khorasan, and so forth).

Several lines of verse in Judaeo-Arabic, possibly riddles.

Psalms in Hebrew written in Arabic script. The beginning of the text on the verso is to be found at the end of the leaf at which the text of the recto finishes. The scribe turned the leaf over around its horizontal axis in order to continue on the verso. 16.8cm. and 15cm. between the top and bottom lines. Two small lacunae. Recto: (Ps. 35:2-37:39). Verso: (Ps. 109:1-115:13). Information from FGP.