Geniza Lab

Magical text, including recipes for qefiẓat ha-derekh and petiḥat ha-lev. Information from FGP.

Magical text. In Judaeo-Arabic. Information from FGP.

Notes on halakhic matters (lecture notes? draft of a treatise? responsa?). One side discusses a gentile converting to Judaism.

Medical prescriptions/recipes in a striking mix of Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic, sometimes alternating in the same sentence. Two of the recipes are taken from al-Malikī (of al-Majūsī) and one from al-Tadhkira (=Tadhkirat al-Kaḥḥālīn).

Dense jottings in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic. All of these appear to be a mixture of religiously and erotically inflected panegyric, addressing "the king of the world, the caliph of creation, Righteous son of Perfect," etc., but presumably not the actual caliph, as the references to wine and union would seem out of line. Then again, ʿĀdil b. Kāmil could be a reference to al-ʿĀdil II (regent 1232–38, reigned 1238–40). There are also some (nonsense?) strings of similar-sounding words.

Somewhat mysterious literary text containing aphorisms and poetic lines in Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic, and Arabic. One of the Judaeo-Arabic lines refers to a bloodletting tray (qarūrat al-ḥijāma) studded with emerald and pearl. One of the Arabic lines is قد ضج زحر وشكا بثه مذ سخطت غصن على لافظ, a writing exercise that uses every letter of the alphabet once (if ى is counted as ي) and repeats only the alif.

Calendar for the holidays and liturgy.

Medical prescription in Judaeo-Arabic. There is a primary text on recto with a basmala and a 'nāfiʿ inshallāh' in Arabic script. Verso contains multiple additional text blocks, all consisting of medical prescriptions or related.

The remnants of 8 pages of magical instructions in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic; only the parts closes to the central crease/binding have survived. ASE.

List of the names of the masters of wind, rain, and fire who have dominion in the four seasons of the year, presumably useful for magic or astrology. It says you must also know how to invoke the master of the sky, of hidden things, of treasures, and of seeds, and of Mars, and of the other stars. But God is the most powerful. In the margin in a different hand is written 'Abd 'Alī b. Gharb Sittī wa-ahl bint Sitt [. ASE.

Recto: Arabic poetry transcribed into Judaeo-Arabic (helpfully headed "this is poetry"). Verso: An obscure incantation (?) in Judaeo-Arabic. Needs further examination. ASE.

Prayer in Judaeo-Arabic with philosophical allusions. ASE.

Medical prescription composed of ingredients that appear regularly in similar prescriptions of those days. Wine is recommended as an alternative for a sharab (a potion). The verso contains an unrelated Arabic document. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 266-7)

Medical prescription in difficult Arabic script. Information from Goitein's note card.

See join.

On one of the four pages: two lists of materia medica in Arabic, each headed by a basmala, perhaps medical prescriptions. Ingredients include sarcocolla (anzarūt) and white tragacanth (kathīrāʾ abyaḍ). On the other three pages: an unusual mix of Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew poetry. Across from the prescriptions are lines in Judaeo-Arabic. On the other side of the fragment, the right page starts in Judaeo-Arabic and ends in Hebrew. The left page consists of very short lines with the first half in Hebrew and the second half in Judaeo-Arabic. This page is signed David b. Moshe ha-Levi and dated 22 Iyar 1565 Seleucid, which is 1254 CE. ASE

Recto: astrology, mentioning ṣāḥib al-ṭāliʿ several times. Verso: a continuation of recto, transitioning into a formulary for a spell of some kind that involves burying something. ASE.

Bifolio. Three of the four pages: mercantile accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. The hand might be known. One page lists an expense of at least 1 1/4 dinars on a doctor. The fourth page is a recipe or prescription in Arabic script. Take roasted onion, tamarind fruit (ṣubbāra), seed of the Roman nettle (ḥabb al-qurrayṣ), possibly dirt (? wasakh al-ḥajar), yeast (khamīra), cucumber (khiyār), and boiled chard. All this should be ground up and boiled in chard water and coriander water until it comes together (ḥattā yanʿamil). It should then be applied to a kerchief (khirqa) and applied to the spot (yulṣaq ʿalā l-mawḍiʿ). The next two lines are undeciphered (the words لطخ/stain and بقر/cow appear). It ends, like a medical prescription, with "Beneficial if God wills" and "Diet: boiled spinach." The purpose is not exactly clear. Needs further examination.

Magical formulary in Judaeo-Arabic and Aramaic.

Recto: Medical recipe. Ingredients include senna, plums, tamarind and scammony. Verso: Note mentioning Abū l-Surūr, written on 18th of Tishrīn al-Awwal (October) 1594 CE (سنة اربع وتسعون وخمسمائة والف). (Information in part from CUDL.)