Geniza Lab

Letter draft from Faraj Allāh to his father. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Late. Surrounded by numerous other jottings and signatures.

Letter from Kathīr b. Abū Naṣr al-Ḥazzān, unknown location, to his son Bū l-Ḥasan b. Kathīr, in Abyār. C/o the shop of ʿAmmār al-Yahūdī. In Arabic script. Only the opening greetings, the concluding greetings, and the address are preserved. Regards to Abū l-Ḥasan and to Abū Isḥāq and his mother.

Note in Arabic script resembling an order of payment (yunʿim mawlāy al-shaykh al-ajall Abū [...] li-muwaṣṣilhā...."). All surrounding it there are jottings and pen trials in Hebrew script. Dating: ca. 12th or 13th century.

Letter or report in Arabic script. al-mamlūk yuqabbil al-arḍ.... Needs examination.

Letter in Arabic script. Very faded. Isolated phrases are legible such as "that which I desire from your grace and beneficence is...,' and, "by the law of Mūsā the son of ʿImrān!'

Hebrew writing exercises and parts of Arabic documents - needs examination.

Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Very deferential. Likely a draft or formulary, since there are several abbreviations used.

Letter in Arabic script. Fragment (lower part only). In lines 2–3 there is a report on the illness of a woman, who is now doing better (wa-lākin mā hiya illā qad aṣābat al-ʿāfiya). Then from line 5 to the end, there are greetings to numerous people, including Sayyid al-Ahl someone's brother-in-law and to 'my masters the judges' (al-dayyānīn). Merits further examination. On verso there are magical names in Judaeo-Arabic, apparently the names of spirits/jinns/demons of the clouds (? saḥabī): Maymūn, Zawbaʿa, Shamhorash (cf. T-S AS 145.71), Saydūk (cf. T-S Ar.51.95, which has a drawing of Maymūn Ghulām Saydūk), al-Aḥmar, al-Abyaḍ, al-Mudhahhab.

Family letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The addressee is in Sammanūd. On recto, there are greetings and expressions of longing, "We have not enjoyed a day of health or well being since the day you left us. . . no sooner does one illness end than another begins (אלא מן מרץ נפרג ופי מרץ נבדא). . . ." The sender complains about the epidemic(s) this year and the inflation (ואנת תערף מרץ הדה אלסנה וגלאהא). On verso, gives instructions or a request mentioning flax and an item called מרארה(?) כרכי(?). Greetings to various people in the addressee's location, and greetings from Sitt al-Ḥusn. The address is written in an unusual location, in the margin of verso: يصل هذا الكتاب الى سمنود الى ("may this letter reach Sammanūd, for [...]."). AA. ASE.

Letter addressed to Abū l-Riḍā b. H[arūn?], the secretary (kātib) in "the compound of al-Ḥāfiẓ" (al-rabʿ al-Ḥāfiẓī al-saʿīd) at Bāb Zuwayla in New Cairo. The sender's name appears on verso but is tricky to read (Ibn ʿAlam?). The sender refers to both himself and the addressee as "friend" (ṣadīq). On recto, only the first few lines of the main text and the last few lines of the marginal text are preserved. There is a date on verso at 180 degrees to the address: 16 Dhū l-Qaʿda 550 AH (after the end of the reign of al-Ḥāfiẓ, 1132–49 CE).

Letter addressed to "the noble amir" (al-amīr al-ajall). In Arabic script. The letter is on recto, with two lines continuing onto verso. The letter mostly consists of conventional expressions of missing the addressee and polite rebukes for not having written. But needs further examination. Verso was reused for Hebrew poetry and Judaeo-Arabic jottings.

Recto: Business memorandum in Arabic script. Verso: Likely a receipt of some kind.

Letter in Arabic script. Faded and damaged. Mentions Sayyidnā. Needs examination for content.

End of a letter to a dignitary. In Arabic script. On the other side there is a legal document (see separate record). Needs further examination. (Information from CUDL)

Brief letter ("ruqʿa") from Ibrāhīm to Abū l-{A}frāḥ Yūsuf (probably ʿArūs b. Yosef). In Arabic script. There does not seem to be much substance to the letter beyond assuring the addressee that the sender is promptly fulfilling his errands. Greetings to ʿAllān. Reused for accounts (in the hand of ʿArūs?) in Judaeo-Arabic.

On recto a poem in Judaeo-Arabic. On verso a sample letter to a notable. AA

Recto: Letter from a man of Qayrawān, perhaps in Jerusalem. In Judaeo-Arabic. This is an eloquent letter of appeal for charity. He says he has made pilgrimage to his current location ("may God build it") and lost all his money. He was embarrassed to turn to any of his countrymen other than the addressee. The biblical verses on verso may belong together with this document.

Recto: Letter of condolence. In Arabic script, written in an elegant hand (and with diacritics). Upon the death of the addressee's brother Abū l-Ḥasan. Bewails the terrible blow that "has given the heart grief upon grief, opened a fresh wound upon a wound, brought successive evils, made tears stream, sundered livers, banished sleep. . . ." (The implication is that this bereavement is coming on the heels of a previous one.) The letter was possibly written by a Muslim for a Muslim, as it refers to "lanā fī l-sayyid al-rasūl uswatun ḥasanatun" (l. 22). But this conjecture is complicated by verso. Verso: Draft of a letter of condolence. In Hebrew and Aramaic (for the copious biblical citations, including many from Job and Ecclesiastes) and Judaeo-Arabic (for the body). Upon the death of the addressee's son. ASE

Recto: A curse in Judaeo-Arabic with some Hebrew against whoever is spreading false rumors about the writer and stirring up conflict between him and (probably) his wife. Verso: Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic, in the same hand. The sender asks for a favor from the addressee. He says that he knows that the addressee considers him like the late brother Abū l-Makārim. Same handwriting as T-S AS 162.161

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Addressed to Abū l-Najm Hillel [...] al-Jawbarī (or al-Gharbarī?). Mentions the following: Hiba b. Yūsuf Ibn al-Baghla ("Son of the Female Mule"—evidently a family name); the return of some people from Jerusalem; a debt of two dinars that someone is trying to collect from someone; Abū l-Khayr Bishrān b. Yishay b. Yisrael; a request for news about the pesiqa (collection of funds) of/for the Jerusalemites; a letter that arrived from Ibn Khashkhāsh ("Son of the Poppy") for Hiba, reporting that Ḥusayn collected a dinar from someone; and a derogatory statement about someone who said something that wasn't true. AA. ASE.