Geniza Lab

Recto: Letter from Barakāt Ibn al-Dayyān Abū l-Faraj (=Shelomo b. Eliyyahu the Judge). In Arabic script. A narrow vertical strip is missing from the right side. In which Shelomo complains of his poverty and illnesses (alām) and asks for help paying the capitation tax. He may be asking on his father's behalf as well as his own (mentioned three lines from the bottom). (Information in part from Goitein's index card.)

Recto: Possibly a letter, in Arabic script. It may consist entirely expressions of love. Ends with a ḥasbala. Might not be an actual letter. Needs further examination. Verso: Prayer in Arabic script, each line of which begins with the words "yā rabb."

Recto: Fragment of a letter in Arabic script. Verso: Accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. Mentions many names. Needs further examination.

Letter in Arabic script. Dating: Probably late Mamluk or Ottoman era. Needs examination for content.

Possibly a letter or a draft of a letter - needs examination.

Recto: Business letter, Verso: Jottings of numerical figures, some of which are crossed out - needs examination. Needs examination

End of a letter or document - needs examination.

Recto: Document, possibly and acknowledgement (`iqrar) Verso: Hebrew jotting from the Song of Songs 2:9 and Arabic jottings - needs examination. (FGP)

Business account or letter, mentioning several names including some with the title al-haj - needs examination. (FGP)

Letter in Arabic script. Fragment (lower right corner). Dating: May be 11th century based on handwriting and formulae. Greetings to Abū l-Riḍā al-Naḥḥās(?) and Abū l-Manṣūr. The sender does not want to come into Fustat these days. Mentions Abū l-Wafāʾ.

Possibly Arabic letter or a document . Barely visible

Possibly a letter. In Arabic script. Very faded. Needs examination.

Possibly a letter - needs examination.

Verso: Arabic Letter or document mentioning a Jew (al-yahudi ) - needs examination. (FGP)

Letter addressed to the amir Muḥammad b. [...]. In Arabic script. Dating: Probably Ottoman-era. Needs further examination.

Poetic expressions, possibly part of a drafted letter - needs examination. (FGP)

Letter in Arabic script. Chancery-esque hand, wide space between the lines. A learner has copied every line in the space between the lines (cf. a similar example in Rustow, Lost Archive, p. 222). Refers to some dignitary in whom "we (=the Jews?) and the Muslims have great benefit" (ولنا وللمسلمين به نفع كبير). Needs further examination.

Possibly part of a letter or jotted note - needs examination.

Letter that begins in Arabic script and transitions to Judaeo-Arabic (right margin and verso). It begins, "After I wrote the Hebrew letter..." (بعد ما كتبت الكتاب العبراني). It mentions the heqdesh (الهقداش), ʿAkka, and 200 dinars. On verso the addressee is asked to greet Rabbenu Menaḥem (spelled מנחים) and ask him if he has managed to sell the sūsiyya and the two golden qaṣabas(?). If he has not sold the qaṣabas, he should send them with Khuḍayr (the bearer). AA. ASE.

Recto, with address on verso: Letter in Arabic script addressed to al-muʿallim Yehuda KR[...]. Verso and margins of recto: Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic, involving the sale of a house. Dating: Probably Mamluk-era. Needs further examination.