Geniza Lab

Letter to Elḥanan "Rosh ha-Seder of all Israel." In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. Most of what remains is formulaic. Mentions someone named Abū l-Surūr. (Information in part from CUDL)

Informal note from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to Waliyy al-Dawla. The addressee is to give the masṭara (ruling board) to the bearer to bring back to Shelomo, so that he can use it to rule the quires and send them to the addressee. He apologizes for the delay and says that he is also willing to buy the quires off the addressee if that is his preference. On verso there are a few lines of accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. A relatively large piece is preserved. The sender and his children are apparently in distress. The addressee is asked to meet with "the aforementioned." There are references to both the Nagid and the Gaon, who appear to be different-but-connected people. The addressee is thanked profusely. The sender rejoiced at the news 'of the coming of the dear boy.' (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter addressed to Abū l-ʿAlāʾ Salāma b. Hilāl al-Ḥalabī. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. Fragmentary (upper left corner of recto). The sender mentions that he/she heard that Ibn Qasāsa was looking for him/her. Also mentions the holiday and a complaint (ishtakaytu lahū). (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. (Information from CUDL)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Small fragment. Mentions a hotelier (al-funduqānī) (Information in part from CUDL)

Commercial letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 11th century. A relatively large piece is preserved. Discusses shipments of silk. The addressee is to send things to the shop of Hilāl b. Bunyām (also mentioned in T-S 13J27.9, which is dated ca. 1080 CE). Also mentions Barakāt b. Khulayf, a name familiar from other mercantile documents of the period. On the day the letter was written, something or someone (the word looks like אלחמאתה) who had set sail for Bijāya returned. There is an explanation of why, but it is difficult to decipher. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Very faded. May be an 11th-century commercial letter. (Information in part from CUDL)

Informal note addressed to the judge Eliyyahu b. Zekharya (dates: 1204–36). In which one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit flatters Eliyyahu by saying that in all the cases that come before him, he works to resolve the dispute between them in an amicable way. He then complains that he has sent Eliyyahu two prior letters about some pledges, and Eliyyahu has ignored him. (Information from Oded Zinger's forthcoming edition.)

Recto (secondary use): End of a letter or note in Judaeo-Arabic. Includes greetings and mentions Sitt Rayḥān.

Commercial letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Perhaps 12th century, based on hand and format. Fragmentary: this is a long vertical strip from the right side. Mentions Hārūn al-Kohen; Yaʿaqov Ibn al-Madhbūḥ. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, with some Hebrew. Square script, with large letters. Mentions various weights and prices and a congregation (al-jamāʿa, recto, right margin). (Information in part from CUDL)

Much damaged. Poetical Hebrew, might be from a beginning of a letter.

Informal note addressed to Abū l-Fakhr. In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender reports that he met with Abū l-Mufaḍḍal al-Ṭībī. There are two people who are afraid on account of something. Mentions "the absent one" and "the name of the absent one (al-ghāʾib)." On verso there are faded jottings.

Letter or note, mentioning [...] b. Ḥalfon and a Ḥaver. (Information from CUDL)

Letter to the sender’s mother, in Cairo (yaṣil ilā maḥrūsat al-qāhira). In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. Not a great deal of the content is preserved. Reports that Abū l-[...] arrived. Interestingly, the "ve-shalom" at the end is in a cruder hand than the skilled hand of the letter itself (maybe a clue that it was written by a scribe). (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter to ‘[ha-me]ʿ[u]le ba-havura gedol ha-yeshiva’. (Information from CUDL)

Letter to Eliyyahu the judge, with jottings in the margin. (Information from CUDL)

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. The ends of 10 lines are preserved. (Information in part from CUDL)

Note asking for mercy/forgiveness from Sayyidnā. In Judaeo-Arabic. Extremely faded. סידנא ינצר אלינא בעין אלרחמה... עז עלי... סידנא... אלכדמה...