Geniza Lab

Much faded and barely legible. Seems to be a short letter in poetic Hebrew.

Fragment of a business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: likely 11th century. Mentions something which Rabbi Yosef brought with him; 100 dinars; 22 dinars for Isḥāq; a purse or something distressing (אלצרה); the elder Abū l-Aʿlā Is[ḥaq?]; 6 dinars. (Information in part from CUDL)

Two lines from a letter in Hebrew. Wide space between the lines. Dating: may be late 11th or early 12th century based on similar format to other letters from that time period. Mentions: "...to the land of Canaan if he has a need and a necessity..." (אם יש לו צורך וחשחן); sending something or someone quickly to be diligent in the service of a dignitary; and "I heard that in the city of [...]."

Recto: beginning of a letter or note. Verso: address. (Information from CUDL)

A fragment from a letter addressee to a notable. The writer sending his wishes that the position of the addressee will continue- a usual blessing when writing to the Head of the Jews. AA

Recto: Bottom of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The sender asks how the capitation tax (al-jāliya) promises to be this coming year. The sender seems to be worried about traveling to the addressee's location (apparently Jerusalem) before he knows. He asks what travelers have been saying about conditions on the return journey to Jerusalem, and also how things are in Jerusalem. Verso: accounts in different handwriting, in Judaeo-Arabic and Greek/Coptic numerals. (Information from CUDL)

Informal note addressed to al-Shaykh al-Sadīd. In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender reminds him that he owes the sender 40 dirhams and should repay the money before he travels. However, it seems that the sender also owes him the equivalent of 40 dirhams, so he proposes a mutual cancellation of debt. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Letter in the hand of Maimonides, with a medical recipe consisting of (iron) water, lentisk and spikenard, and a mysterious mention of a huge number of wooden ships ("There arrived from the wooden (ships) that which blocked the sea/Nile, 100 ships and 18 great ships, all of them wood.") (Information from CUDL, join from CUDL.) See Wagner, E. (2007). A newly-discovered fragment of a letter written by Maimonides (T-S AS 152.86). [Genizah Research Unit, Fragment of the Month, October 2007]. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.40720.

Letter mentioning dirhams, the capitation tax, and names such as Benjamin, Jacob and Yaḥyā. The writer asks addressee to give his deference to every single one of the Kohen brothers. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Peraḥya b. Sahlān (Alexandria), ca. 1055. Only the bottom part of the letter is preserved. Refers to a blow involving the wares of the recipient, which arrived from Tripoli (Libya) in the Maghreb and were on a ship with a Muslim named Yāsīn. After the blow, some of the wares were sold. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 547.)

Recto: medical text concerned with the treatment of urinary complaints with a recommended potion. Verso: beginning of a letter. (Information from CUDL)

Long letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely Mamluk-era, based on paleography. Quite faded. Mentions wheat repeatedly. Needs examination. (Information in part from CUDL)

Fragment of a letter (address only). Addressed to Daniel in the perfumers' market (probably Fustat). (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter mentioning the community chest (ṣibbūr). (Information from CUDL)

Small fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Addressed to multiple people. The sender hopes to see the addressees in the place where he is traveling to. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter from Abū l-Faraj to his paternal aunt's son Eliyya (probably Eliyyahu the Judge), in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably early 13th century. Extremely faded. Mentions 'my master the rayyis' and possibly the sale of a property; Shemuel; and [...] b. Abū Isḥaq. Not much more will be legible without multispectral imaging.

Beginning of a letter, mentioning (and is probably addressed to) a Nasi. (Information from CUDL)

Text in Hebrew, possibly a letter or else literary. Quotes Deuteronomy 26:6 (וַיָּרֵעוּ אֹתָנוּ הַמִּצְרִים). (Information in part from CUDL.)

Mercantile letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Small fragment. Mentions 33.5 of something; "I opened my bundle"; the measure qinṭār; and Ibn al-Iskandaranī. (Information in part from CUDL)

Address of a letter in Hebrew to Meʾir the cantor, with, beneath it, (the same?) address in Arabic (to the elder Abū l-[...]). (Information from CUDL)