Geniza Lab

Torn letter, most of the lines has only few words preserved. There is a frame of double line - probably drawn after the text was written.

Letter addressed to the physician, Rosh Kalla, and Nagid Abū Zikrī Yehuda b. Saʿadya (in office from ca. 1065 to 1077 or 1079). On recto, only the middle segments of the top two lines are preserved. On verso, the addressee's name is preserved from the Arabic-script address: حضرة مولاي الناغيد الجليل ابي زكريا يهودا ابن سعادة الطبيب اعزها الله. ASE

Verso (earlier use): Letter or letter draft in Arabic script. The addressee is called 'my brother.' Mainly the opening blessings are preserved, and the substance of the letter is lost, though the text block at the top of the page needs further examination. Reused for Hebrew literary text on the other side.

Fragment of a letter in Yemeni hand. Fustat and Malij are mentioned

Letter from Barhun b. Musa al-Tahirti, probably from Mahdiyya, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1057. Similar to the letter that Barhun’s brother, Yosef, wrote. (See: T-S 12.794). It seems that both brothers are in Mahdiyya. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #366) VMR

Letter in Arabic script. Apparently from a Muslim sender (there are the standard prayers for Muḥammad in the last line) to a Jewish addressee (something has to be arranged before the onset of the Sabbath, dukhūl al-sabt, ll. 7–8). Most of the formulaic beginning is torn away, so only the body is preserved. It reads roughly as follows: "I hereby inform you that I heard that you were looking for me, but I was in the castle and could not come to you. Then I woke up on Thursday and went to Cairo, but I couldn't find you, and I also went to the castle and couldn't find you...." The reason the sender is looking for the addressee has something to do with cassia fistula (khiyār shanbar). On verso there is Hebrew liturgical text. ASE

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Perhaps 12th or 13th century. Distinctive hand; ןs and ךs are large, with sweeping descenders. Mentions someone spreading malicious rumors about the addressee; kissing the feet of the Nagid; and R. Yeshuʿa. Written in Tammuz [...] (the year may be given, but it is difficult to read).

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The hand is somewhat unusual—possibly late and/or Yemeni. Mentions ʿAbdallāh twice (or two different ʿAbdallāhs); may ask for a mithqāl of silver and silk; mentions 3 dirhams; Regards to various people including someone's brother and sister and Isḥāq. "Your mother asks Rivqa the sister of Shams the Circassian (אלגרכסיה) if [....]" Needs further examination.

Small fragment from a letter. Abu al-Fakhr and Abu 'Ali are mentioned.

Minute fragment from a letter

Small fragment from a business letter

Letter in Arabic script. Large script, moderately wide space between the lines. Recommending the bearer of the letter, a poor man named Salam(?), for charity or help. The lower part is missing. On verso there is a magical spell in Aramaic for "binding" a woman named Bahiyya.

Recto: Medical prescription in Arabic script. Verso: Possibly a coded letter in Hebrew characters or (less likely) writing practice.

Small fragment of a letter addressed to Isḥāq b. ʿAllūn. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script on verso. On the addressee, cf. Bodl. MS heb. b 13/37, ENA 3740.7, and T-S 10J32.2. Dating: Probably 11th century. Mentions: "on the eve of Shabbat/Saturday... it/she came to you with their brother... buy for me with you...." Not much else is preserved. ASE

Letter in the hand of Mevorakh b. Natan addressed to a dignitary named ʿAzaryahu. (For the addressee, cf. T-S 8J19.8 + CUL Add.3342.) Recto consists entirely of praises in eloquent Hebrew. Verso contains the body of the letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Much of it is missing, but it mentions a court case; an issue with the government; Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur; someone "who does not go out or come into the house," i.e., is on the run and hiding in the house; and Manṣūr sending someone after him. The sender asks for a little food. Regards to Barakāt; Sitt Wudūd (or Nudūd?). Joins: Oded Zinger and Alan Elbaum.

Very damaged fragment, probably contains letter

Letter(s), mainly. In Judaeo-Arabic. On one side there is a horizontal strip from the beginning of a letter. Reporting that a woman (ṣāḥibat al-bayt) borrowed a dinar from the sender. Mentions Abū l-Faḍl. On the other side the main text is oriented at 90 degrees. Various names and sums of money are listed in the margins.

Letter from [...] b. Yūsuf to Abū ʿAlī Ismāʿīl [...]. In Arabic script. (The addressee is confusingly called 'my father' in the body of the letter and 'my son' in the address.) Needs examination for content. Reused for silk accounting in Judaeo-Arabic (see separate record).

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, handwriting resembles that of Berakhot b. Shemuel. Only the first two lines and last seven lines are preserved. Not much of substance remains; he mentions the trials of time, and says that the wife should look after the boy, and asks for a reply. ASE.

Letter from a certain Sulaymān, possibly in Damascus. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. He is reporting on the prices and the proceeds of various drugs/perfumes including yellow myrobalan and purslane seeds. He reports prices according to the "qinṭār dimashqī," suggesting that there was a different standard than the qinṭār used elsewhere.