Geniza Lab

List of piyyutim cited by their incipits. Each item has been crossed through. Headed "fahrasat raḥamim." Information from Baker/Polliack catalogue.

Recto: piyyut. Verso: writing exercises in Hebrew characters, featuring a lot of alephs, the words shalom and al-hamdu, and the first verse of Psalms. ASE.

Bifolium in Judaeo-Arabic that largely consists of translations of morbid passages from the bible and rabbinic literature, including Job 14:2 and the "putrid drop" (tipah seruḥah = nuṭfah muntinah) of Avot 3:1. Needs further examination. ASE.

Explication of homophones in several poems by Moshe Ibn Ezra, in the hand of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi.

Literary text in Arabic script with a couple words in Arabo-Hebrew. Maybe a commentary.

Ezekiel 16:15-16,20-21, in Arabic transcription. See Khan, Karaite Bible Manuscripts, pp.54–55. Information from Baker/Polliack catalogue.

Minute fragment: Hebrew jotting of Job 1:1 Verso: Arabic jotting of "the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God" (راس الحكمة مخافة الله = ראשית חכמה יראת ה).

Literary jottings, probably. In Arabic script. One word in the margins is in Hebrew script.

Recto: Arabic poetry in Arabic script. The antepenultimate and penultimate lines are from a poem by Abū Tammām: https://www.aldiwan.net/poem30596.html. The rest is more difficult. Verso and a couple lines on recto: Hebrew prayers. ASE.

Popular literature. The tale of Abraham and Nimrod. In Judaeo-Arabic. See FGP for further information.

Recto and verso: Judaeo-Arabic poetry in the hand of Nāṣir al-Adīb al-ʿIbrī. This is one of the fragments that he signs (אנא אלאדיב אלדמי אלכאמי ונאצר אסמי רצעת אלדרר פי נצמי ועקדי אנתצבת...).

Jottings including Psalms 1:1 and list of names, late hand.

Poem addressing the soul (yā nafs). In Judaeo-Arabic.

Popular literature. In Judaeo-Arabic. The portion of the story on this fragment opens with the appearance of a healer before a king: "...and princes and viziers and generals. As for your question about my trade: I am a wise man (ḥakīm), an exorcist (muʿazzim), a physician the son of a physician (ṭabīb bin ṭabīb), I release madmen and madwomen (al-majnūn wa-l-majnūna), the delusional (al-mutahawwis)... and epileptics (al-maṣrūʿ wa-l-maṣrūʿa). I command the jinn, both the tribes that fly in the heavens and those submerged in the earth. This is my trade and my craft, this why I roam the climes and the lands." The king is glad to hear this, because a female slave of his recently lost her wits. The healer begins to investigate with his magical methods, and the king reveals that her madness began after he tried to sexually assault her, and she began striking and tearing at the clothes of anybody who came near her.

Two poems in Arabic script.

Qurʾan. Kufic calligraphy. 2 x 8 lines from Sura 11, beginning at the end of verse 46. See T-S Ar.38.8. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Recto: poetry or rhymed prose probably by Nāṣir al-Adīb al-ʿIbrī (active ca. 1300). The content of recto is difficult to figure out but mentions economic crisis (shidda, ghalāʾ) in Egypt, people running away to Anṭākiya, and also a vignette about people who prosper during difficult times, this section mentions purchasing slaves in دنقلا (Dongola, Sudan). Verso: Long poem of praise for God ending “I am Nāṣir and as long as I vanquish my enemies [I’ll keep praising you]." ASE

Literary, Arabic script. Tale concerning Hārūn al-Rashīd and Jaʿfar ibn Barmak. Information from Baker/Polliack catalog.

Fragment in Arabic script. Unidentified. Probably a literary text. Isolated words and phrases are legible: bi-l-malik Hārūn... ʿalaykum... alladhī... al-mustariqīn al-samʿa (this is what the shayāṭīn do)... al-khafaqān.

Literary text in Arabic script. One of the text blocks is headed "Nuskha Kitāb Ṣidāq (=dowry?)," and a conventional introduction follows. On the other side (penultimate line), Quran 59:21 is quoted.