Geniza Lab

Letter in Arabic script. Dating: Likely medieval. Probably to a family member. There are many self-pitying phrases. Some lines are crossed out. Needs examination.

Family letter. In Arabic script. Damaged/faded. Needs examination for content.

Letter. In Arabic script. Mentions the sender's brother ʿAbd al-Kāfī who is with him in the house. Also refers to someone as 'sayyidnā' in the marginal text. Needs further examination.

Document in Arabic script. Probably a letter. Very faded. Mentions a boat. Verso may be a distinct document, also in Arabic script.

Letter addressed to "Shaykh al-ʿIlm wa-l-Milla al-Isrā'īliyya." In Arabic script. Dating: Late, based on linguistic features and handwriting. The content is not entirely clear. The writer flatters the addressee, "You are the equal of 100 men; nothing passes you by." Various people are mentioned: the addressee's son; al-Muʿallim Yaʿqūb; Abū l-Naṣr; al-Ra'īs Ibrāhīm. ASE.

Letter. In Arabic script. Dating: Ottoman-era, based on hand and layout and vocabulary ('after the arrival of the basha... kiss the hands of Muḥammad effendi for me...'). Dealing with business matters. Needs examination.

Letter fragment. In Arabic script. Mentions the faqīh Abū l-Ḥasan al-Maghribī al-Anṣārī; mentions a funduq. Needs further examination.

Letter(s) in Arabic script. Recto and verso are probably distinct letters. Dating: Likely 13th century or later. The letter on recto appears to be from a father (al-wālidī) to a son (al-walad al-ʿazīz al-muwaffaq al-saʿīd). Only the opening greetings are preserved. The letter on verso mentions names such as al-Shaykh al-Thiqa Abū l-Bishr and Mūsā. There is one phrase in Hebrew script, the title of the book הלכות מאכלות אסורות ('the laws of forbidden foods'), which the addressee is asked to have copied for the writer. The addressee is asked to take payment for two items from the bearer. The remnant of the address reads, "the children of the Jews (awlād al-yahūd), Fustat."

Verso: Letter in Arabic script, in a book hand. Opens with two verses of poetry, then probably a taqbīl ([... al-a]rḍ), then greetings for the noble addressee (...al-sāmī al-ajall al-mawlā ??? abqāhu Allāh taʿālā...), then a report (wa-yunhī) that God sent health to the sender after an illness and ophthalmia (ramad) which lasted 20 days (...Allāh taʿālā manna bi-l-ʿāfiya fa-taṣṣarafa bi-hā baʿd ʿashrīn yawman...). The sender seems to be thanking the addressee for his generosity in helping him in this period of illness, "for he (the addressee) has never been stingy toward a sick person" (...maʿa kawnih lam yabkhal qaṭṭ ʿalā marīḍ...). Further down, mentions "the distress is severe, and from country to country, the excuse is plain...." Then a judge called al-qāḍī al-ajall ʿAlam al-Dīn.

Unpublished letter about India trade. Contains the glyph. Fatimid or Ayyubid. (MR)

Fragmentary letter (draft?) with many lacunae, 8 lines. Many glorifying phrases: "...[al-shaykh] al-ajall Sadīd al-Mulk ballaghū Allāh taʿālā aʿlā al-manāzil... dīn wa-dunyā... awdaʿahū Allāh taʿālā...." In the bottom line, mentions "the children of Mūsā b. ʿImrān" (=the Jewish people?).

First five lines of a letter in Arabic script from a parent to his son, including basmala and words of prayers. Separate text on verso, also in Arabic script. Verso: Commercial letter starting with a basmala addressed to Muḥammad b. (?) Allah informing him about the goods that have been sent for him. Another person, Abū ʿĀmir is also mentioned. Needs examination.

Part of a letter in Arabic script, probably regarding a commercial account. Mentions "al-dīwān". Needs examination.

Letter from Barakāt b. Abū l-Faraj al-Dayyān (=Shelomo b. Eliyyahu) to Abū l-Ḥasan. In Arabic script. Pleading for a loan of 20 dirhams against a turban as collateral, so that he and his father can pay the capitation tax. Same sender, addressee, and purpose as P. Heid. Arab. III 42, but written at a different point in time. Verso: Accounts in Arabic script, with possibly Coptic alpha numerals. Needs examination.

Letter fragment in Arabic script. From Waliyy(?) to his 'father' ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (named on recto). The address is made out to Makīn(?) b. Waliyy al-[...] al-Ḥarīrī in the al-Muṣāṣa neighborhood of Fustat. Dating: Likely 13th or 14th century based on the hand, layout, and typical names. The sender reports that 'your brother ʿAfīf departed, and my heart was...." Not much else is preserved.

Fragment of a family letter in Arabic script. Dating: Likely 12th or 13th century, possibly from the circle of Eliyyahu the Judge (based on the discussion of wine and the familiar but generic names). The sender reports that he still has four jars of wine; Abū l-ʿIzz took them to drink them; mentions Abū l-Ṭāhir; urges the addressee to have patience with a boy and his sister, "for by God the fire is in my heart for them." Greetings to 'the noble mother' (al-umm a-jalīla al-ʿazīza al-muwaffaq al-rashīda...) Umm Ibrāhīm Sitt [...] and to her sister and to [...] ʿUbayd(?). Then, "do not let your father tarry in obtaining the wine from his sister(?)...."

Letter in Arabic script. Addressed to an 'ِAmīr al-Ajal reporting on a ship bearing wood (markab al-ḥaṭb) that arrived at the port of Fusṭāṭ on the Nile (al-ṣināʿ maḥrusa). “The ship bearing wood has arrived after a delay. I’m sorry for the delay, it’s not my habit. Please hold off Ibn al-Tabbān and tell him to wait until a laborer(ʿāmil?) is available to […].” It seems that the addressee was in the service of al-Afḍal b. Badr al-Jamālī (or the son of Saladin?), hence the letter could be dated to that period. On verso, there are various jottings and pen trials in Hebrew and Arabic script. Needs examination. ASE, YU.

Recto: Letter in Arabic script. Lower part only. Needs examination.

Letter or copies of letters, each starting with a basmala. Letter starting at the bottom of verso is addressed to the Abbasid al-Manṣūrīya (al-Mawqifa al-Manṣūrīyya al-Saifīyya).

Left fragment: Letter in Arabic script. Not a chancery hand, but it sounds like a petition or official letter in some ways. Conveys praises and blessings for the addressee and for the caliph and the prophet Muḥammad and ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib. Mentions فخر الملك سعد الدولة تاج المع[الى] Fakhr al-Mulk Saʿd al-Dawla Tāj al-Maʿ[ālī]. Dating: mentions the number 491, presumably the year 491 AH = 1097/98 CE. On verso there are tables of Greek/Coptic numerals.