Geniza Lab

Right fragment: Letter fragment in Arabic script. Needs examination.

Letter in Arabic script. Begins with a basmala and taqbīl. Addressed to a certain Muḥammad called Samiyy al-Dawla Jamāl al-[...] (an amīr titled Samiyy al-Dawla also appears in a legal document: T-S Misc. 22.280 dated 4th Shaʿban 438 H/3rd February 1047, ed. Khan, ALAD, no. 55). The sender refers to his emotional state (wa-baqiya qalb al-mamlūk....; another possible reading is wa-yashfī qalb al-mamlūk). In the margin, the sender expresses his hope that a certain woman is in good health, and everyone under the addressee's care. On verso, refers to "a tremendous headache" and awaiting something. YU. ASE.

Letter from Abū l-ʿAlā b. Hiba Abū l-Ḥasan(?) to Abū Saʿīd b. Abū Naṣr al-Mafjār (?) mentioning a letter that contained information regarding a mysterious trunk (ʿayba). The sender reports that the trunk is now with Abū l-Bishr. Needs examination.

Letter in Arabic script. Or maybe a petition—the second block opens with "yuqabbil al-arḍ wa-yunhī." Needs examination.

Recto: Letter in Arabic script. Fragment (upper right corner). With text in the margins. Begins with a basmala and the phrase 'mamlūk al-ḥadra al-sāmīya' (the slave of the lofty presence). The addressee is a high official as he is referred to as the protege (ṣanīʿa) of the caliph (ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn). Text in the margins reads partly as "بالبركة انجاز هذا ال… قالله يعين على … في خير وعافية".

Note in Arabic script addressed to [al-]shaykh ʿUmar at Raʾs al-Khalīj ("the head of the canal"; there is apparently a site just south of Fustat with this name), "may God preserve him." As soon as he receives this note, he should assist the bearer Abū Saʿd the banker for the amīr (ṣayrafī lil-amīr al-makhdūm). The addressee should accompany him and diligently help him find a boat to rent passage in. "You need no exhorting in this, for he does not know the boats." Scrawled ḥamdala at the end.

Informal note in Arabic script. Has the glyph. The handwriting is relatively straightforward but the subject matter is difficult to figure out. Needs examination.

Verso and upper margin of recto: Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Very faded.

Letter fragment in Arabic script. Seems to be a private letter but is written in formal/deferential terms ("... jamaʿa al-shaml bi-khidmatih...") and most of the text preserved consists of blessings. Reports that the children (al-ṣighār) are well.

Note in Arabic script addressed to a Nasi ("al-mawlā al-ajall al-nāsī al-jalīl al-nabīl..."). Conveying a message about the bearer (recommendation?). Needs further examination.

A learner's exercise of the beginning of a letter in Arabic script. On verso there are additional jottings in Arabic script, and a drawing.

Document in Arabic script. Possibly a business letter; mentions goods (al-baḍā'iʿ) and something being sent to Alexandria (irsāluhu ilā thaghr al-Skandariyya).

Recto, with the address on verso (secondary use): Letter addressed to al-Rayyis al-Rabīʿī (=ha-Reviʿi) Abū l-Ḥasan. In Arabic script. Mentions people named Manṣūr and Abū l-Faḍl. And mentions "al-qāʿa al-maʿmūra bi-baqāhi." Needs further examination.

Letter fragment. In Arabic script. Faded and damaged. Mentions Damietta (ENA 3598.1, third line from the bottom); a qalʿa (ENA 3598.2, line 7 and again in the margin); Alexandria (al-Thaghr) (ENA 3598.2, second line from the bottom); and asks for the addressee's news.

Family letter in Arabic script, from a distant man to his children and wife. Dating: Probably Mamluk era, or possibly early Ottoman era, based on handwriting, names, format, and formulary. The letter goes into detail about previous correspondence and other family matters. One of the sender's sons, who is mentioned a couple of times, is Yāʿqūb and the mother is Umm Aṣīla. He narrates his longing to see his family and may mention recovery from an illness which brought someone close to death, but God dispelled it (wa-l-ḥamdu lil-lāh kunnā(?) aḥad(?) man(?) ilā l-mawt wa-lākin lak ṭāl(!) al-ʿumr lā budd fa-infaraja(?) Allāh taʿāla...)

Letter in Arabic (FGP)

Letter from Manṣūr(?) b. [...] possibly to a younger relative Yūsuf (وينهي ان المملوك مشتاق الى خدمة ولده يوسف). In Arabic script. Looks like a chancery hand and the document opens with expressions of patronage, but it does not seem to be a petition. The sender has been protecting the interests of the addressee (والمملوك حامل هم المولا من جهة...) with regard to Abū l-Faḍl Fakhr al-Dīn, who may have arrived in Fustat from the Fayyūm. The addressee is told that he might still catch him if he comes quickly. The next section is about Jalāl al-Mulk, who may be trying to take over Yūsuf's fief as ḥāshir (tax collector), and he (or somebody else ) is spreading bad rumors about the addressee (...جلال الملك عمل في حشارتك له ويقبح عليك...). The margin mentions the arrival of ʿIzz al-Dīn b. al-Zandī(?), and the addressee is urged to come with him. Verso is almost entirely greetings. Abū l-Ḥasan sends regards. Regards to Abū l-Faḍl, to a paternal uncle, and to a woman and her children. Hiba sends his regards. The addressee is urged to respond quickly, send a report on the taxes he has collected (? والمدعى اكتب عن الذي حشرته) and not to pay attention to ignoramuses (ولا تسمع كلام الجهال). He is urged again to act quickly so that they can kill two birds with one stone (ونعمل شغلين في شغل) and to try to meet with Fakhr al-Dīn. ASE

Letter from Abū l-Khayr Mūsā. In Ottoman Turkish. Mentions a Jewish banker (sarrafi) in line 2. Needs examination.

Letter(s) or official document(s) in Arabic script. Narrow space between the lines on one side (this part mentions a fortress/qalʿa), wide space between the lines on the other (this part addresses somebody as "al-jināb al-ʿāl" and mentions his iḥsān and ṣadaqāt). Needs further examination.

Beginning of a petition -tarjama, basmala, formulae, on the right side 4 lines diagonally- from a Jewish woman (al-mamlūka [...] Abū l-Majd Ibn al-Ḥaver). In Arabic script. She seems to be trying to fend off a man who wants to marry her but who already has a wife and children. In the margin, she quotes from the Torah "the son of my sister took my right...". The tarjama is legible but the name is hard to make out. Needs examination.