Geniza Lab

Letter from a physician in Arabic script giving detailed instructions for the care of a sick man, especially about diet, baths, and regimen. It concludes in the margin, "By God! Take care of him... [do not let him eat?] chicken until he becomes stronger, God willing, praise be to God alone." Excerpts of the surviving text: "[he must not be excessive?] in anything, not air, not food, not drink, and not bathing. As for his food.... pomegranate syrup and bread and sugar. And he should be cautious in the bathhouse and not tarry there too long, rather he should enter for one hour and not.... shave his hair and pamper him and serve him and wash his hands in pomegranate blossom(?)...." ASE

Letter/petition for charity in Arabic script.

Letter, anonymous, saying that a certain Sefaradi gave a sermon in synagogue and failed to mention the gaon. Gil speculatively dates it to 1038, at the beginning of the dispute between Natan b. Avraham and Shelomo b. Yehuda.

Letter in Arabic script. Fragment (the lower part is missing, and the right margin may be missing if it existed); the letter continues in the upper margin of recto. Uneven hand, faded ink, and some creases. Begins with a basmala and cursory blessings (yā mawlāy juʿiltu fidāka min kull suʾ aw min kull [...]). Then accusations: "What is this cruelty and neglect of your own family?!" The sender goes on to complain about distress and lack of wheat. He seems to be complaining about not receiving adequate sustenance even as the addressee is spending handsomely on other material causes and charity.

Letter possibly from Abū l-Maḥāsin. In Arabic script. Dating: probably ca. 13th century. Mentions the ghulām of al-shaykh al-Muhadhdhab. Quite faded. Needs further examination.

Letter in Arabic script. Fragment (upper left corner of recto).

Small fragment of a letter in Arabic script. Content unclear. Jotted accounts on verso.

Small fragment from the top of a mysterious document in Arabic script. At the top there is the glyph and a basmala. Then, "al-mamlūka ukhtuhā... Umm Yaʿqūb." Then: "to Saʿīda" (which appears to have another "Umm" written after it)? This is probably a letter, because it continues "wa-siwāhu innanī arhantu...." and the phrase "allāh allāh" appears in the margin (a common phrase that appears almost exclusively in letters).

Small fragment of a letter in Arabic script. Mentions: "...from aṣḥābnā.... wheat... the muqṭaʿīn(?)... to Fustat...." On verso an inshāllah and, at 180 degrees, possibly part of the address.

Letter fragment in Arabic script. Seems to be a landlord to a property manager: "... 10 days, and if not, he must get out of the house. Only those who pay you the rent shall stay in the house. Once 10 days of the month pass, go and tell him, 'They'll appoint an agent....'" (=the equivalent of "send you to collections"?).

Letter fragment probably. In Arabic script. Mentions Abū l-Barakāt and paying something on behalf of other people. There are also a couple Greek/Coptic numerals. Needs examination.

Arabic script (VMR)

Letter in Arabic and Hebrew script dated 438/1046. The opening politesse consists of many lines in Arabic script in a calligraphic chancery hand with wide line-spacing. When the letter switches to Arabic script, it is to discuss a matter concerning some enemies of the writer and addressee. Meira Polliack, "Dual Script Mixed Code Literary Sources from the Cairo Genizah," Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 7 (2019): 340-41 contains a careless edition of the Arabic and errors in the Judaeo-Arabic, the readings in PGP edition are preferable.

Letter in Arabic (FGP)

Letter in Arabic (FGP)

Formal letter in Arabic script. Fragment (upper part only). Dating: Probably Mamluk or early Ottoman-era. The sender reports that he met with somebody (the addressee himself? looks like al-makhdūm) in the house of the qāḍī Nāṣir al-Dīn.

Letter in Arabic script. The portion preserved here consists mostly of greetings, naming people such as Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā, ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Ḥādī, Nūr al-Dīn, Quṭb al-Dīn, and the faqīh Saʿd al-Dīn. Some or all of the address may be legible. Needs further examination.

Letter in Arabic script. Fragment preserving the middle portion of each side, 6–8 lines per side. The sender is worried about the condition of the addressee and describes his anxiety over it in several instances (wa-qalbī muḥarraq/muḥraq... ʿalayk... wa-khawfī ʿalayk min an thanat(?) lahu wajhhaha idh yanāl minka...). He mentions the fear of the government over him (lak khawf al-sulṭān) and urges the addressee to listen to him (...qubūl qawlī wa-l-iṣghāʾ ilayhi).

Letter in Arabic script, in a beautiful hand. Dating: 11th century, based on the reference to the Tustaris. The sender is a professional scribe, probably Jewish (refers to Yom Kippur in v2) and probably a high-placed Qaraite—if the addressee fulfills his request, he will praise him before “the judges, and our elders the government officials (kuttāb), and the Tustarīs” (v9). The addressee might not be Jewish, as a Jew would not have to be told that Yom Kippur is the 10th of Tishrei. The letter contains a detailed update on a court case or some conflict revolving around book copying and book dealing. Mentions an agreement with Abū Isḥāq; liberating some money or goods from "that which they have taken this time," especially two volumes from the owner (or author?) of Dār al-Gharb(?). But the sender has been unsuccessful. Mentions a book called Taṭrīz al-Khiṭāb wa-Sharḥ al-Ṭalab, and refers to a copy in the sender's own hand that occupies five volumes (wa-dhālika awwalan al-nusakh al-mansūkha khams ajzāʾ); the material is parchment, and the value is 15 dinars. Needs further examination. ASE

Letter in Ladino. Dated: 10 Nisan 5581 AM, which is 1821 CE. Gives the writer's name and location as well as the addressee's name, but all are difficult to read. Mentions various ships and business matters as well as Crete (Candia). Needs further examination.