Geniza Lab

Writing exercises of the Hebrew alphabet.

Writing exercises of Atbash Hebrew alphabetical order and the phrase "מנצפ׳׳ך צופים אמרום" that display the surname Mosseri in the heading. Based on the format of writing exercises from the 18th or 19th centuries, especially BL: OR 10123.6-7 where one Yiṣḥaq Franses practices epistolary formulae, the surname Mosseri is likely that of the student. For another example of this format see JRL Series B 3647 where the surname ʿAfif appears in the heading. On the verso a partial date is listed with only the day of the week "יום ב" and "קרח" indicating the week of the Koraḥ parsha reading. Date: 18th c or 19th c. MCD.

Writing exercises of the Hebrew alphabet. On the verso a partial date is offered in the heading with the day of the week "יום ג" and "אמור" indicating the week of the Emor parsha. MCD.

Writing exercises of the Hebrew alphabet that display the surname Meṣlīḥ/מצליח in the heading. Based on AIU IX.A.46 in this series and other writing exercises that follow this format (BL: OR 10123.6-7; JRL Series B 3647), the surname Meṣlīḥ is likely that of the student. Based on the paleography, nomenclature in these document types, and the paper it is likely that these exercises date to the 18th or 19th centuries (Date: 18th c or 19th c). MCD.

Writing exercises of the Hebrew alphabet (recto) and Atbash alphabetical order (verso) ending with the phrase "מנצפ׳׳ך צופים אמרום". On the upper right corner of the verso a partial date is also listed with the day of the week "יום ב" and " indicating the week of the Vayishlach parsha. MCD.

Writing exercises mostly of the Hebrew alphabet in a large notebook of 12 folios on lined paper. The latter feature helps to estimate the dating as nineteenth-century. On occasion an instance of model handwriting appears at the top of pages for the student to copy from (for example 9v). On 9r there is also practice of a phrase in Judaeo-Arabic that appears to be legal/contractual in nature with the opening "אקר ואשהד עלה נפסה". MCD.

Writing exercises

Writing exercises

Writing exercises

Writing exercises

Writing exercises

Writing exercises

Writing exercises

Writing exercises

Illuminated map, probably, of the graves of Talmudic sages.

Illuminated map of graves of biblical figures and Talmudic sages.

Dowry list for Hannah bt. Yakov Bibas. This document is undated but specifically titled as a "nota del ashugar" (l.1r) or "note of dowry" in Ladino. On the right margin, a column is titled with "gurushi[m]/גרושי" followed by a numerical value 1500 that is labeled "kontante y boda" which could mean that the monetary dowry alone is valued at 1,500 silver gurushim (or "guruş" in Turkish) before factoring in the value of the itemized material gifts. This seems plausible because once the list ends a final monetary value is offered of 8,500 guruş, which implies that the contents of this "nota de ashugar" are altogether valued at 7,000 guruş. Some of the material gifts listed are: "panyo" (l.12r), "ropa franca" (l.12r), "kamizas... de seda" (l.13r), "estanpa" (l.15r), "fezes mughrabis" (l.15-16r), "sabanas" (l.25r) (or in English: cloth, French clothing, silk shirts, stamp, Maghribi Fez hats, and bedsheets) MCD.

Book list in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script, with some overlap between the two sections. From Avraham Maimonides' own library? These are all but a few: • al-Adwiya by [...] (on medicines) • al-Mayāmir ('the book of homilies') • Manāfiʿ al-Aʿḍā' • The Maqāmāt of al-Ḥarīrī • [Galen's Therapeutics to] Glaucon (اغلوقن/אגלוקן) • Sharḥ al-ʿAqqār by Ibn Jannāḥ • Nihāyat al-Iqdām by al-Shahrastānī (on kalām theology) • Sharḥ al-Khiṭāba (on oratory) • al-Ḥummāyāt wa-l-Buḥrān (on fevers and crises) • al-Taysīr by Ibn Zuhr • al-Kāfī fī l-Ṭibb • Tadbīr al-Ṣiḥḥa (on regimen) • Al-Miʿyār [fī l-ʿIlm] by al-Ghazālī (on logic) • Isḥāq b. ʿImrān "On the Head"

Recto (verso as catalogued): Accounts in Arabic, including the line "[...] that went with the fleet." Verso: Magical instructions in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic.

Recto: Accounts in Ladino and Hebrew and sums of large numbers, giving the names Ibrahim, Yizhaq, and Yaʿaqov, who seem to be contemporary business associates, but could also be the patriarchs, and all the math on this page could actually be numerology. Then again, the main line of text seems to say: "salió de revaḥ ducados — 76777." Verso: Two pages of a kabbalistic treatise in Hebrew, including a menora made of text.