Documents

Primary language

Judaeo-Persian

Letter from Sulaymān b. ʿAlī, unknown location, to Abū Saʿīd Yaʿqūb, Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf, and Abū Sahl Saʿīd the sons of Yisra'el (al-Tustari).

Tags

• al-tustari

1 Transcription 1 Translation

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Menashshe concerning a deceased person (perhaps related to a dispute over the inheritance) and making reference to an orphan, a gift, a widow, and a mother. The document also mentions an agent ('wakil', recto line 9), a cantor ('hazzan', recto line 11), the Iraqi synagogue (recto line 12), the Nagid (recto line 18), and a Gaon (verso line 2).

Related People

1

1 Transcription

Document date

Adar II 1440 Seleucid (22 February 1129–22 March 1129 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Weights are expressed in mann, bahār, and raṭl baghdādī. Prices are also given. AA/ASE On recto there is piyyuṭ.

Related Places

1

Tags

• ib-candidate

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Mentions various people with Muslim names (e.g., Badr al-Dīn, al-Ḥājj Yūnus) and others with European names (e.g., Dominguez, Carlo מארי בירו(?)

Tags

• consul
• materia medica

No Scholarship Records

Primary languages

Arabic, Hebrew

On verso, on the facing page, there is a column of names in Hebrew and Arabic including al-Shaykh Fakhr al-Dawlah, Moshe, "his son Abū l-Bishr," Aharon, and Aharon b.

No Scholarship Records

Document date

13 Dhū l-Ḥijja 509 Hijrī (28 April 1116 CE)

Primary language

Arabic

Dated: 13 Dhū l-Ḥijja 509 AH = 28 April 1116 CE. At upper left names al-Shaykh Abū Muḥammad ʿAbdallāh b. ʿAlī b. Aḥmad, as in T-S Ar.39.187 and T-S AS 184.90.

Related People

1

Tags

• dar receipt

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Aramaic

Gzar-dina de-Yeshu (Toledot Yeshu, Ar3 in Bohak's edition, "Pilate" recension), containing passages 4.1–5.1; join with New York, JTS 2529.2 (Adler 2102.2) (PGPID 41695), written by the same scribe who also wrote T-S NS 224.123 (JA3) (PGPID 41696). (Information from Gideon Bohak, The Sentencing of Jesus (Gzar-dina de-Yeshu), 10–14.)

1 Transcription 1 Translation

Document date

15 Shaʿbān 637 Hijrī (11 March 1240 CE)

Primary languages

Arabic, Greek/Coptic Numerals

There are Greek/Coptic numerals at upper right specifying a sum starting with 140 (repeated at lower left, spelled out). Addressed to al-qāḍī al-ajall; the term ruqʿa appears later int he same line.

Tags

• glyph

No Scholarship Records

Document date

1186–1228 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Mentions "20 irdabbs (of wheat) at the beginning of every year" and mentions people such as someone's nephew [...] al-Kohen and [...] al-Ṣaʿīdī.

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Dating: 11th century, based on the locations (e.g. al-Mahdiyya and Sicily) and people named. Fragment: Right side of recto and right side of verso only. […] Sigla (?) b. Surrī, Khallūf b. al-Sh[...], the writer's brother Yehuda, and the writer's brother-in-law and his son Maṣliāḥ.

Related Places

2

Tags

• unedited 11th c

No Scholarship Records

Inferred date

1100–1138 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

He reports that someone gave something to Ḥalfon's mother, and she prays for him and his prosperity night and day. Also, Abū l-Surūr (their brother Peraḥya) gave her 10 dirhams.

Related People

2

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

The other is a man who is very rich but pretends to be poor in order to evade paying what is owed to the government (māl al-sulṭān). It seems that the rich man is the subject of the document from r4–v4, then again v11–14. […] Both of the governors appear to be described as viziers ("X al-wazīr"). The document goes on to describe the sources of wealth of the rich man and his family members and associates. […] The addressee is asked to issue an order to the wālī to "seal up the house" of the rich man and arrest his family members and associates in order to secure the money of the government. The phrase "al-islām al-sharīf" suggests that either the sender and addressee are both Jewish converts to Islam (because this is a Judaeo-Arabic document), or (more likely) this is a transcription or draft made by a Jewish scribe of an Arabic petition written by a Muslim.

Tags

• ottoman

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

ʿAzarya (Damascus) to the court physician Avraham b. Iṣḥaq b. al-Furāt (Fustat). Daniel b. ʿAzarya congratulates the addressee on his transfer to Fustat from Ramla and reports that letters from the Ramla people sent together with a letter by the addressee were lost. […] He mentions his troubles in the past year and his plans to travel to Jerusalem. Daniel b. ʿAzarya also asks the addressee to intervene for him with Qadi Abi Muhammad and more generally to act on his behalf in Fustat so that the authorities there exert influence on the people in Palestine.

Related Places

3

Tags

• communal
• courtier
• daniel b. 'azarya
• vizier

2 Transcriptions 1 Discussion

The list is headed by the haver ʿOvadya, presumably the great grandson of Avraham Maimonides bearing that name (b. 1297, d. before 1355). The other names also fit the 14th century, e.g Nasir ("helper," three times), Shams ("sun," 11. 4, 27), Faraj Allah ("God has helped," 11. 8, 14).

Tags

• charity
• communal
• coptic numerals
• donors
• poverty

2 Transcriptions 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from Avraham b. Abī l-Ḥayy, in Alexandria, to his brother Mūsā, presumably in Fustat. […] Evidently Mūsā has been instructing Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAllūn to send Avraham wheat only once a month. Apart from that, he works hard as a teacher.

Related People

2

Tags

• illness
• illness letter 969-1517
• illness: emotion
• tax

1 Transcription 1 Translation

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Gil edited 12 lists of revenue and expenditure pertaining to Abū l-Bayān al-Jābī b. Abu Naṣr Elʿazar ha-Levi al-Ḥalabī spanning the years 1181–84 CE. All except for #81 are written in the hand of the judge Shemuel b.

Related Documents

2

Tags

• 12th c
• account
• communal
• qodesh
• waqf

1 Transcription 1 Translation

Document date

455 Hijrī (4 January 1063–24 December 1063 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Signatures at the bottom follow the notarial formula of Arabic-script (Islamic) attestations; Goitein interprets the signatures as evidence that someone intended to take this Judaeo-Arabic document to a qāḍī. Signing are ʿAllān b. Nāḥūm, ʿAllān b. Ibrāhīm, and Ibrāhīm b. […] (Information in part from CUDL and Med. Soc., 2:330.) Join: Alan Elbaum.

Related Places

1

Tags

• bialphabetic
• notaries
• physician
• register

1 Transcription 3 Translations 1 Discussion

Primary language

Arabic

Gil's interpretation is that the work was done at the compound of al-rayis, by which a notable of the congregation was mean. […] Some of the workers are sani'in, which seems to mean here the more skilled masons; some banna'in masons; there is also a sabi, an apprentice. The only payment recorded is of one dinar, which was probably an advance.

Related Documents

1

Tags

• account
• arabic script
• qodesh
• yefet b. david b. shekhanya

1 Transcription 1 Translation 1 Discussion

Inferred date

1007–1055 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

List. An almost entirely 'egalitarian' list of contributors from the first half of the eleventh century' (Goitein) Forty-four persons pledge 1/2 (dirham), nine parties, of whom six consist of two or more numbers, 1, and only one pledges 2 (dirhams). Almostall the names appear in abbreviated form: Abu Kathir is Efrayim b.

Related People

1

Related Documents

1

Tags

• charity
• communal
• donors
• poverty

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Mentions the boy Abū l-Bayān and al-Shaykh al-Muhadhdhab. Cites Berakhot 3b: “A handful cannot satisfy a lion, nor can a pit be filled up with its own clods.” […] (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.) Join: Alan Elbaum. AA. ASE.

Related People

1

Tags

• illness
• illness letter 969-1517
• illness: chronic
• illness: cost
• illness: diet
• (+ 5 more)

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Levi ha-Levi) asking the recipent to sell for him the Mishnah and Hilkhot Shehitah and send him the money with the bearer. He also wants to buy the codices of the Torah copied by Abu Sahl the Qaraite that he had seen in the addressee's possession. He sends greetings to one of the women of the family ('al-kabirah'). Verso: the response, from "your brother Yosef b.

Tags

• book trade
• moshe b. levi

No Scholarship Records

Document date

5536 Anno Mundi (25 September 1775–13 September 1776 CE)

Ben-Lvāz, Moshe Ben-Saʿadūn, Makhlūf ha-Kohen, Reʾuven Asūlīn, Yaʿacov Ben-Simḥon, Daniʾel Ben-ʿAmrām, Mordukh Ben-Alḥazan, Avraham al-Qūrqī, Shalom Ben-Simḥōn, Ṣadōq Ben-Zāzōn, Avraham Ben-Alḥazan.

Tags

• 18th c
• late prosopography

No Scholarship Records

Document date

Dhū l-Ḥijja 521 Hijrī (8 December 1127–5 January 1128 CE)

Primary language

Arabic

The second has to do with Jaʿfar and Ṣubḥ(?) the sons of Wafiyy al-Dawla, who are of the Afḍalī continent (min al-ṭāʾifa al-afḍaliyya) and hold a certain iqṭāʿ valued at a certain amount (واما جعفر وصبح(؟) ولدي وفي الدولة المذكورين فهما من الطايفة الافضلية ومقطعين . . . . . .

Tags

• cmp

No Scholarship Records

Document date

Shawwal 1000 Hijrī (11 July 1592–8 August 1592 CE)

State-issued receipt for al-Muʿallam Salmūn Iskenderānī who is listed with the administrative title "عامل" (financial intendant or collector of revenues). […] The scribe's rendering of "Shawwāl" seems impossible but is confirmed by the Judaeo-Arabic filing note on the verso (along with the year 1000 AH). The receipt bears an Ottoman-era stamp– perhaps that of a "kāshif" (which may be the title of the official who signed the document). […] However, the Ottoman official al-Muʿallam Salmūn Iskenderānī is likely the same person referenced in the letters and petition: T-S Ar.38.111 (PGPID 20707); T-S Ar.39.425 (PGPID 20938); T-S AS 178.88 (PGPID 36909).

Tags

• 16th c
• early modern
• ottoman
• pinholes

No Scholarship Records

Inferred date

1101–1121 CE

Primary language

Arabic

Dating: 1101–21 CE, based on the invocation of the caliph al-Āmir (r. 1101–30) and the vizier al-Afḍal (r. 1094–1121) (verso, ll. 6–8). Verso contains an iqrār (acknowledgment of debt) made by Ibrāhīm b. Sulaymān, ʿAlī b. Ḥasan, and Yaḥyā b. Mūsā, and perhaps another person (it's possible that the names are split differently, since the "wa-"/and and the "bin"/son-of look nearly identical).

1 Transcription 1 Translation

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Describing the sender's unfortunate dealings with a government bureau (דיואן). Apparently Ibn al-Farārījī tried to shake him down for money, claiming that "everything we (=the sender) do is disobedience, i.e., that we let you (=the addressee) build," to which the sender said, "Sir (yā wajīh), you can't take our property on these grounds, and we're not scared of that." It escalated, and the government officer confiscated 6 irdabbs (of wheat). An officer called al-Najīb tried to get the sender to sign for 100 dirhams (an outrageously low compensation for 6 irdabbs), but the sender swore that he wouldn't take any less than 110, which the officers refuse. Someone threatens to go to the amīr and accuse the other side of not cooperating, and ʿIzz al-Dīn intervenes here and tries to mediate a settlement.

Tags

• government
• tax

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Regards from the sender's maternal uncle, who also asks Ibn al-Shelishi to send the daftar containing Deuteronomy.

Related People

2

1 Transcription

Document date

middle decade of Ṭevet 1437 Seleucid (9 December 1125–18 December 1125 CE)

Primary languages

Aramaic, Judaeo-Arabic

Joins: Oded Zinger and Alan Elbaum. Description from PGPID 16178: Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. […] Abū l-Makārim b. […] known as Ibn Baqā acknowledges that Saʿadya ha-Kohen has paid to redeem some pledges. Also mentions […] b. Shelomo ha-Kohen known as Abū l-Khayr Salāma (this may be the rest of Saʿadya's name).

Related People

1

Related Places

1

Tags

• halfon b. menashshe

1 Transcription

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

The sender explains that he comes into Fustat to greet all his friends and relatives, because he would worry about them if they traveled to see him. […] The sender tried mightily to dissuade him from going there at all. Finally he succeeded in getting Abū l-Ḥasan to ride with him by boat instead of walking there. […] Abū l-Ḥasan is now insisting on staying there all day Tuesday and only coming back to Fustat on Wednesday.

Related Places

1

Tags

• dammuh
• unrest

1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Apparently Moshe had complained that his father had not sent him all the money that he was owed. This sharp letter goes through all the recent transactions and explains how no one has been cheating Moshe of some dirhams. […] Abu Sahl tells Moshe not to worry about the capitation tax, because God has helped and they already have enough money for him. "Don't let anyone look at these accounts, not Mahfuz nor anyone else."

Related Places

1

Tags

• abu sahl levi

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Inferred date

1138–1138 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Netanel regarding the collection of funds in al-Andalus for the ransom of a captive woman. Dating: probably August-September 1138. […] He asks Ḥalfon to turn to "my relatives who depend on your grace" and the צאחב אלשרטה (chief of the police), Abū Ibrāhīm b. Barūn. He also asks Ḥalfon to help a Jew who has lost his property, health and eyesight and is far from his family and homeland.

Related People

4

Related Places

3

Tags

• 12th c
• autograph
• captives
• ib4
• india book
• (+ 1 more)

3 Transcriptions 3 Translations 2 Discussions

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Mentions people including Gershom ha-Kohen, al-Ḥaver Ibn Shemaʿya, Yosef, Shelomo, Ibn al-Dabbāgh (son of the tanner) and Ibn al-Qaṭāʾif, and the death of a leader (Rayyis) and a honourable lady (אלגבירה).

Related People

1

Related Places

1

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Document date

Ḥeshvan 1450 Seleucid (1138 CE)

Abū l-Faraj Yeshuʿa b. Yehuda Ibn al-Nisṭāṣ (see T-S NS 224.18 + T-S NS 225.25c for either the same person or a family member) cedes for 10 dinars his right of 1/12 of an open space (misṭāḥ) in the al-Qālūs street to Abū l-Khayr Shelomo b. […] Verso is covered with legal jottings concerning at least a dozen other legal cases, with numerous names mentioned (one name is Malīḥa bt. Yefet, a widow). All need examination.

Related People

2

1 Discussion

Document date

24 Sivan (4)802 Anno Mundi (15 June 1042 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Recto: Legal document. Location: Alexandria, based in part on the names of the people involved. […] Furayḥ. Surūra’s sister, Sitt al-Dār, had previously been engaged to Khulayf b.

Related People

1

Related Documents

1

Tags

• marriage
• muslim courts
• register

2 Transcriptions 1 Translation 1 Discussion

Document date

Wednesday, 23 Iyyar 1368 Seleucid (30 April 1057 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Abū Kathīr had died while some assets of his were still with two brothers of Abū Manṣūr, Daniel and Eli, and the brothers had also meanwhile died, leaving Abū Manṣūr as their heir. Abū Yūsuf is appointed to examine the accounts of all three dead men, so that Abū Kathīr’s heirs can receive what is due to them.

Related Places

1

Related Documents

1

Tags

• account
• estate
• inheritance
• proxy
• will

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Document date

17 Ṭevet 1370 Seleucid (5 January 1059 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

The deed quoted in full in the query is dated 23 February 1058 CE. See also T-S NS J161 + T-S 12.5 (PGPID 1676) which is another copy of a partnership deed between the merchants, and Bodl. […] On verso there is poetry in a rudimentary hand. Join: Alan Elbaum.

Related People

1

Related Places

2

Tags

• legal query
• merchant
• responsum

3 Transcriptions 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

The writer, whose identity is unknown, wrote some words in Arabic script amidst the Hebrew script; it seems that he wrote everything in a hurry, and it is not always clear whether a certain letter is written in Hebrew letters or in Arabic letters. Because of these difficulties and the poor state of preservation of the letter, the decipherment and translation are difficult in several places. The writer also sent blessings in the name of his father. The formula حضرة المرتبة حرست (ח̇צר̈ה אלמרתב̈ה חרסת, in translation: "his majesty, may God preserve it') has not yet been found in other documents.

Tags

• ib-untranslated-eng
• ib4
• india book

2 Transcriptions 1 Translation

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

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).

Tags

• demons
• illness: mental
• jinn
• slaves

No Scholarship Records

Primary languages

Arabic, Hebrew

Three lines from the bottom the writer touches on his own professional struggles (qaṭʿ al-rizq), it seems because he is a physician and there are now five (or fifty?) […] He sends regards to her brother al-Shaykh al-Rashīd, her brother's wife, and to the children.

Tags

• arabic script
• physicians
• to edit

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Refers to the addressee's pilgrimage the preceding year; Qayrawān; how the sender's wife died in giving birth to a son, while he himself was away in Byzantium; how her mother and family sent to recover her dowry (raḥl), valued at 200 quarter-dinars; how he subsequently married a minor girl (ṣabiyya saghīra) who is now pregnant (wa-hiya minnī [fī ḥāl]). (The phrase "...qām al-ḍawʾ" also appears here—the full first word and the meaning are unclear.)

Related Places

2

Tags

• byzantium
• childbirth
• death
• minor marriage
• pilgrims
• (+ 2 more)

1 Transcription