Recto: family letter, ca. 11th century, from Abraham to his son-in-law Elijah and his daughter אתוכלי, Itwakkilī (Arabic, but unattested as a name). There are many greetings and good wishes from various family members. The writer states that Elijah’s brother wanted to visit him, but had been prevented by the grape harvest (הבציר). He wants the couple to send a letter at the next opportunity. Also mentioned is a debt and ‘the time that the river rises’, probably a reference to the flooding of the Nile. A number of different names are mentioned: Elijah’s sister is Sitt al-Rūmī (שטירומי); also mentioned are Irini (אריני), Leon (לאון) and his wife Sitt al-Bayt (שטילבית), another son-in-law Kalev, a wife Meršini (מרשיני, vocalised) and a son Šemarya. Verso: address and several lines of unrelated Arabic.Condition: tornLayout: 11 lines (recto); 5 lines (verso)
Letter from Abraham Maimonides to the judge Nissim in Alexandria, instructing him not to let Abū Manṣūr b. Abū l-Ḵayr, the tax-farmer of Sanhūr, re-marry before he has paid back his previous wife’s delayed bridal gift. In the hand of Solomon b. Elijah (13th century).Condition: holesLayout: 31 lines + marginalia (recto); 6 lines (verso)
Recto: letter to the dignitary Jacob in Alexandria from Abraham b. Isaac Ibn al-Zūlāfī in Palermo. The right margin has continuation of piyyuṭ from verso. Verso: piyyuṭ for Passover with many biblical quotations. Jottings in Arabic script at the top of the page.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 31 lines + marginalia (recto); 26 lines (verso)
Letter from Abraham b. Isaac al-Andalūsī in Jerusalem to Nahray b. Nissim in Fusṭāṭ (c. 1065 CE).Condition: holes, rubbedLayout: 25 lines + marginalia (recto); 3 lines (verso)
Recto: begging letter to Mevoraḵ b. Isaac from Abraham b. Jethro from Damascus. Verso: list of names, most of them bankers, including Abū l-Faḍl b. Ṣaḡīr, Abū Naṣr b. Abū Sulaymān and Abū ʿImrān Mūsā, the ḡulām of Ibn ʿAwkal, and a poem in praise of a merchant, followed by a dirge.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 38 lines + marginalia (recto); 36 lines, partly in 2 columns (verso)
Letter concerning the poll tax (ḵarāj), from Abraham b. Saʿadya he-Ḥaver to Abū l-Surūr Peraḥya b. Binyām. Mentions Abū l-Ḥasan and his brother, Moses al-Salām ha-Kohen, Peraḥya, Bayān and the mother of Bayān.Condition: Holes, rubbedLayout: 28 lines (recto); 4 lines (verso)
Recto: letter in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic from Abraham b. Saʿadya he-Ḥebroni, on behalf of refugees from Hebron that are now in Bilbays. Abraham writes to Isaac b. Samuel ha-Sefaradi (active ca. 1090-1130 CE) in Fusṭāṭ, concerning the building of a new synagogue in Bilbays, replacing an old synagogue that had been torn down. The entire community joined forces to dismantle the synagogue and rebuild the new building. The letter lists the donations given by members of the community, and describes in detail the surrounding properties and their owners. A muslim judge initially objected to the construction of the new synagogue, so the community tactically rebranded their construction as a ‘home’, to which the judge had no objection. Verso: jottings of an Arabic philosophical text.Condition: StainedLayout: 52 lines (recto); 40 lines (verso)
Recto: poem written by Abraham b. Yijū in praise of Maḍmūn b. Ḥasan (i.e. Maḍmūn b. Yefet), cursing his enemies. Probably written in Aden, c. 1140-41 CE. Verso: crossed-out list of commodities such as metals and their quantities in Arabic script.Condition: holes, rubbedLayout: 24 lines (recto); 13 lines (verso)
Letter from Abraham b. Ḥalfon b. Naḥum in Ashkelon to ʿEli ha-Kohen b. Ḥayyim (c. 1090 CE).Condition: holesLayout: 26 lines + marginalia (recto); 2 lines (verso)