Recto: question in Arabic to a jurisconsult asking whether a Jewish eye-doctor, who has received a certification from Muslim witnesses on his trustworthiness for practising in a Muslim family, can actually practise there. Recto (bottom) and verso: portion of halakhic text (the subject is not clear), and Judaeo-Arabic practical instructions for dealing with copper and iron (possibly alchemy or metallurgy). Ca. 12th-13th century.Condition: Slightly rubbedLayout: 15 lines (recto); 21 lines + marginalia (verso)
Recto: petition to a Fatimid dignitary regarding a theft of money. The archer Manṣūr b. Zakī al-Dawla complains that Badr, one of the horseman of the amir Tāj al-Maʿālī with whom he was travelling, left the camp and took with him two dinars of wages that belonged to the petitioner. A tarsīm regarding these facts has already been issued. Verso: letter sent by Mesullam to his son in Egypt via Abū ʿAlā regarding a payment of 2 dirhams out of a total of 11 dirhams. Ca. 12th century.Condition: Holes, slightly rubbed, slightly stainedLayout: 18 lines (recto); 23 lines (verso)
Letter in the hand of Peraḥyā b. Joseph to Abraham ha-Kohen b. Aaron, mentioning an appeal to the Rayyis and referring to ‘Our Rabbi and Master (sayyidunā) Moses’ (undoubtedly Maimonides).Condition: Badly tornLayout: 10 lines + marginalia (recto); 10 lines (verso)
From a text on ophthalmology, dealing with the use of kohl and ceruse for treating eye diseases.Condition: Torn, holes, rubbed, stained, fadedLayout: 10 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Part of a bifolium from a Judaeo-Arabic version of ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā, Taḏkirat al-kaḥḥālīn (‘Memorandum for opticians’), first discourse, chapters 16-17, parallel to ed. Hyderabad 1963, p. 29.Condition: Torn, rubbed, stainedLayout: 5-7 lines