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)
Letter from Abū Manṣūr b. Abū Saʿd to Abraham, sent to the Palestinian synagogue in Fusṭāṭ. Mentions, among others, Joseph b. Abū ʿImrān, Ezekiel the judge and Sitt Rayḥān.Condition: holes, rubbedLayout: 20 lines (recto); 2 lines (verso)
Recto: letter from Abū Maymūn Yaʿqūb in Jerusalem to his son Abū ʿImrān in Fusṭāṭ, describing how he is bedridden after the death of another son and how he wishes to see him before his death. Verso: Arabic address to Abū ʿImrān.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 19 lines (recto); 2 lines (verso)
Collection of recipes taken from works by Abū Maʿālī ibn Tammām, Ibn Al-Tilmīḏ, Dāwūd ibn Abī al-Bayān and Ibn Jumayʿ, dealing with illnesses of the stomach and the intestines.Condition: Torn, tiny holesLayout: 13 lines
Letter from Abū Naṣr b. Abraham informing the addressee that Judah ha-Levi set sail on Wednesday, the first day of Šavuʿot (= 1141 CE), after leaving him a letter for the Nagid Samuel b. Ḥananya, which accompanies this letter; dated 12th Sivan. Arabic on verso describes someone who went up to Cairo and met the leader of the community.Condition: torn, slightly rubbed, stainedLayout: 9 lines + marginalia (recto); 3 lines (verso)
Recto: begging letter from Abū Naṣr, ‘son of the doctor’, acknowledging receipt of letters from the addressee and from Abū l-Maʿālī. Verso: jottings in a crude hand in Arabic script.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 22 lines + marginalia (recto); 4 lines (verso)
Recto: note from Abū Riḍā to Abū Zikrī, acknowledging the receipt of the purse of Ibn ʿAlī and promising to send perfume with Ibn ʿAlī. Verso: draft of a Judaeo-Arabic letter and lines in Arabic script.Condition: holes, rubbed, faded, stainedLayout: 11 lines (recto); 8 lines (verso)
Letter from Abū Saʿd al-Maḡribī, possibly in Jerusalem, to Nahray b. Nissim in Fusṭāṭ (c. 1060 CE).Condition: torn, holes, rubbed, faded, stainedLayout: 16 lines + marginalia (recto); 6 lines (verso)
Letter from Abū Saʿīd in Alexandria to his father in Fusṭāṭ, with greetings to Sayyid al-Ahl, Abū l-Faraj, Michael, the teacher Isaac, Sahlān, Mūsā b. Ḥassūn and their relatives.Condition: torn, holesLayout: 16 lines + marginalia (recto); 11 lines (verso)
Recto: note from al-šaykh Abū Saʿīd dealing with a monthly wage that partially consisted of an ounce of myrobalan, possibly for medicinal purposes. Verso: unidentified Arabic text, very fragmentary.Condition: TornLayout: 4 lines (recto); 5 lines (verso)
Letter to Abū l-Barakāt b. Yefet from ‘his brother’ Abū Saʿīd Ibn al-[...], sent via the perfumer’s market and Abū l-Faḵr Ibn al-Maššāṭī (the flax comber). Mentions the death of Abū Naṣr and his sister Zayn (who the writer apparently had hoped to marry), and refers to Alexandria, with greetings to various family members and individuals including Joseph and Abū Y[...] Ibn al-Sabbāk (the caster).Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 19 lines + marginalia (recto); 16 lines + marginalia (verso)
Letter from Abū Saʿīd b. Abū l-Ḥasan al-Abzārī in the Maghreb to his brother Abū l-Barakāt in Fusṭāṭ (c. 1098 CE).Condition: torn, holesLayout: 16 lines (recto); 7 lines + jottings (verso)
Letter from Abū Saʿīd b. [...] in Palermo to Abū l-Barakāt b. [...] (known as Ṭāriq). The letter opens with biblical citations such as 1 Samuel 25:6, Psalms 121:7 and 121:8 (c. 1060 CE). Letter continues on verso where there is a writing exercise in Arabic script.Condition: holes, rubbedLayout: 32 lines (recto); 7 lines (verso)
Begging letter from the teacher Abū Yaʿqūb, asking for money for medication and sugar for his child. Verso: chancery document in Arabic script and Arabic jottings.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 26 lines (recto); various lines (verso)
letter from Abū Zikrī to Abū ʿAlī, detailing ophthalmological health problems, and mentioning Abū l-Ḥasan. Abū Zukrī is suffering from a cataract, which is impairing his vision and make him see ‘like a piece of marble’, and intense eye-pain. Verso: letter of reply to Abū Zikrī written around an Arabic document, which gives advice regarding health, suggesting eye-washes with a bucket of well-water, bloodletting, and that Abū Zikrī avoid consuming dairy products.Condition: Holes, rubbedLayout: 19 lines + marginalia (recto); 26 lines + marginalia (verso)
Recto: copy of a letter and its reply by Abū Zikrī, followed by rhymed piyyuṭ headed פראגעה דאפעזה. Verso: jottings in Arabic script.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 33 lines (recto); 5 lines (verso)
Recto: probably part of an Arabic document. Verso: order of payment by Abū Zikrī Kohen, asking Abū l-Ḵayr to pay Abū l-Makārim.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 5 lines
Order of payment by Abū Zikrī Kohen to Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār to pay to the leader (‘al-raʾīs’) 2 dinars. Circa 1141 CE.Condition: holesLayout: 4 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Order of payment written by Abū Zikrī Kohen, instructing Abū l-Ḵayr to pay money to the bearer of the note. Dated Tammuz 1451 Seleucid era (= 1140 CE). Verso: Arabic document.Condition: torn, holes, rubbed, stainedLayout: 5 lines
Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen to his banker, Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār, instructing him to pay al-Rayyis Abū Saʿd 6 dinars. Dated Av 1451 (= 1140 CE).Condition: HolesLayout: 5 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen to his banker, Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār, instructing him to pay the bearer 3 dinars. Dated Av 1451 (= 1140 CE).Condition: HolesLayout: 5 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen to his banker, Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār, instructing him to pay the household of Rīḥān 3 dinars. Dated Av 1451 (= 1140 CE).Condition: HolesLayout: 5 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen to his banker, Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār, instructing him to pay the household of al-Riyānī 2 dinars. Dated Av 1451 (= 1140 CE).Condition: HolesLayout: 4 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen to his banker, Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār, instructing him to pay the bearer 5 dinars for wax (candles). Dated Av 1451 (= 1140 CE).Condition: HolesLayout: 5 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen to his banker, Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār, instructing him to pay the household of Abū l-Makārim 5 dinars. Dated Av 14[51] (= 1140 CE).Condition: HolesLayout: 6 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen to his banker, Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār, instructing him to pay the (אליודפיה) household 2 dinars. Dated Av 1451 (= 1140 CE).Condition: HolesLayout: 4 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen to his banker, Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār, instructing him to pay the bearer 4 dinars and a half and an eighth of a dinar for grapes. Dated Av 1451 (= 1140 CE).Condition: HolesLayout: 4 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Order of payment by Abū Zikrī Kohen, asking Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār to pay two dinars to the carrier of the note on the account of (?) the wife of Abū l-Makārim, dated Adar II, 1451 of the Seleucid Era (= 1140 CE); Coptic numerals.Condition: holes, faded, badly stainedLayout: 6 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Recto: order to pay Abū l-Faraj 2 okkah of oxymel (sikanjabīn) and rose; signed by Abū Zikrī Kohen. Verso: Arabic and Hebrew jottings.Condition: torn, fadedLayout: 4 lines (recto); jottings (verso)
Recto: order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen to his banker, Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār, instructing him to pay the bearer 2 dinars for an eighth of a measure of raisins. Dated Av 1451 (= 1140 CE). Verso: unidentified text in Arabic.Condition: HolesLayout: 4 lines (recto); 6 lines + marginalia (verso)
Recto: Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen to his banker, Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār, instructing him to pay the household of Abū l-Makārim 3 dinars. Dated Av 1451 (= 1140 CE). Verso: unidentified note.Condition: HolesLayout: 5 lines (recto); 2 lines (verso)
Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen to his banker, Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār, instructing him to pay the bearer one and a quarter dinars for gum mastic. Dated Av 1451 (= 1140 CE).Condition: HolesLayout: 4 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen to his banker, Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār, instructing him to pay Abū Saʿid 5 dinars. Dated Av 1451 (= 1140 CE).Condition: HolesLayout: 4 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen to his banker, Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār, instructing him to pay the household of al-Riyānī 2 and a half dinars (and following that another) half dinar. Dated Av 1451 (= 1140 CE). A note at the upper left states ‘total of 3 dinars’.Condition: HolesLayout: 5 lines (recto); 1 line (verso)
Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen to his banker, Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār, instructing him to pay for grapes one dinar and one half and one third. Dated Av 1451 (= 1140 CE).Condition: HolesLayout: 5 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen to his banker, Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār, instructing him to pay one and a quarter dinars for gum mastic. Dated Av 1451 (= 1140 CE).Condition: HolesLayout: 5 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen to his banker, Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār, instructing him to pay Makārim one and a half dinars. Dated Av 1451 (= 1140 CE).Condition: HolesLayout: 4 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen to his banker, Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār, instructing him to pay the household of Abū Makārim 3 dinars. Dated Av 1451 (= 1140 CE).Condition: HolesLayout: 5 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen to his banker, Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār, instructing him to pay Rīḥān 2 dinars. Dated Av 1451 (= 1140 CE).Condition: HolesLayout: 5 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen to his banker, Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār, instructing him to pay on account of the household of Amīn al-Dawlā 100 dinars. Dated Av 1451 (= 1140 CE).Condition: HolesLayout: 5 lines (recto); jotting (verso)
Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen to his banker, Abū l-Ḵayr Ḵiyyār, instructing him to pay Abū l-Faḍl 7 dinars. Dated Av 1451 (= 1140 CE).Condition: HolesLayout: 5 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Letter from Abū Zikrī b. Ḥananel to ʿArūs b. Joseph concerning business matters, and mentioning commodities such as sal ammoniac.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 19 lines + marginalia (recto); 8 lines (verso)
Recto: letter from the uncle of Solomon b. Elijah’s wife, Abū l-Barakāt in Alexandria, to Solomon and his wife. The uncle takes exception to Solomon calling his wife ‘shameless’ and says that when he heard that Solomon had beat his wife, the family had threatened to intervene. However, afraid of gossip, the family had decided against an intervention. The dispute between Solomon and his wife was to do with a lack of housework on her part. Verso: accounts in Arabic and Hebrew script.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 38 lines (recto); 3 lines + accounts + jottings (verso)
A letter referring to family and business matters, sent from Abū l-Bayān to his father. Many names are mentioned, including Abū l-Mufaḍḍal, Maʿālī b. Qisqās, Abū l-Riḍā and Abū Isḥāq b. Pinḥas. Also mentions the toponyms Cairo and Tinnīs.Condition: good conditionLayout: 87 lines + marginalia (recto); 1 line (verso)
Letter from Abū l-Faraj to ‘the judge’, mentioning ‘the leader’ Abraham, and the elders Menaḥem, Mubayyin and Abū Saʿīd. On verso is a postscript to Abū l-ʿAlā al-Zajjāj (the glass maker) and accounts in Arabic script with Coptic numerals.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 8 lines + marginalia (recto); 4 lines + jottings (verso)
Recto: letter to Abū ʿAlī Ezekiel b. Isaac from Abū l-Faraj b. Qasāsa (cf T-S 13J26.20), concerned with business issues. Mentions commodities such as cotton, and people such as al-Bayrūtī. Verso: a postscript or draft of a letter in a different hand.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 17 lines (recto); 16 lines (verso)
Letter from Abū l-Faḍl and his mother to his father Abū Naṣr, complaining about the hardship of the family after the father had left them without support.Condition: holes, rubbedLayout: 22 lines + marginalia (recto); 6 lines (verso)
Recto: order of payment by Abū l-Majd to Abū l-Faḍl al-Ṣayrafī the cantor and treasurer to pay Surūr al-Zayyāt (‘the olive oil trader’). Verso: Arabic note concerning payment.Condition: torn, holesLayout: 6 lines (recto); 4 lines (verso)
Letter from Abū l-Majd to Barakāt b. Hārūn Ibn al-Kūzī in Alexandria, sent via the shop of Maḥāsin al-Ḥarīrī. He describes the difficult times and his illness, and the problems of selling an ill slave girl.Condition: holes, rubbedLayout: 25 lines + marginalia (recto); 28 lines (verso)
Recto: letter from the cantor Abū l-Majd, sending congratulations for the birth of a boy, and asking whether ‘the prayer’ will be held on the Sabbath or on the day of the circumcision. Verso: probably part of an official document, mentioning the sultan.Condition: tornLayout: 10 lines (recto); 3 lines (verso)
Letter to Abū l-Manṣūr from Abū l-Majd b. Ṯābit (probably Abū l-Majd Meʾir b. Yaḵin).Condition: torn, holes, rubbed, fadedLayout: 2 lines (recto); 4 lines (verso)
Letter from a mother to her son Abū l-Maḥāsin in a hostel in the Alexandrian quarter al-Qamra. Written by Abū Manṣūr and mentioning people including Abū l-Waḥš, the shop of al-Kohen al-Siqillī and Abū l-Faraj al-Šarābī.Condition: holes, rubbedLayout: 21 lines + marginalia (recto); 4 lines (verso)
Recto: letter from a certain Abū l-Qasam (?). Verso: title page of a book of recipes used in the ʿAḍūḍī hospital in Baghdad.Condition: Torn, holes, rubbed, stainedLayout: 6 lines + marginalia (recto); 8 lines (verso)
Recto: letter from the merchant Abū l-Riḍā ha-Kohen in Tiberias to his bother Saʿadya in Jerusalem. Abū l-Riḍā has travelled from Jerusalem to Tiberias via Nablus and Beisan (Beit Shean). Ca. 11th century. Verso: Arabic letter mentioning sums of money.Condition: Slightly fadedLayout: 28 lines (recto); various lines (verso)
Letter from Abū l-Surūr b. Ṭarīf to Abū l-Makārim and Abū Jacob, sons of Abū Jacob Kohen, describing the severe illness of Abū l-Riḍā, ‘their brother’, and asking for doctor’s advice and medicine.Condition: holes, rubbedLayout: 19 lines (recto); 10 lines (verso)
Recto: letter to three men, Abū l-Barakāt, Abū l-Ḡamm (?) and Barakāt from Abū l-ʿIzz b. Abū ʿUmar, mentioning names such as Samuel and Isaac. At the top of recto there is also a document in Arabic script. Verso: draft of a formulaic greeting to a woman and other jottings.Condition: torn, rubbedLayout: 17 lines + marginalia (recto); 11 lines + marginalia (verso)
A letter sent to Yešuʿa the Doctor ha-Sar b. Aaron the Doctor al-Mānī, who is studying in Cairo, by his cousin, Abū l-Ḥasan Judah, a teacher and court clerk, from Alexandria, c. beginning of the 13th century. The doctor strove to get an appointment in a hospital in his native city, Alexandria. The cousin advises the doctor to obtain letters of recommendation to a list of prominent figures there. He comments that whenever anyone declares he wants 'to read' medicine in Alexandria he is told that the reading has to be done in Cairo and, likewise that the tazkiya (certificate of good conduct) has to be obtained there. Mentions Joseph al-Baḡdādī and the judge R. Anatoli.Layout: 55 lines (recto); 54 lines + marginalia (verso)
Letter to a number of male members of a family, including Judah ha-Kohen b. Elʿazar, his sons Elʿazar and Moses, Judah’s brother Yišʿī the doctor, and Abū l-ʿIzz Aaron b. Elʿazar. Also mentioned are ‘the leader’ Abū l-Walīd, Abū Saʿd and Saʿd al-Mulk. The Arabic address contains the name Abū l-Ḥasan b. Ibrahim, apparently the sender of the letter.Condition: holes, rubbedLayout: 25 lines + marginalia (recto); 2 lines (verso)
Business letter from Abū l-Ḥayy b. Barhūn Ḵalīla in Mahdiyya to Barhūn b. Mūsā (c. 1046 CE).Condition: torn, holes, rubbed, fadedLayout: 18 lines + marginalia (recto); 4 lines (verso)
Letter sent by Abū ʿAlī (?) [...] Ibn al-Damyāṭī to Abū Saʿīd b. Hiba in the Moneylender’s Market (sūq al-ṣarf).Condition: tornLayout: 12 lines + marginalia (recto); 3 lines (verso)
Letter from Abū ʿAlī who is currently in Iraq to his cousin. Written during the time of the Head of the Academy Samuel Ibn al-Dastūr in Baghdad (12th century).Condition: torn, holesLayout: 16 lines (recto); 3 lines (verso)
Medical prescription from (or for) a certain Abū ʿAlī, prepared with purslane seeds, endive seeds, tamarisk, rose and pomegranate.Condition: Torn, holes, slightly fadedLayout: 9 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Letter from Abū ʿAlī b. Barakāt to his son Abū Naṣr b. Abū ʿAlī Ibn al-Quṣayr, mentioning people including Abū l-Faraj al-Kohen and Abū Isḥāq.Condition: holes, rubbedLayout: 24 lines + marginalia (recto); 21 lines + marginalia (verso)
Letter by Abū ʿAlī Ḥasan b. ʿImrān to his nephew Abū Mūsā Hārūn b. Yaʿqūb the teacher, chastising him for not keeping his promise to take care of his mother, the writer’s sister, who had died.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 18 lines + marginalia (recto); 4 lines (verso)
Letter from Abū ʿEli b. ʿImrān to his nephew Abū Mūsā Hārūn b. Jacob, which touches on a number of family issues. Sent to the shop of Abū Naṣr al-Talmid ‘son of the teacher’, in Fusṭāṭ.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 28 lines + marginalia (recto); 5 lines (verso)
Recto: letter from Abū ʿUmar concerning the sum of 1294 and a quarter dinar. Verso: jottings, and the name Elʿazar.Condition: torn, holesLayout: 13 lines (recto); jottings (verso)
Letter from the teacher Abū Ḥayya in Minyat Zifta, Egypt, to his brother Abū Naṣr Maḥfūẓ, asking whether there are better prospects in Cairo. Mentions Ibn Ḥayya and Benhā, and sends greetings to Abū l-Munajjā. Address in Arabic.Condition: holes, rubbedLayout: 16 lines + marginalia (recto); 8 lines (verso)
Collection of medicinal recipes possibly by a druggist, who is referred to as ‘the Damascene’ (Al-Dimašqī). A large number of simples are mentioned, including saffron, bdellium, pepper, Indian myrrh, almonds, sandalwood, cinnamon, rose-water, honey, sesame seeds, sesame oil, lemon, and vinegar. The appearance of the handwriting suggests that these were possibly notes taken by the druggist for his own use, a handbook for his practice.Condition: Torn, holes, rubbed, stainedLayout: various lines; 2 columns
Leaves from a booklet (possibly for personal use) with extracts of recipes from Al-Kindī, Kitāb kīmīyā’ al-ʿiṭr (‘The chemistry of perfume’), including preparations with cinnamon, cardamom, lichen, nard, tailed pepper, cinnamon, camphor, saffron, musk and rose-water.Condition: Torn, rubbedLayout: 15 lines (recto); 14 lines (verso) + marginalia; P2: 17.3 x 16.1; 13 lines
Bifolium from Al-Majūsī, Kāmil al-ṣināʿa, third discourse of the first part, chapters 34-36, dealing with the foetus in the womb, the anatomy of the breast, testes and seminal vessels (ed. Būlāq 1877, I: 120-122).Condition: Torn, rubbed, slightly fadedLayout: 17 lines
Opening page of the ninth discourse of the first part of Al-Majūsī, Kāmil al-Ṣināʿa, including the title and the beginning of chapter 1 on internal diseases (ed. Būlāq 1877, I: 319-320). The title and author’s name are copied on f. 1v in alternating black and red ink. F. 1r contains a note, in a different hand from the main text (and in a less bookish style), noting that the muḥtasib of the city should ask the doctor about the number, the form and the place of the bones in the human body.Condition: Slightly rubbed, slightly stainedLayout: 11-12 lines
Passage from Al-Majūsī, Kāmil al-ṣināʿa (‘The complete book on the art [of medicine]’): from the second discourse of the first part: chapter 2: anatomy of the bones in the skull, nasal bones and bones of the face (ed. Būlāq 1877, I: 50-51). Belongs with T-S Ar.42.49.Condition: Torn, slightly rubbed, slightly stainedLayout: 17 lines (recto); 16 lines (verso)
Leaves from Al-Majūsī, Kāmil al-ṣināʿat al-ṭibbiyya (‘The complete art of medicine’), from the 8th discourse of the first part, dealing with the causes and types of fevers – ephemeral, septic and phthisic (ed. Būlāq 1877, I: 294-296).Layout: 22 lines + marginalia
From a treatise on phlebotomy attributed to a certain Al-Rašīd, here dealing with the use of phlebotomy to relieve pain in various parts of the body; phlebotomy of the saphenous vein to treat diseases of the uterus and dysmenorrhea; the application of phlebotomy to children and the elderly.Condition: Torn, holes, stainedLayout: 2-23 lines
Khulāṣat al-ikhtiṣāṣ fī maʻrifat al-qūwā wa-al-khawāṣṣ Contains Ibn al-Raqqām’s Kitāb khulāṣat al-ikhtiṣāṣ fī ma‘rifat al-qūwā wa’l-khawāṣṣ [Compendium of competence in knowing faculties and characteristics], preceded by an anonymous poem on agriculture. As stated in the incipit, Ibn al-Raqqām’s treatise is an abridgement of Ibn Waḥshīya Ibn Waḥshīyah, Aḥmad ibn ʻAlī, 9th cent. ’s Al-Filāḥa al-Nabaṭīya. The work consists of an agricultural tract in fifteen chapters, and an account of 309 plants, with their actions and properties, which are listed and numbered in the table of contentsLayout: 23 linesScript: Clear Naskh, black inkAdditions: Catchwords in the interior bottom-margin of versos marginalia Marginal commentaries in black ink marginalia Numbers referring to the index of plants written in red ink in the margins of ff. 30v-118v