Recto: Aaron b. Asher, Diqduqe ha-Ṭeʿamim. The text contains a somewhat expanded version of שער ח (according to Dotan’s enumeration of the sections: Dotan 1967: 119). Verso: masoretic notes on חלל, ירידה, וירא, ויראה, observing that in each case the preferred preposition for these terms is אל, and listing the exceptions to this general rule (where על occurs instead).Condition: Slightly tornLayout: 12 lines in 2 columns (recto); 13 lines in 2 columns (verso)
Material from Aaron b. Asher, Diqduqe ha-Ṭeʿamim (‘Rules of the accents’). The material begins on f. 2r with the latter half of Dotan’s שער ה (Dotan 1967: 115, line 6 to 116, line 12). It continues with material similar to that of Dotan’s שער כא (Dotan, 1967, 140, lines 1-5). Then follows a section entitled שער טעמים שמונה אשר בשלושה ספרים (‘The Section concerning the eight accents of the three poetic books’), corresponding to Baer and Strack’s §18 (Baer and Strack, 1879: 19-20). Thereafter follows material from Dotan’s שער ט, though with multiple variant readings and additions (Dotan, 1967, 120, line 1 to 123, line 16).Condition: HolesLayout: 18-20 lines + marginalia
Piyyut, אהבוך עלמות, by Aaron b. Jacob, and the first few lines of a piyyut אויב בעת נמחק בעברה, by the same author. Both piyyuṭim may have been intended for recitation on Passover.Condition: Fading, holesLayout: 11 lines (recto); 10 lines (verso)
Recto: invitation to hear דברי תורה, a sermon, sent to Suwayd and his two sons, Saʿadya and Yaḥya, from Aaron ha-Kohen אב בית דין בירבי.Condition: slightly fadedLayout: 13 lines (recto); traces of text (verso)
Letter from Aaron ha-Kohen b. Namr to ʿEli ha-Kohen b. Moses b. Ḡālib, mentioning the bearer of a previous letter, Abū l-Ḥusayn, and Ibrahim.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 17 lines + marginalia (recto); 5 lines (verso)
Recto: part of a letter, from Aaron ha-Mūmḥe the cantor b. Ephraim, from Ṣōʿan (i.e. Fusṭāṭ), to the Nagid Solomon. It appears that the name Solomon was inserted, subsequent to the composition of the letter and in a different hand, into a gap that had been left by the original scribe. Verso: piyyuṭ in honour of Solomon, the recipient of the letter on the recto, written by the same scribe.Condition: torn, holes, stainedLayout: 31 lines (recto); 35 lines (verso)
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 to Mordechai Kohen from his brother Abraham, dated 5646 of the Era of Creation (= 1886 CE).Condition: tornLayout: 32 lines + marginalia (recto; verso is blank)
Letter, mostly in poetical Hebrew to Aaron Abū l-Ḥasan and his two sons, one named Yefet, written by Abraham, the muqaddam of Malīj.Condition: Torn, holes, slightly fadedLayout: 21 lines + marginalia (recto); 15 lines + marginalia (verso)
Letter to Caro Frances from Abraham Gabriel concerning business matters. Dated 168 (5568 of the Era of Creation = 1807 CE), and mentioning people including Nissim Minyani (מנייני).Condition: holes, rubbedLayout: 35 lines + marginalia (recto); 3 lines (verso)
F.1: grammatical and lexicographic treatise in Judaeo-Arabic. F.2: Abraham Ibn Ezra’s commentary on Genesis 1.Condition: badly rubbed, fadedLayout: 20–21 lines
F. 1v contains the heading ‘by Abraham Ibn Ezra’ (spelled Abram), followed by the opening two and a half stanzas of his meʾora ענו בהמון שירים. F. 2r contains the latter part of another poem, followed by a colophon in a different hand and ink “Completed with God’s support”. F. 1r contains jottings (the repeated letters alef and bet, randomly arranged).Condition: Slightly rubbedLayout: 9–12 lines (f. 2v is blank; jottings on f. 1r)
Recto: a piyyuṭ by Abraham Ibn Ezra (אמונתך נודעה ביום טובה ויום רעה) with a title ascribing the text to Avram Ben Ezra. Verso: a short note in Judaeo-Arabic mentioning the opening parts (petiḥot) of qinot.Condition: Torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 21 lines (recto); 2 lines (verso)
Abraham Ibn Ezra’s riddle לבקש סוד שתי נשים, copied both on recto and on verso. The riddle on verso is complete but is written in a messy hand with spelling mistakes and is badly laid-out. It may have served as practice for the text on recto, which is written in a calligraphic hand but is unfinished.Condition: Holes, stainedLayout: 4 lines (recto); 5 lines (verso)
Collection of piyyuṭim including a piyyuṭ for the last day of Passover לבבתיני אחותי אשר פני דמשק צופה by Levi b. Mar Saul (f. 1r), a rešut la-nišmat יפתח עלמת חן ומעין נעלמה by Joseph b. Ṣadiq (f. 1r, bottom), a poem מעשה אלהים על גדולתו עד by Abraham Ibn ʿEzra (spelled Aḇram) (f. 2v) and שהדי במרומים ובשחק עדי.Condition: Torn, holesLayout: 17–18 lines + marginalia
Letter, in which the writer (probably Abraham Kohen) denies influencing young men, and swears that he had not contacted ‘the teacher from Safed’ (c. 15th century).Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 35 lines + marginalia (recto); jottings (verso)
Recto: letter in the hand of Abraham Maimonides, mentioning Joseph. Verso: letter concerned with a legal dispute over an inheritance, mentioning Ibn Kamāl from Bilbays and Minyat Ḡamr.Condition: torn, holesLayout: 15 lines + marginalia (recto); 29 lines + marginalia (verso)
Letter, dated 3rd Kislev, from Abraham Maimonides, to Peraḥya the judge and his sons, probably in Bilbays, Egypt. He recommends the bearer of the letter as a worthy potential son-in-law, and urges the recipient to give the bearer a clear answer in this regard. Opens with a quote from Isaiah 12:2, and also quotes from BT Pesaḥim 49b.Condition: tornLayout: 25 lines (recto); 7 lines (verso)