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)
Leaf from a medical work in Hebrew preserving a section devoted to headaches and their treatment .Condition: Torn, holes, stained, fadedLayout: 30 lines
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
Abridged version of Avicenna’s Al-Qanūn fī al-ṭibb, corresponding to Ch. II:137-55 of the Būlāq edition, dealing with eyes and ears ailments: deafness, tinnitus, squint, narrowing of the pupils, excess of lacrimation, cataracts, sticky eyes, swellings and fistulae.Condition: Torn, holes, rubbed, slightly stainedLayout: 14 lines
Medical book of European origin, produced after the 14th century. Beginning an end of the book are lost, together with indications of title, authorship and ownership. The author calls himself ‘Moses’ in several passages of the text. The content is based on Galenic humoral medicine and includes both theoretical passages and practical instructions for the preparation of medicines. Authorities mentioned include Aristotle, Hippocrates, Galen, Serapion, Ibn Māsawayh, Avicenna, Al-Rāzī, Averroes, Maimonides, Ibn Zuḥr, al-Majūsī, Isaac Israeli, Ibn al-Jazzār, al-Zahrāwī, ʿAlī ibn Riḍwān, Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq, Qusṭā ibn Lūqā, and Bernard de Gordon (14th century).Condition: Good conditionLayout: 30 lines