Letter by Abraham Palieche to his sister, dated Elul 1564 (= 1253 CE). He is in Egypt/Cairo and wants her to come to meet him with the first ship to Alexandria.Condition: holes, rubbed, fadedLayout: 39 lines + marginalia (recto); 34 lines (verso)
Letter to Joseph from Isaac in Cairo, mentioning ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān and Marseille (?). Dated 5488 of the Era of Creation (= 1728 CE).Condition: holesLayout: 16 lines + marginalia (recto; verso is blank)
This work is a gloss on the second part of Ḥall mushkilāt al-Ishārāt , that is, 'The Resolution of difficult issues in the Ishārāt' , which is a commentary by Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (d.1274) on the Ishārāt wa-al-tanbīhāt (“Pointers and Reminders”) by Avicenna (d.428/1037) Avicenna, 980-1037 , in response to the commentary on the same work by Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606/1209) Rāzī, Fakhr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʻUmar, 1149 or 50-1210 الرازي، فخر الدين محمد بن عمر . Avicenna’s original work is divided into two parts; the first part which deals with logic consists of ten chapters called nahj (a path) نهج and the second part is also divided into ten chapters called namaṭ (a mode or manner of acting)نمط. Being the last philosophical compendium of Avicenna, the Ishārāt received special attention by later Avicennian philosophers, as is evidenced by a great number of commentaries and glosses written on this work from the 6/12th century onward. Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī’s commentary created a platform for more sophisticated discussions. The present gloss can be attributed to Quṭb al-Shīrāzī (d. 1310 or 11), a pupil of Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (d. 1274). This manuscript is a gloss on Ṭūsī, Naṣīr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad, 1201-1274 Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī الطوسي، ناصر الدين محمد بن محمد 's commentary, and not a commentary by him (as the title page would have it), most probably by his well-known student Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī (d.710/1311) or by one of his students. This anonymous collated manuscript, copied in Cairo in Ramaḍān 760/1359 by an Iranian scribe in an informal serifless taʿlīq script, appears to be unique (so far no other copy of this text has been located). It provides yet another proof of the importance of the text of Avicenna not only in Iran but also in the Arab world.Layout: 21 lines to the pageScript: A very early example of taʿlīq scriptAdditions: Catchwords on every verso pageBinding: Rebacked old full-leather Islamic binding with small central decoration (Mamlūk?)
Piyyuṭim by Samuel the Third, pertaining to Parašat Vayḥi (Genesis 47:28-50:26). F. 2r contains most of the ofan; f. 2v contains the meʾora and the first part of the ahava; f. 1r contains the final two lines of the מי כמוך, all of the י׳ מלכנו, and most of the ועד מתי, which concludes on f. 1v. F. 1v contains a colophon giving the name of the copyist (Abraham b. Aaron) and the date and place of completion of the copy (Cairo, Thursday, 14 Av 1406 of the Seleucid Era (= 1095 CE)).Condition: Holes, slightly stainedLayout: 12–16 lines
Letter sent to ha-Talmid ha-Baḥur Nissim Agostaro (אגושתארו) in Alexandria from his father Solomon Agostaro, including a warning that he should not come to Cairo before the epidemic has finished, because every day one or two people die. There are greetings to many people, among them Mordechai, Esther, Šabbetay and Samuel.Condition: faded, stainedLayout: 14 lines (recto); 2 lines (verso)
Leaf from a Judaeo-Arabic version of ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā, Taḏkirat al-Kaḥḥālīn (‘Memorandum for opticians’), end of first discourse and beginning of second discourse (ed. Hyderabad 1964, pp. 39-42). The end of the first discourse preserves a note by the copyist that records that the manuscript was copied in Cairo in the year 1511 of the Seleucid era, corresponding to the year 1200 CE.Condition: Torn, holes, slightly rubbed, slightly stainedLayout: 19 lines
Part of a medical notebook dealing with ophthalmology. Recto contains a list of simples used for curing eye complaints and follows roughly the list found in ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā, Taḏkirat al-kaḥḥālīn (ed. Hyderabad 1964, p. 347). Simples mentioned include antimony, sarcocolla, ceruse, acacia, lichen, gum of sal ammoniac, myrtle, melitot, galbanum, onions, borax, lettuce seeds, zinc oxide, and egg white. Verso: letter referring to a certain Sulaymān Ibn Mūsā, the physician, who is practising medicine at the hospital in Cairo.Condition: Torn, holes, slightly stainedLayout: 9 lines (recto); 10 lines (verso)
A legal document concerning the delivery of a divorce deed between Hiba ha-Kohen b. Mawhūb and Sarwa bat Hillel. A proxy, Joseph ha-Kohen b. Solomon, is appointed to deliver a bill of divorce. Written by Nathaniel b. Yefet he-Ḥaver, witnessed by Aaron b. Abraham, and dated 1091 CE in Cairo. There is a postscript (correction to the deed?) in a different hand, concluding with an ʿalāma, ישועה. Below is a lengthy responsum by ʿAmram ha-Kohen b. Aaron about this legal document. The responsum is headed with a decorated quote from Isaiah 50:4.Condition: completeLayout: 73 lines
Recto: liturgical text in Hebrew. Verso: part of a deed of sale in which Maḵlūf b. Jābir b. Nāṣir buys a house in al-Muʿizziyya (Cairo) from […] b. ʿAlī b. Ḥusayn b. Ibrahim b. ʿAlī, one of two trustees of Cairene legacies, under the supervision of Abū l-Ḥasan Masarra b. ʿAbdallāh. Maḵlūf’s father, Jābir b. Nāṣir, the miller, acts as his agent in the transaction. The house previously belonged to the wife of the Amir, Sitt al-Dawla, and is apparently now intestate, hence the involvement of the trustees. Ca. 11th-12th century.Condition: Torn, holesLayout: 32 lines (recto); 11 lines (verso)
Recto: liturgical text in Hebrew. Verso: part of a deed of sale in which Maḵlūf b. Jābir b. Nāṣir buys a house in al-Muʿizziyya (Cairo) from […] b. ʿAlī b. Ḥusayn b. Ibrahim b. ʿAlī, one of two trustees of Cairene legacies, under the supervision of Abū l-Ḥasan Masarra b. ʿAbdallāh. Maḵlūf’s father, Jābir b. Nāṣir, the miller, acts as his agent in the transaction. The house previously belonged to the wife of the Amir, Sitt al-Dawla, and is apparently now intestate, hence the involvement of the trustees. Ca. 11th-12th century.Condition: Torn, holesLayout: 18 lines (recto); 6 lines (verso)
Decree of the caliph al-Ḥākim to the Karaite community in Fusṭāṭ and elsewhere granting them administrative independence from the Rabbanites, on the basis of the differences between the two communities regarding law and ritually kosher food. Ca. 386-411 AH (= 996-1021 CE).Condition: Torn, holes, slightly rubbed, slightly stainedLayout: 11 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Document in which Solomon b. Šimon initiates divorce from his wife, Sittūt bat Šemarya. Dated Tuesday, 16th Ṭevet 1399 (= 1088 CE) in Cairo. There are no witnesses, so the divorce was probably not completed. Subsequently, a new geṭ was drawn up by the same scribe (probably Aaron b. Abraham).Condition: holesLayout: 18 lines (recto; verso is blank)