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)
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: letter from Abraham to his mother, sister, maternal uncle, and to Sittī (my mistress) and Abū Isḥāq. He also mentions Samuel, Ḥayyim and the niece Ḥabība. Verso: letter to Abraham from his mother, with a small postscript to his wife Rachel, and the address יצל ליד רבינן יצו on recto.Condition: holes, rubbedLayout: 30 lines + marginalia (recto); 26 lines (verso)
Note from Abraham, sent accompanying אלסדר (presumably a prayerbook), with an apology for the delay.Condition: slightly tornLayout: 8 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Letter in an unskilled hand sent from Gaza to Alexandria by Abraham, who is on his way to Damascus, to his mother and his wife. He sends greetings to ʿImrān and Joseph.Condition: holes, rubbedLayout: 14 lines + marginalia (recto); 4 lines (verso)
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)
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)
Letter to Abū Saʿīd b. Abū Naṣr from Abraham Ibn al-Muqaddasī, relating to the buying of dates. Mentions al-Fayyūm and Judah b. Yešuʿa.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 19 lines (recto); 17 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
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)
Recommentation letter by Abraham Maimonides for the Nasi Obadiah, mentioning Peraḥya the judge. On verso are biblical citations from Isaiah 29:17-19.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 22 lines + marginalia (recto); 5-9 lines in 2 columns (verso)
Beginning of a letter or note in the hand of Abraham b. Maimonides to Moses, mentioning the elder Abū Naṣr b. Banīn (?). The note is prefaced with הנה אל ישועתי from Isaiah 12:2.Condition: torn, rubbedLayout: 5 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Recto: letter from Abraham Masʿūd, dealing with trade in silk and linen, and mentioning Elijah Saloniko (אליא שלונקו). Verso: accounts.Condition: torn, holes, fadedLayout: 29 lines (recto); accounts + marginalia (verso)
Letter by Abraham al-Dimašqī the teacher b. Jethro, with lengthy Hebrew blessings, and asking for support.Condition: torn, holesLayout: 22 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Recto: part of a Karaite ketubba (it mentions the custom of the בני מקרא), accompanied by a note. Addresses in Judaeo-Arabic (in different hands and ink, from each other and the ketubba) have been added to the blank space on recto and to verso. The sender is Abraham b. Abū Joseph, and the recipient, a Karaite (probably, suggested by הששנה הפרחת) named Manṣūr b. Abū l-Ḥasan of Damascus.Condition: Badly tornLayout: 10 lines (recto); 6 lines (verso)
Fragment of the start of letter, from Abraham b. Benjamin the teacher, quoting Isaiah 58:11, Psalm 132:11, Zechariah 10:6 and Psalm 18:45.Condition: tornLayout: 15 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Recto: draft of a Hebrew letter concerning consignments of money, charitable collections and the sending of books. Verso: Judaeo-Arabic letter from Abraham b. Hillel, introduced by 1 Samuel 25:6. It describes the arrival of a letter from ‘the son’ (probably the addressee’s) Moses ha-Kohen and sends congratulations on the opening of a perfumer’s shop, with jottings mentioning Manṣūr Ibn al-[...].Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 19 lines + marginalia (recto); 18 lines + marginalia (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. Jacob, referring to Ramla. Prefaced with a Judaeo-Arabic basmalla.Condition: torn, stainedLayout: 14 lines (recto); 1 line (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)
Short letter from Abraham b. Nathan to an unknown recipient, acknowledging the receipt of cheese and a corresponding heqšer (certificate of kashrut), brought by Ṣedaqa b. Šemarya.Condition: holes, slightly rubbedLayout: 8 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Letter from Abraham b. Saʿadya (the Ḥaver from Hebron) in Bilbays to Moses ha-Kohen b. Ḡulayb in Fusṭāṭ.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 25 lines (recto); 10 lines (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)
Letter from Abraham b. Šabbetay of Minyat Zifta, Egypt, to various congregations, including Bilbays and Benhā, concerning the preparation of cheese for Passover.Condition: holes, rubbedLayout: 19 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Letter from Abraham b. Šabbetay, judge of Minyat Zifta, to Abū Isḥāq ha-Kohen b. Samuel. It’s a personal letter that discusses various bits of news, including an annoying house guest is an inveterate gambler. It mentions a number of people, including Abū l-Faraj, Abū l-Ḵayr, Abraham Ibn al-Azhar and his son Ibrahim the cantor.Layout: 20 lines + marginalia (recto); 16 lines + marginalia (verso)
An astronomical treatise by Abraham b. ʿAnzar(?) on the seven planets and the model of the Universe. Mentions Hipparchus, Ptolemy, Abraham bar Ḥayya, Copernicus and the philosopher Abū Bakr b. al-Ṣāyiḡ (ibn Bajja), whose book the author read with a Muslim.Condition: Torn, holes, slightly rubbed, slightly stainedLayout: 15–27 lines (2v is blank)
Recto: end of a piyyuṭ, acrostic שמ]ריה], and a poem for Purim by Abraham ibn Ezra, יום בהמן אף אל חרה ליהודים היתה אורה. Verso: piyyuṭ for Simḥat Tora,בקרוב עת אומן להסיעו מנשיה, and a second entitled בסיטה, beginning כל אשר חי ימות.Condition: stained, rubbedLayout: 16 lines (recto); 17 lines (verso)
From a collection of poetic works by Abraham ibn Ezra, including a mi kamoḵa אל בפלא אשורנו בלבי, with a rubric ולה גירה and numbered 110, and an epistle written to Samuel b. Jāmiʿ, which is numbered 115 in the margin.Condition: Holes, rubbedLayout: P2: 18.3 x 13.2; 21 lines
Collection of liturgical poems: (a) [א]ליך קראת[י] with the acrostic אני פרחון (recto); (b) rešut beginning שדי אשר יקשיב לדל, by Saʿadya (verso); (c) the beginning of a third poem, שם אלי מנת גורלי, by Abraham ibn Ezra.Condition: torn, holes, stainedLayout: 16 lines (recto); 18 lines (verso)
Liturgical poems for Purim or for Parašat Zaḵor, including (a) part of אחשוק ולא אדע מקום עופר by Abraham ibn Ezra; (b) a poem headed אחרת אני ברוך חזק, which begins אם צר לעומתי; (c) a third poem, beginning lost, which includes the hemistich וברית שבת כלולה.Condition: holes, stainedLayout: 10–11 lines
Piyyuṭim: (a) ממכון שבתך עניני יה בערכי לך עתירה, with the acrostic משה בר [...], headed בשמך רחמ; (b) אם תאהב דרך אמת ללמוד by Abraham ibn Ezra; (c) ארץ מה לך עוד נבוכה by Abraham ibn Ezra; (d) שני זיתים נכרתים by Solomon ibn Gabirol.Condition: torn, stainedLayout: 10–17 lines
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
Note to the teacher Nāsir, mentioning a certain Ibn [ʿAbd] al-Raḥmān and lists a number of goods in pounds (raṭl). Possibly sent by Abū Mūsā.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 16 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Additional leaf of a letter, probably from Abū Naṣr b. Abraham of Alexandria, concerned with business matters and Sukkot greetings.Condition: holesLayout: 30 lines + marginalia (recto; verso is blank)
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 Saʿīd to his son, who had recently been ill, concerning the forwarding of responsa.Layout: 14 lines + marginalia (recto); 2 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 concerning business matters written by Abū Surūr; addressed to ‘my master al-Kohen’, mentioning Abū Jacob Joseph and a certain Judah.Condition: torn, holes, stainedLayout: 10 lines (recto); 1 line (verso)
Title page and beginning of an introduction of a polemical treatise on the Karaite calendar by Abū Yaʿqūb Joseph b. Abraham al-Baṣīr, entitled Al-Kitāb ʿalā Aṣḥāb al-Iʿtidāl (“Book against the People of the Equinox”). According to the introduction, Joseph b. Abraham al-Baṣīr was moved to dictate this book when he saw that people incorrectly established the date of Passover because they relied on the equinox instead of the state of the barley crop.Condition: Torn, rubbed, slightly stainedLayout: 11 lines (recto); 4 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)
Letter by Abū Zikrī Kohen in Fusṭāṭ, sent to Alexandria, containing news about Aden.Condition: torn, holesLayout: 14 lines + marginalia (recto); 13 lines + marginalia (verso)
Letter from Abū Zikrī b. Abū l-Riḍā to Yešuʿa b. Zechariah, mentioning correspondence and dealings with a large number of people, including Ḥasan, the servant of Menaḥem, Abū l-Faraj the glazier, Simḥa, ʿAbd al-Muḥsin b. Ḥarb al-Mukārī, Joseph, Samuel, and Abū l-Ḥasan.Condition: holesLayout: 27 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Letter from Abū l-Barakāt b. Ṭayyib, whose son is in Dammūh. He sends greetings to Abū Naṣr and Abū l-Ṭāhir.Condition: holesLayout: 19 lines (recto; verso is blank)
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)
Abū l-Faraj Hārūn, Muḵtaṣar Hidāyat al-Qāriʾ (‘Shorter Guide for the Reader’): vocalisation of certain words with segol/ṣere and with qameṣ and pataḥ, quoting Job 31:35; 8:19; 33:29; Leviticus 15:25; Psalms 42:10; 43:2; Job 7:20.Condition: torn, stainedLayout: 7 lines
Abū l-Faraj Hārūn, Muḵtaṣar Hidāyat al-Qāriʾ (‘Shorter Guide for the Reader’): on vocalisation/accents, e.g. the vocalisation of קול with qameṣ or ḥolem, quoting Psalms 35:10; Proverbs 19:7;Condition: tornLayout: 7 lines (recto); 6 lines (verso)
Abū l-Faraj Hārūn, Muḵtaṣar Hidāyat al-Qāriʾ (‘Shorter Guide for the Reader’): on accents.Condition: badly torn, holesLayout: 6 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Abū l-Faraj Hārūn, Muḵtaṣar Hidāyat al-Qāriʾ (‘Shorter Guide for the Reader’): on the exchanges of the letters.Condition: torn, holes, slightly rubbed, slightly fadedLayout: 12 lines (recto); 11 lines (verso)