Babylonian Talmud, Beraḵot 44b-48b, with Mišna Beraḵot 7:2-5 inserted into the text on P5 recto.Condition: torn, rubbed, stainedLayout: 22.3 x 11; 22.2 x 14.8; 22.2 x 15.3; 22.3 x 15; 22.3 x 14.2; 8-29 lines
Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 45b-46b; 49a; Bava Qama 111b-112a. The marginalia (in a smaller script) is an addition of 11 lines to the end of Sanhedrin chapter 6, probably taken from Babylonian Talmud, Hagiga 5a.Condition: torn, holes, slightly stained, fadedLayout: 21-29 lines + marginalia
P1: Babylonian Talmud, Meʿila 16b-17a. P2: Mišna Avot 1:7 followed by אבי יצחק; blank on verso.Condition: torn, holes, slightly stainedLayout: 18.7 x 21.7; 3-18 lines
Recto: Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 2a–3a. Verso: ownership note mentioning Joseph b. Tiqva and Tiqva b. Yefet b. Joseph b. Judah.Condition: Torn, holes, badly rubbed, slightly fadedLayout: 18 lines (recto); 4 lines (verso)
Babylonian Talmud, Qiddušin 50b-51b, with deviations from the standard edition. On verso three lines are written inverted and contain a short passage from Babylonian Talmud, Beraḵot 54b copied twice in two different hands, probably as a writing exercise.Condition: Good conditionLayout: 23 lines (recto); 12 lines (verso)
Falaquera, Nathan ben Joel, 13th cent Nathan ben Joel Falaquera ’s learned Hebrew compendium of medicine ‘Balm for the Body’. A theoretical treatise in the tradition of the great Arabic compendia, Falaquera’s compendium was divided into four parts (theoretical medicine; practical medicine; diseases; drugs) and prefaced with a philosophical discussion on the importance of the study of medicine. Its intention was to acquaint Jewish physicians with the knowledge of medicine available in the Arabic-speaking world (both Islamic and Classical sources). It appears to have been a popular work in the 14th and 15th centuries, with more than a dozen manuscripts from this period extant. This copy, in an Ashkenazi hand on 15th-century Italian paper, is missing substantial sections, however, and seems not to have been finished, breaking off midway through a page (mid-word, in fact) on f. 145r. It is, however, a particularly fine and large manuscript, in two columns with wide margins, with skilfully executed headings in red, green, blue and brown ink, foliage and scrollwork around chapter and section headings, as well as small pen illustrations (including pierced hearts, faces, poppies, bells) frequently brightening up the section numbers. The manuscript’s first three folios are missing, so it begins with the end of the table of contents (col. 1 on f. 4r) and continues with Nathan’s introduction and the first section on theoretical medicine (4r-46v); this section closes on f. 46v with ובכאן נשלם החלק הראשון ועתה אתחיל החלק השני; the section on practical medicine follows (46v-145r) before breaking off. The title of the work is written in a later square hand at the top of f. 4r, ספר צרי הגוף. Further marginal notes, corrections and additions in various hands can be found at f. 5r and rarely throughout the text, e.g., 65r. Where illuminated headings have been cut out of the manuscript, some traces remain, e.g., f. 12r. Many smaller illuminated headings have survived, e.g., f. 21r. Descenders on the lowest line of each column are often adorned with tiny illustrations, usually faces, e.g., 34r, 35r and 40v. Section numbers are similarly treated, e.g., 57v, 58r and 112r. The censor's signature occurs at the end of the text on f. 145r, ‘Gio[vanni] dominico carretto 1610’.Condition: Affected by damp and ink corrosion, many initial pages torn or excised.Layout: 42-48 lines in two columns
Recto: benediction המלאך הגאל for a boy reading the Torah. Verso: the Arabic word عنز, ‘goat’, written repeatedly to form a circle of text and a few Hebrew letters.Condition: torn, stainedLayout: 4 lines (recto), 1 line (verso)
The fragment contains the text of a blessing on a particularly important ‘representative of the merchants’, which mostly consists of names and titles.Condition: tornLayout: 12 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Recto: a Hebrew blessing followed by a passage in Aramaic on ritual enclosure (ערוב חצרות). In the right margin there are remains of two lines in Judaeo-Arabic with a square letter aleph between them. Verso: an unidentified text mentioning qidduš pesaḥ and possibly quoting Isaiah 19:25. At the bottom of the page two barely legible lines in Judaeo-Arabic mention the elder Abū l-ʿAbbās.Condition: Torn, holes, rubbed, stainedLayout: 6 lines + marginalia (recto); 12 lines (verso)
P2 f.1 followed by P1 f. 1 and P3 f. 2: Birkat ha-Mazon. P3 f. 1, P1 f. 2 and P2 f. 2: qaddiš. P4: Judaeo-Arabic letter sent by Ismaʿīl to al-Šayḵ al-Ḥaver David ha-Kohen, mentioning the elder Abraham and Damascus. The letter starts on the current verso. A line of address in Arabic script is found on recto. P5: The cover page and beginning of birkat ha-mazon, copied by Mešullam b. Yefet.Condition: Torn, holes, slightly stainedLayout: 5–15 lines
Genesis 1:12-14 and 1:20-21, with an inscription concerning ownership in the lower margin: אלירושלמיין במצר.Condition: torn, holesLayout: 6 lines + marginalia
A Karaite version of the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew is written in Arabic script but with Tiberian vowels and cantillation signs. 2 Samuel 10:9-19; 13:14-32.Condition: Torn, holes, stained, fadedLayout: 9-11 lines
A Karaite version of the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew is written in Arabic script but with Tiberian vowels and cantillation signs. 2 Samuel 10:9-19; 13:14-32.Condition: Torn, holesLayout: 10 lines
A Karaite version of the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew is written in Arabic script but with Tiberian vowels and cantillation signs. Ezekiel 16:24-40; 16:48-17:1.Condition: Torn, holesLayout: 9 lines
A Karaite version of the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew is written in Arabic script but with Tiberian vowels and cantillation signs. Isaiah 29:24-30:9.Condition: Torn, holesLayout: 9 lines
A Karaite version of the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew is written in Arabic script. Jeremiah 44:13-22; 48:1-13.Condition: Badly torn, holesLayout: 9-10 lines
A Karaite version of the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew is written in Arabic script but with Tiberian vowels. Numbers 19:6-9, 9-13.Condition: Torn, holesLayout: 10 lines
A Karaite version of the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew is written in Arabic script but with Tiberian vowels and cantillation signs. Daniel 5:16-22.Condition: Torn, holesLayout: 9 lines
A Karaite version of the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew is written in Arabic script but with Tiberian vowels and cantillation signs. 1 Samuel 7:7-14.Condition: Torn, holes.Layout: 9 lines
A Karaite version of the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew is written in Arabic script but with Tiberian vowels and cantillation signs. 1 Samuel 10:12-14, 17-18.Condition: Torn, holesLayout: 4 lines
A Karaite version of the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew is written in Arabic script but with Tiberian vowels and cantillation signs. Ezra 2:47-62.Condition: Badly torn, holes, stained, fadedLayout: 9 lines
The end of the reading (Prophets) for the second day of Roš ha-Šana, Jeremiah 31:14, 20, followed by Isaiah 57:14–58:6, for Yom Kippur.Condition: holes, badly rubbedLayout: 16 lines (recto); 17 (verso)
Genesis 49:30-50:18; Exodus 4:14-5:10. Unvocalised, but with verse divisions. Marginal corrections in a different hand and ink.Condition: TornLayout: 18-23 lines in 2 columns + marginalia
1 Kings 17:12-22:54 and 2 Kings 1:1-2:15, with verse divisions. Parts of the text have been overwritten, and there is a marginal correction of an instance of homoioteleuton. Decorated ס at various places in the text.Condition: Torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 19-23 lines + marginalia
Isaiah 42:6-16; 54:1-2, with verse divisions. On verso before Isaiah 54:1 the rubric indicates that the following passage is the hafṭara for Seder 2 at Genesis 6:9.Condition: TornLayout: 14 lines (recto); 13 lines (verso)
A Karaite version of the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew is written in Arabic script. Psalms 35:2-37:39; 109:1-115:13. In most cases only the incipits of the verses are given.Condition: Torn, holesLayout: 24 lines