This is a manuscript fragment of a Sefer ha-goralot, or book of lots, for consultation in predicting the future. This system of goralot used Hebrew biblical names paired with numbers, on these leaves from Alon 19 (f. 1r) to Tsadoḳ 28 (f. 4v), with a numbered list of fortunes below each name-number pair. For example, the fortunes for someone selecting by chance the name Samuel or the number 22 include "a war and scuffle, getting stronger, and will not finish and will not surrender (number 1)"; "the children he will bear will be equally male and female, and some will die in his lifetime (number 7)"; "this woman (perhaps if the selector is female) is truly pregnant (maybe meaning extremely pregnant; "harah hi be-emet"; number 9)"; and "many women shall you take during your life, but with two of them (likely together or at the same time; "uve-shetayim") you shall find good (number 9, repeated mistakenly). The manuscript likely originated in Iraq in the first half of the 19th century (based on the paper and the script), but Syria is also a possibility. The writing is in 22 long lines in Sefardic square script with bold square script used for the headings of names and numbers and numbered lists below them for the fortunes. Disbound, with insect damage and staining on the edges, likely from a genizah. This item was previously laid in CAJS Rar Ms 519, Goralot, segulot, and amulets by Meʼir Tsabaḥ (Djmal).
Language:
Hebrew
Provenance:
Sold by Mizrahi Bookstore (Brooklyn, New York) to Jacob Djmal.; Sold by Jacob Djmal (Brooklyn, New York), 2018.
Relation:
The Elis & Ruth Douer Endowed Fund Home Page: http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017.12/1229047
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