Geniza Lab

State document. Petition to a Fatimid official titled ʿAmīd al-Dawla requesting that the state seize the petitioner's properties in Palestine because they are not producing revenue and are essentially abandoned, and the petitioner doesn’t want to incur further liability on them. This probably dates to just before the reassignment of iqṭāʿ properties in 1107-1108 CE, when state revenues had dwindled and government officials were harassing the owners of iqṭāʿāt for revenue. On verso there is Hebrew liturgical poetry. (Information from CUDL)

State document, Fatimid period. Petition to a vizier of Al-ʿĀḍid li-Dīn Allāh from a baker in Fusṭāṭ concerning a debt that he had incurred with a certain ʿAbd al-Bāqī b. Wardar and is not able to repay. He is asking for a decree allowing him to pay his debt in instalments. On verso are two versions of the same reply to the petition, in which the judge Kāmal al-Dīn is entrusted with clarifying the status of the petitioner and working out a solution for him. Dating: 556–59 AH, which is 1161–64 CE. (Information from Khan and CUDL)

Recto, with address on verso: Petition from Muslim b. ʿAlī b. Muslim to Abū l-Faraj b. [...] b. Yūḥannā. Phrases that jump out are "wa-laysa fī hādhihi l-nawāḥī mā...." (l. 11) and "qad ʿalimat ḥaḍratuhu annī rajulun mastūr" (l. 12). Needs further examination. On verso there is also the end of a Judaeo-Arabic letter: "I greet you and all the friends, and may R. Natan and Rabbenu and his son be in perfect well-being." In the same hand, there are also liturgical compositions for Shabbat.

Legal documents in Arabic script. There are four distinct entries. The entry on recto is extremely long. There is a Judaeo-Arabic filing note in the upper right corner. Two of the entries on verso are dated: Shaʿbān 805 AH, which is 1403 CE. Needs further examination

Recto: deed in which ʿUmar b. Mūsā, a dealer in oil, leases the lower floor of a house in Fusṭāṭ from Yaʾʾāsa bint Ismaʿīl al-Kohen ‘the Jewess’. The deed provides a detailed physical description of ʿUmar: ‘average stature, pure reddy-brown in complexion, a smooth broad forehead, fine eyebrows separated in the middle, fleshy eye-lids, dark brown eyes, a wide, thick nose, prominent cheekbones and a round beard’. The property abuts the house of Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Wāḥid b. ʿAlī, the house of Abū l-Ḥusayn Ismaʿīl b. al-Ḥusayn al-ʿAbbāsī, and the house of the daughter of Abū l-Ḥusayn Ismaʿīl b. al-Ḥusayn al-ʿAbbāsī. Dated Ḏū al-Qaʿda 520 AH (= November 1126 CE). Futūḥ b. Faḍl and Abū ʿUmar Daʾūd b. Ḥasan formally recognised the lessor. Witnessed by ʿAbd al-Bāqī b. Ibrahim Ibn al-Salam, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. Aḥmad b. al-Ḥusayn, and ʿAbdallāh b. […] b. Aḥmad. Verso: confirmation that the payments specified on recto have been received, written by ʿAbd al-Wahhāb b. Aḥmad. (Information from CUDL)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely Tammuz 1232 CE, and almost definitely 1232–37 CE. See below for explanation. Writer and addressee are unidentified. The writer dictated the letter to his son. They were evidently affluent merchants and suppliers to the army. The letter is mainly about the controversy over the prayer reforms of the Nagid Avraham Maimonides. The sons of the Sixth (the family members of the previous dynasty of Nagids) submitted a petition against Avraham to the Sultan al-Malik al-ʿĀdil, to which Avraham responded with a counter-petition signed by almost 200 people from the community, testifying that he had not forced his prayer reforms on anybody. The writer maintains that all those who signed in favor of Avraham testified falsely and deserve to be punished by the shaving of their beards, for he claims that Avraham certainly did force his prayer reforms on the community in their synagogues. The writer goes on to report on recent deaths, including that of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu (who predeceased his father) and Yūsuf b. al-Kharrāz (who ate dinner and went to sleep and died; in the morning, his face was "black as ink"). There is a section on the prices of various commodities, a section on relations with the military officer Kātib al-ʿArab, and greetings. As for the justification for the dating: Avraham Maimonides died in 1237. There were two sultans named al-Malik al-ʿĀdil. The first was the brother of Saladin and reigned 1200–18. The second was the grandson of the first (the son of al-Malik al-Kāmil) and reigned 1238–40, after the death of Avraham Maimonides. However, during the years 1232–38 when al-Malik al-Kāmil lived in Syria, al-Malik al-ʿĀdil the Younger sometimes represented his father in Egypt. Goitein determined that the reference must be to al-Malik al-ʿĀdil the First, which would date the document to 1204–18. But the plot thickens, because Shelomo b. Eliyyhau—whose death is reported in this document—was still alive in the month of Av in 1231 CE (Med Soc II, 575 n. 60) and Heshvan 1231 CE (Freer F 1908.44H). The present letter is dated Sunday 5 Tammuz. This narrows the window to 1232–37 CE. The trouble is that the 5th of Tammuz can never fall on a Sunday.... so either the scribe was off by a day or meant to write 15th of Tammuz. The latter option is supported by the phrase "may its sadness be turned to joy," which might refer to the upcoming 17th of Tammuz fast. (Information mainly from Friedman's article on this document; see also Mediterranean Society, I, p. 141; II, p. 485).

Collection of Judaeo-Arabic proverbs, such as those used in letters. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

List of contributors to charity during the time of Abu Ya'qub al-hakim, headed by Mahfuz al-Suri, ca. 1095 (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, App. C 79)

Account of revenue from rent ca. October 1201. A double leaf of a notebook, of which only the upper part is preserved. It was originally an account of both revenue and expenditures, but only a few items are preserved of the latter. Its first part contains revenue for the month of Marheshwan, followed by that for Kislev. The account contains 27 names of inhabited apartments belonging to to 15 compounds, inclusive of the funduq. The total revenue of Marheshwan was 269 dirhams, as against the expected 555.5 indicating a loss in revenue of 286.5, i.e. more than half. This is of course one of the indications of the famine and distress of the period. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 388 #103.) In the hand of the court scribe Yosef b. Shemuel b. Seʿadya ha-Levi (c.1181–1209).

Verso: Medical prescription or recipe in Arabic script. Quantities of the ingredients are written out both in words and in Greek/Coptic numerals. (Information from FGP and AA.)

Recto: Legal document in Judaeo-Arabic, which partly consists of a deathbed will. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi. Location: Fustat. Dated: Wednesday, 24 Iyyar, 1437 Seleucid, which is 1126 CE. The testator appoints someone as his agent in all his affairs, but if he should recover (ואן חב אללה תעאלי ונקהת מן מרצי ותצרפת וכרגת אלטריק ודכלת אלחמאם), this provision is void. The continuation of the document describes what happened on Sunday the 28th of the same month and mentions Rabbenu ha-Meʿulle (but it is torn away here). AA. ASE.

Story from Kalīla wa-Dimna, with a large illustration, in color, of a lion cub and his mother. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Folios 1v-2v (the fragment is conserved the wrong way round) contain Suras 1 and 2:1-10 from the Qur’an in Hebrew script, followed by omens for undertaking a journey. F. 1r is blank apart from the owner's name Samuel b. Judah, written in a different hand to the text. Ca. 11th century. Information from CUDL.

Auguries/omens for undertaking a journey

Inventory of the items from a dead man's estate that are in Alexandria, mainly books (two pages) and various household items (last page). In Judaeo-Arabic and Greek/Coptic numerals, with some Arabic script. A selection of the books: the Torah; the Tuffāḥa on Leviticus; commentary (tafsīr) on Tehillim (this entry crossed out); Shemuel b. Ḥofni's treatise on partnerships (al-Sharikāt); Saadya's translation (sharḥ) of the Torah; many more sacred books; and what may be a composition on love (Alfāẓ ʿalā l-Ulfa). AA. ASE.

A book list of a book seller. Allony et al date this to the first half of the 13th century, while Frenkel dates it to the second half of the 11th century. In my view it is closer to the end of the 12th century, based on the handwriting. On verso there is a medical recipe in Arabic script (See Isaacs, Medical, p. 52). AA

Yefet the book seller is reminding the buyer - the Nasi himself, about a debt left to pay for buying books. (data from Alloni, The Jewish Library, p. 218-219). AA

A book list arranged by genres written by Meir b. Hillel (See Frenkel, The compassionate, p. 146). Published Allony, The Jewish Library, p. 148-151. AA

One page is a book list, and one page is an inventory of items of clothing without prices except the first 4 items. Dating: early 13th century. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Dowry list. Groom: Elʿazar b. Ḥalfon ha-Levi. Bride: Karīma bt. Yosef ha-Levi. Early marriage payment: 5 dinars. Delayed payment: 5 dinars. The dowry adds up to ~70 dinars. AA