Geniza Lab

A fiscal document, one of several state documents recycled by ʿEli b. Yeḥezqel ha-Kohen, active in Jerusalem, d. ca. 1055, social services officer (parnas) of the Jerusalem Rabbanite community, a correspondent of Efrayim b. Shemarya. Other of his recycled texts include T-S NS 109.34, T-S NS 110.6, T-S NS 199.154, T-S NS 277.168, BL Or. 5557B.19, T-S 8H22.18, T-S H5.11, T-S H7.25, T-S K6.33, T-S Misc. 10.32, T-S NS 109.34, Moss. IV,383.1. Signed documents in his name: T-S 13J36.6, writing from Ramla to Eli ha-Kohen b. Yahya, before 1071 (the head of the yeshiva is referred to as still residing in Jerusalem); T-S 10J29.5, a letter from Jerusalem; see Goitein for five letters of Eli I ha-Kohen b. Ezekiel sent through ʿUmar b. Yusuf and son(s) to a postal agency in Old Cairo, called three times "al-Ḥusayn b. Ṭāhir," and twice "Najāʾ b. al-Ḥusayn al-Anṣārī and Tamim b. Najāʾ"

Blessings on the Fatimid caliph al-Āmir bi-aḥkām Allāh (1101-31 CE) and on the Gaon Masliah b. Shelomo ha-Kohen, head of the Jerusalem Yeshiva, which then had its seat in Cairo. The postscript includes Masliah’s cousin Eliyyahu the Fourth and his three sons, which the writer indicates should be inserted right before the blessing for Masliah; the date of composition was likely between 1127 and 1131 CE. (“Prayers from the Geniza for Fatimid Caliphs, the Head of Jerusalem Yeshiva, the Jewish community and the Local Congregation,'' in Studies in Judaica, Karaitica and Islamica, Presented to Leon Nemoy...Bar-Ilan University, 1982, 49-57) EMS See also Moss. L.62

Legal document in Arabic script. There is part of a witness's signature on bottom. On verso there is Hebrew literary text. Join: Marina Rustow. The date 437 AH appears in the first line, which is 1045/46 CE.

State document in Arabic script. Likely a fiscal account There is a ḥamdala and a ṣalwala at the bottom. Reused for Hebrew literary text.

Document in Arabic script. Reused for Hebrew literary text. Needs examination.

Fragment in Arabic script. Only the beginning of one line is preserved. Reused for Hebrew literary text.

Decree, or rather record of the issuing of a decree/rescript (tawqīʿ) from the chancery of al-Ḥāfiẓ, as a response to a petition (ruqʿa) sent by the judge Sanāʾ al-Mulk ʿAbdallāh b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. Abī Kāmil regarding restoring the funds, oil and glass that used to be bestowed upon his mosque out of the warehouse in Fusṭāṭ. Dated Muḥarram 532 AH (= September-October 1137 CE). It contains a reproduction of the wording of the authorizing minute (tawqīʿ) introduced by the words mā mithāluhu, as is the case in T-S Ar. 40.41 [ALAD no. 116]. (Information from Khan, ALAD, doc. 118, and from CUDL) Significant from a material point of view because it shows evidence of once having been part of a bifolio, so suggests that such records were kept in quires or folders of some sort—i.e., evidence of archives. (MR). On verso there are Hebrew piyyuṭim including a zulat.

This fragment contains a poem for marriage and part of marriage stipulations

Report from a Fatimid official. Dated: Dhū l-Qaʿda 495 AH (August–Sept 1102) — but this reading might be incorrect. Talks about the cutting off of the roads. From 1102 to 1107 there was a Fatimid campaign out of Ascalon against the crusaders.

Document in Arabic script. Reused for Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic liturgical text. Needs examination.

Official correspondence in Arabic script. Maybe a petition (at least in the sense that the sender is buttering up the addressee and asking for a favor). Mentions "his (the sender's?) brother who is in Fustat...." On verso there is Hebrew literary text (hand of ʿEli b. Yeḥezqel ha-Kohen? See PGPID 23556). Needs further examination.

Document in Arabic script. Accounts?

Accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals.

Letter in Arabic script, in a chancery-esque hand. But the subject matter is more prosaic: "...half for you and half for me... his daily wage will be...." On verso (in a different hand) there is a reference to al-[...] al-sulṭānīyya. On verso there is also a Hebrew piyyuṭ. Needs further examination.

Arabic document written under a piyyut - needs examination.

At the end of a piyyut a list of item, mostly jewels, and money owe by Abu Mansur, amount due to Abu Ali and Abu al-Faraj

Recto: Letter of recommendation in Arabic script. Abū Yūsuf Munajjā asks the addressee in Alexandria to help the bearer, Abū l-Faraj the scholar. (Join by OZ and information from OZ and NV.) Reused for a Hebrew composition in the hand of Nāṣir al-Adīb al-ʿIbrī.

Recto and verso: Hebrew composition in the hand of Nāṣir al-Adīb al-ʿIbrī.

Arabic jottings on verso - needs examination.

few words in Arabic in large spacing - needs examination.