Geniza Lab

Receipt for the capitation tax of Mubārak b. Ibrāhīm Ibn Sabrā, in Fustat. After the basmala, the trigger phrase is "tadhkira bism" (memorandum/receipt in the name of—unusual wording but also found in ENA 3967.25). Registration mark at upper left: al-ḥamdu lil-lāh shukran li-raḥmatih (praise be to God and gratitude for His mercy). At upper right: al-shukr lil-lāh taʿālā (gratitude to God, may He be exalted). Date: difficult to read, perhaps 464 AH = 1071/72 CE. The payer is known from documents ca. 1049–90 CE (see Goitein, Mediterranean Society III, p. 176).

Arabic script (VMR)

Arabic script (VMR)

Arabic script (VMR)

Arabic script (VMR)

Arabic script (VMR)

Arabic script (VMR)

Arabic script (VMR)

Arabic script (VMR)

Arabic script (VMR)

Petition or formal letter from ʿAbdallāh b. Bū Bakr to ʿIzz al-Dīn the amīr shikār (master of the hunt). In Arabic script. Dating: Mamluk-era. Only the first few lines are preserved (tarjama, basmala, and first two lines of the actual document, beginning with a taqbīl), and there is an address on verso. ASE

Very cryptic document in Arabic script. Contains phrases such as "al-aqlāmī al-mālikī al-nāṣirī," wa-l-salām," and a reference to "al-armān." Needs examination. There is also some Hebrew script, probably added later.

Technical table of some kind. In Arabic script. Calendrical?

Fiscal account. Needs examination.

Note in Arabic script addressed to a Nasi ("al-mawlā al-ajall al-nāsī al-jalīl al-nabīl..."). Conveying a message about the bearer (recommendation?). Needs further examination.

Brief medical prescription in Arabic script, scrawled on the back of a torn up state document (of which only 1-2 words from the beginning of two lines are preserved).

Fragment of a letter about government business. In Arabic script. ". . . if he has it done by the jahbadh of the arsenal (al-ṣināʿa), that would be better for him, but your opinion is the most excellent. And Ibn Bū l-Ghanāʾim—I asked him to bring the report(?) for the Dīwān al-Mufrad and to come himself as well, so that we can reach an agreement over the deed of his ḍamān which. . . . that he made for your highness a memorandum (tadhkira) for the delayed taʿrīfs. . . out of fear that Ibn Bū l-Ghanāʾim will be audited or anything else. And you will not find any knowledge of this with him(?), also, they will be submitted(?) without signatures (khuṭūṭ). As for the market of the [...], when it was brought to his attention, there is no doubt that he supplied it to the Dīwān al-Hilālī, the documents (awrāq) of the treasury (bayt al-māl). . . ." ASE

Fragment of a legal document in Arabic script (very neatly written, with diacritics). Concerning al-muʿallim Ibrāhīm and Isḥāq and a house. Dating: Probably late Mamluk or early Ottoman-era. Needs examination.

A learner's exercise of the beginning of a letter in Arabic script. On verso there are additional jottings in Arabic script, and a drawing.

Some sort of business-related note (receipt, order, or account). Mainly in Arabic script. The Arabic portion reads "the elder Bū l-Faraj: sal ammoniac 1/4 pound, indigo 1/4 pound" (الشيخ بو الفرج نشاذر ربع رطل نيلة ربع رطل). There are two Greek/Coptic numerals at lower left. Underneath, in Coptic script, ⲡⲟⲩⲗϥⲁⲣⲁϫ (= poulfaraj = Bū l-Faraj). (Reading of the Coptic kindly provided by Peter Tarras.)