Geniza Lab

The large house has an arched doorway closed by two dark-brown door leaves. Through it one enters a corridor paved with marble in which there are two benches. From the aforementioned corridor one enters a second corridor, through which one comes to a large qāʿa, or ground floor, comprising two living rooms, facing one another with folding doors fastened on them, the cross boards and outsides of which are carved. One of the two living rooms is longish, its walls are of marble and it has two passages of carved wood, each of which has a door leading to an adjacent cabinet. The reception hall has on its "front" (i.e., the wall opposite the entrance) a "wind catcher," or ventilation shaft, whose floor and walls are of marble. In front of the ventilation shaft there is a gilded washbasin. The reception hall is encircled by a gilded cornice. On the aforementioned ventilation shaft there are folding doors, the cross boards and outsides of which are carved. The ceiling of the room is painted in oil according to the Syrian fashion.

The second living room, which faces the first one described before, has folding doors on its entrance, and on its front a ventilation shaft with folding doors, all of whose cross boards and outsides are carved. The "front" is of marble in different colors.

The ground floor has two ṣuffas, or covered benches, facing each other, with marble walls and ceilings painted in oil.

In the open court of the qāʿa, there is a fountain of marble, and the entire court of this qaca, both its floor and its walls, are covered with marble. There are also various closets with doors, whose cross boards and outsides are of carved wood.

The qāʿa includes a kitchen, as well as two loggias, which look on the open court of the ground floor, and each of which one reaches by a staircase of stone.

The floor of the washroom belonging to the qāʿa is entirely paved with marble and is topped by a copula of carved gypsum. The qāʿa has a secret door which belongs to it and which opens on the place known as al-Ḥudayjī Street. The court of this qāʿa <a is topped by a gallery of carved gypsum.

A rectangular door belongs to the upper floor of this qāʿa; through it one enters a small corridor with a staircase of stone which enables one to reach an upper floor comprising three apartments adjoining one another. Each of these apartments has a ceiling of naqī wood and doors fastened on the closets belonging to it as well as a separate washroom, and other appurtenances and rights.

Above all this there is a roof with a parapet and a wooden railing around the staircase which leads to the upper floor. The house possesses also canalization pipes which belong exclusively to it and other appurtenances and rights.

The house is delimited by four boundaries. First, to the south, the lane from which it is entered and on which its doorway opens. Second, to the north, the house known as that of Abu l-Thanā, son of Barakāt, son of ʿAmmār, the Jew, the sugar merchant, which is entered from al-Ḥudayjī Lane. Third, to the east, the ruin which belongs to the house. The ruin consists of an open space and three storerooms. Fourth, to the west, the house known as that of Ibn al-Kardūsh, the Christian, and their (sic) partners.