Geniza Lab

Account of the qodesh, ca. September 1201. This is an accoutning written on both sides of a single leaf, detached from a notebook. The peculiar thing about this document is that it shows the existence of two separate lists, of inhabited apartments and of empty ones. The latter have their rents listed, in order to compare the actual with the budgeted revenue. There is also a third class, of people who live in their apartments without paying rent. This is extremely unusual in the accounts of the qodesh and can only be explained by the extraordinary conditions of distress at the time. Seven apartments are listed as occupied rent-free; among them, that of R. Anatoli, whose rent was in any case reduced to five dirhams, as against 52 dirhams that he still paid three months earlier. Among the people exempt from payment are "a poor woman" and some scholars, one of them styled al-khaver. The total sum counted on as revenue was 336.5 dirhams, whereas the actual income was only 171, i.e., a little more than half. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 386 #102)

Account of building operations ca. 1216. Expenditures for construction materials and labor, as recorded in the course of several days. The work is done at compounds of the qodesh and the Synagogue of the Palestinians. Some other expenditures, as for captives, are also included. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 412 #113)

Legal document. Deed of dedication of a house in Damascus to the Great Synagogue, ca. 1090. A certain Meshullam, known as Ibn Shurayq al-Dimashqi, i.e. "the Damascene," dedicates his house to the Great Synagogue of Damascus, to which it is adjacent. The document is a draft written in the hand of Avraham b. Natan, one of the prominent members of the courts in Fustat and Cairo; it is unsigned, and as the name of the donor's father was not yet known, a space was left so it could be inserted later. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 214-215 #33)

Account of the Qodesh: computation of total yearly revenue from rent, ca. 1041. A draft, written in Arabic characters apparently by Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya on the verso, probably after the recto had been display in the synagogue for several months. The parnas records the total yearly revenues, in gold and wariq (cash/silver). The revenue in gold was smaller than expected, and that in wariq bigger. Several additional revenue items and debts are listed. The account ended on 30 August 1041. (Gil, Documents, 179 #13) VMR

Account of building operations ca. 1215. A list of expenditures made at Dar b. Pinhas in the course of several days in the month of Marheshwan, using Coptic numerals. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 408 #110)

Account of building operations ca. 1240. Written on a sheet of paper made into a booklet of four leaves, it is a record of current payments for building materials and labor. The works going on are financed from huge sums of rent deposited with the banker al-As'ad in the course of two years. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 453 #136)

Account for funeral expenses of a poor (travelling?) man who had lived in a pious foundation belonging to the community. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Report on a compound dedicated to the Qodesh ca. after 1127. A fragment of a report, or memorandum, about the compound known as Dar Naqa that figures in several documents of the qodesh. The history of the dedication of one quarter of this compound to the qodesh is briefly reviewed. It appears that it had been dedicated in the 11th century, for the purpose of charity for both the Rabbanite and Karaite needy. During a period of persecution and confiscation that occurred in the year 1127, a sum of money was kept by an official of the qodesh; in order to prevent its confiscation, the money was registered as having already been spent on the purchase of the half of that compound. The purpose of the memorandum is to justify that fictitious record, and probably also to make clear what part of Dar Naqa actually belonged to the qodesh. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 246 #45)

Accounts of the qodesh. Gil edited 12 lists of revenue and expenditure pertaining to Abū l-Bayān al-Jābī b. Abu Naṣr Elʿazar ha-Levi al-Ḥalabī spanning the years 1181–84 CE. All except for #81 are written in the hand of the judge Shemuel b. Seʿadya. Account for Elul and Tishri 1492-1493 sel. ca. 1181. The accounting lists 21 apartments and compounds of the qodesh. The total revenue is 632.25 dirhams, including a 26 dirham balance from a previous account. The expenditures include khikr, nightwatch, oil for the synagogues, payments to scholars and to the poor, maintenance and repairs. The total expenditure is 472 dirhams, so there is a surplus of 134.25 dirhams, after the deduction of a collection fee of 60 dirhams. The former balance of 26 dirhams was not included in the final calculation; otherwise the surplus would have been 160.25 dirhams. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 327 #80.)

Accounting of a single foundation ca. 1186.

Account of revenue and expenditure for Tishrei, Ḥeshvan, and Ṭevet. Dated: 1495 Seleucid, which is 1183–84 CE. This extensive accounting is written on two and a half leaves of the notebook of Shemuel b. Seʿadya. It lists the last expenditures for Tishri, and then the account of revenues for Heshvan, Kislev, and Tevet. It contains details of the rent from 22 apartments and compounds, which totals 715 dirhams. Several payments do not cover the whole period of three months, and refer to shorter periods. Then comes a very large list of expenditures reflecting large-scale reconstruction and repair operations. Involves Abū l-Bayān the collector. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 350 #89.)

List dated 1593 CE (referring to Elul 5353 and the beginning of 5354), headed "the remainder of the houses of the qodesh of the Musta'rib congregation. It then gives street names and lists of people, perhaps the tenants of the qodesh. Some of them have notes about rent payments as well--how much has been paid, how much remains to be paid. The list may be useful for cross-referencing people and locations from other 16th-century documents.

Lease of an apartment of the Qodesh ca. 1180. Abu'l-Bayan, one of the prominent parnasim of this period, leases an apartment, which is in a tabaqa, i.e. an upper floor, to a certain Abu'l-Fadl. The apartment is in Dar al-Zajjaj, one of the compounds owned by the qodesh. The lessee is himself a parnas. The tabaqa is described as the apartment, sukn, of Makarim Ibn Sahlan. In fact, this must be understood as Makarim and Ibn Sahlan, since they are listed separately in accounts of rent, where they pay five dirhams a month each, the same sum of rent that Abu'l-Fadl, the new tenant, will have to pay. Abu'l-Bayan, the representative of the qodesh, cannot be one of the parties in the concluding formula which says "from each of the two," since he represents the court. The most plausible explanation is that the two tenants rented the tabaqa of the qodesh inhabited by them, to a third party, with the knowlesge and active participation of the qodesh. This would represent a subletting of an apartment of the qodesh. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 313 #73)

Account. Revenue of the qodesh from rent, ca. 1230. A small strip of paper, of which the upper part is missing, written on both sides. The part which is preserved lists 13 tenants. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 443 #133)

Letter in Arabic script concerning a governor, a bishop and monasteries. In the formal third-person address, the writer apologizes for sending the request in writing instead of making it in person; his excuse is that he’s pressed for time since he’s currently studying (ḥadīth? jālis ilā) at the feet of a certain Ibn Ṣāʿ. Asks the addressee write to the scribe of a Fatimid governor titled ʿAzīz al-Dawla with a request for two documents. The first document should be addressed to the bishop Binyāmīn of Ṭamwah (Dammūh), who is responsible for two monasteries, Shahrān (in Minyat al-Shammās) and Ḥilwān (also south of Cairo), “strengthening his hand,” presumably meaning reinforcing his property rights over the monasteries' property; the second should be addressed to the overseer of Shahrān itself, both strengthening the hand of the bishop and establishing who owns the property that belongs to the two monasteries. The property in question may be waqf property of the monasteries. The title of the governor, ending in al-dawla, dates the letter to the Fatimid period; contains a taqbîl clause, kissing the hand of the addressee rather than the ground, so likely 12th century rather than earlier.

Accounts of community of revenue from houses rent, Ca. 1250. Contains, listed in two columns, several current entries of revenue and expenditures. Both Hebrew letters and Coptic numerals are used. In addition, both sides of the leaf have various scribblings, mainly names of Hebrew months, written in another hand. These are unconnected with the document and may be writing exercises. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp.476 #143)

Account for building operations, ca. 1155-56. Very damaged fragment of a leaf, in which several entries in an accounting of building operations are preserved. An otherwise known compound, Dar al-Kaziruni, is mentioned. Data about plastering, building, and carpentry work are included. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 285 #58)

Accounting for five months, ca. 1230. Two leaves, the first of which has writing on both sides. The first part is an estimate of the expected monthly revenue from rent. A comparison of the sum expected for five months with the actual revenue follows. Then there are three columns of details concerning the sums paid and owed by different tenants. The order in which the columns are to be read is not the usual one. The estimated budget is divided into six main sections, according to the location of the apartments: The lane of the synagogue, the funduq, its vicinity, the "great bazaar," the Khabisa lane, and the Tujib quarter. There are 36 tenants in all. The arrearss come to baout 11.5% of the panned revenue (162 as against 1337 dir.). (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 444-445 #134)

Accounting of the qodesh, ca. 1240. A double leaf, torn into two parts, this document contains a main record of current revenues from rent, but some expenditures and other pecuniary operations are also listed. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 460 #138)

Letter from Avraham b. Natan Av, judge in Cairo, to al-Mumhe, i.e. "the specialist," meaning a permanent member of the court, whose name is not preserved, and who was apparently in charge of the money of the qodesh, ca. 1100. Report concerning money of the qodesh after the death of its holder. A certain parnas, Musafir, has donated five dinars to the heqdesh of the synagogue of Cairo. Sa'id, "the head of the congregations," who was given the money in order to bring timber from Alexandria for this sum, died before he could go to Alexandria and the money was left with his widow. An inquiry (carried out by the court) into the matter has shown that the qodesh still owes the widow money and the writer asks that the balance be paid to her. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 220 #35)