Geniza Lab

Receipt relating to the tax farm of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb written by Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the Office of Accounts on behalf of the Office of Supervision: Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb has paid the sum of two, a half, a third and an eighth (dirham?) for the estates in Al-Fayyūm, under the supervision of the judge Ṯiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, of the judge Abū ʿAlī b. Yaḥyā b. Bahār and the elder accountant Sadīd al-Dawla Abū l-Faraj ʿAbd al-Masīḥ b. Qūrīl. Dated 27th Ramaḍān 405 AH (= March 1015 CE). (Information from CUDL)

Letter fragment (lower right of recto, lower left of verso) in lovely handwriting. Mentions the capitation tax, hunger, and charity. On verso a woman seems to be addressed (wa-taquli lahu). Other phrases: "he ordered me many times that" and "an expression that befits his like." ASE.

Recto and part of verso: Letter from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, Qalyub, to his father in Fustat. He is concerned about how they will pay the capitation tax. He is very irritated that he has not been informed about the following things: how much money they got for selling the kerchief that he sent them last week; how much they have already payed on his behalf (for his own capitation tax); how much remains to be paid; whether the dirhams that he sent with Bu l-Khayr arrived; whether the dirhams that he sent with his paternal uncle 'Imran arrived. They have sent him no letter at all; they only sent back the 'muthallath' (referring to a 'triple' weave?) coat with instructions to sell it in Qalyub, but why would he have sent it to Fustat in the first place if he wanted to sell it in Qalyub? So he is sending it back with Safi and wants them to sell it for 17 dirhams, and if they can't get that much, they should have the fuller work on it. In the continuation (T-S AS 145.195), there isn't much more of substance, but he mentions al-Shaykh al-Yesod on recto, and then again in a postscript: "please go to al-Yesod [and apologize for me] from him and tell him that I am only hiding because of [the capitation tax?]." Join: Alan Elbaum.

Letter in Hebrew. Dating: Probably 11th century. Begging a dignitary for help interceding with the king and tax administrators concerning the burden of tax being levied by 'the judge of our city':שופט מדינתנו….וירחמינו כי אין… כשמן הטוב… יחי לעד שהוא מתעסק בצורך … בממונו ובגופו עם בעלי המס וגם כל … המס למשלם חדש אלול משנתינו זו … נדע מה יהיה באחריתנו … אלולי רחמי בשמים(?) … לו כתב … הזקן . אדונינו … מלפני המלך … הכתב. On verso there is a different text, possibly literary.

Letter from Avraham Baronito to a communal dignitary. Dating: Second half of the 16th century. The sender is known from ENA NS 49.20 (a legal deed dated 1563 CE) and T-S 8J14.28 (as the addressee of a Ladino letter from Yiṣḥaq Baronito). He asks for financial help, as the tax collector has detained him in the 'mishmar' (perhaps house arrest).

Fragment of a letter of appeal for charity, from Jerusalem, complaining about the heavy taxation. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Legal document/note testifying that a certain Baqā' b. al-Surūr the [indigo] merchant will operate the tax farm (ḍamān) of Tamīm, the ḍāmin of al-Burqāniyya (location unidentified), for a payment of 4 dirhams a month, as long as he has that tax farm and the tax farm for Qalyūb. Dated the first of Ramaḍān. Witnesses: Ḥalfon Kohen b Elʿazar; Shemuel b. Nissim. (Information in part from Goitein's index cards.) On verso there are additional notes in Arabic script and Hebrew script mentioning Rabīʿ I and Tishrei.

Accounts, dealing with tax and business matters. Mentions names such as ʿAbd al-Wāḥid, Ibn al-Jalājilī and Ibn Ḥayy. Coptic numerals. (Information from CUDL)

The Case of the Great/Fat Eunuch: five-part join of a court record from Fustat in the hand of Yefet b. David dealing with a case of inheritance totaling 12,000 dinars and the state's attempt to acquire part of it (via the great/fat eunuch). Names: David b. Aharon ha-Levi, Yiṣḥaq b. Muʾammal, Yaʿaqov b. Avraham (among others). (Information from Oded Zinger and E. Bareket, Shafrir Misrayim, p. 240.)

Recto: Bottom of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The sender asks how the capitation tax (al-jāliya) promises to be this coming year. The sender seems to be worried about traveling to the addressee's location (apparently Jerusalem) before he knows. He asks what travelers have been saying about conditions on the return journey to Jerusalem, and also how things are in Jerusalem. Verso: accounts in different handwriting, in Judaeo-Arabic and Greek/Coptic numerals. (Information from CUDL)

Letter mentioning dirhams, the capitation tax, and names such as Benjamin, Jacob and Yaḥyā. The writer asks addressee to give his deference to every single one of the Kohen brothers. (Information from CUDL)

List, probably of tax or rent revenue. It describes the houses and apartments in a particular street darb al-Sadu[...], mentioning the house of the company of Abū l-Faḍāʾil, Ibn al-Qallād, Ḥus[ayn] b. Nathan, Umm Shām, the apartment of ʿAlī al-Labbān, apartments of Christians, the apartment of the silk trader (al-qazzāz), upper storey and lower storey of Bahrām and Sulaymān, the ‘big market’ and several shops (dukkān). On both sides of the leaf there is also unidentified Arabic script. F. 1v: in a different hand, list of ‘the business of our master’; with receipts from the Christian tax collector, expenditures and prices. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: accounts, listing expenditures, tax, rubbish collection and sums paid by several individuals; names mentioned include Ibn Ṭarwīl, Hillel and Yiftaḥ the cantor. Verso: Arabic jottings. (Information from CUDL)

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentioning the [Head of?] the Yeshiva, the countryside, and the capitation tax (al-jāliya). (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Receipt relating to the tax farm of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb written by Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the Office of Supervision: Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb has paid the sum of three, a third, a sixth and an eighth (dirhams) for the estates in Al-Fayyūm, under the supervision of the judge Ṯiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, and the accountant Abū l-Sarī Theodor b. Yuḥannis. Dated: 5 Ramaḍān 403 AH, which is March 1013 CE. Verso: clerical notes. (Information from CUDL)

Verso: Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Discusses at length a family in distress on account of poverty and the capitation tax; the specific details are not clear. The word "complaint" (shakwā) appears several times. The handwriting may be known from other fragments. Written by Meir b. Hillel b. Zadoq (Date: mid 12th century) from Alexandria

Receipt from the archive of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb. Written by Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the office of Accounts on behalf of the Office of Supervision: Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb has paid the sum of two, a half, a third and an eighth (dirhams?) for the estates in al-Fayyūm, under the supervision of the judge Thiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, of the judge Abū ʿAlī b. Yaḥyā b. Bahār and the elder accountant Sadīd al-Dawla Abū l-Faraj ʿAbd al-Masīḥ b. Qūrīl. (Dated: 27 Ramaḍān 405 AH, which is March 1015 CE.

Receipt relating to the tax farm of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb written by Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the Office of Accounts on behalf of the Office of Supervision: Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb has paid the sum of two, a third and an eighth (dirham?) for the estates in Al-Fayyūm, under the supervision of the judge Ṯiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, of the judge Abū ʿAlī b. Yaḥyā b. Bahār and the elder accountant Sadīd al-Dawla Abū l-Faraj ʿAbd al-Masīḥ b. Qūrīl. Dated: 6 Ramaḍān 405 AH, which is February 1015 CE. (Information from CUDL)

Receipt relating to the tax farm of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb written by Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the Office of Accounts on behalf of the Office of Supervision: Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb has paid the sum of two, a half, a third and an eighth (dirham?) for the estates in Al-Fayyūm, under the supervision of the judge Ṯiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, of the judge Abū ʿAlī b. Yaḥyā b. Bahār and the elder accountant Sadīd al-Dawla Abū l-Faraj ʿAbd al-Masīḥ b. Qūrīl. Dated: 3 Shawwāl 405 AH, which is March 1015 CE. See separate entry for recto. (Information from CUDL)

Receipt relating to the tax farm of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb written by Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the Office of Accounts on behalf of the Office of Supervision: the people of the town of al-Shūbays have paid two and a half (dirhams?), under the supervision of the judge Ṯiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, the deputy judge Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan b. Yaḥyā b. Bahār and the elder accountant Sadīd al-Dawla Abū l-Faraj ʿAbd al-Masīḥ b. Qūrīl. Dated: 22 Jumādā I 403 AH, which is December 1012 CE. (Information from CUDL)