Geniza Lab

Lower part of twin list of contributors, the first with, the second without sums. Folded down the middle, hence a bifolium that once belonged to a booklet. Almost all noted in the second list had made a contribution according to the first. In five instances, donors reduced gift to 1/2 or less, and in one case an original pledge of 1/2 dinar, which was reduced to 1/4, was restituted. The strange fact that so many reduced their contributions is perhaps to be explained by the assumption that while the first collection was going on, it already became known that another was necessary. 1140s (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 479-480, App. C 24)

List of donations, qa’imat al-nedava (Hebrew), recording around forty-five names and the sums of their contributions. The reverse side contains an account of collections made, one by a layman, one by the haver Ibrahim. Both men and women are listed as contributors. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:498) EMS

List of thirty-two names with Coptic numerals (recipients of loaves of bread), for example, “the son of little Sesame.” A Maghribi scribe is recorded as receiving ten loaves and the water carrier Wafa two loaves. (S. D. Goitein, A Mediterranean Society, 2:463) EMS

List with Coptic numerals, apparently of contributors. (S. D. Goitein, A Mediterranean Society, 2:497) EMS

List of twenty-six names and contributors of wheat. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:479.) Dating: Probably early or mid-12th century, since Abū l-Naṣr Ibn Zubbaybāt appears also in T-S NS 323.19, a document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. EMS. ASE.

Letter of appeal for charity for assistance in paying the capitation tax. In Hebrew (for the introduction) and Judaeo-Arabic (for the body). At the upper left: "...al-ḥaḍra al-shaykhiyya al-ḥazzāniyya(?) Thābit Ibn al-M[...]." This would normally be the position for the sender's name, but the terms of respect suggest it is the addressee's name. But the body of the letter then clarifies that the cantor Thābit al-Kohen known as Ibn al-[...] is the one in need of help. The addressee may be a government official (he is called al-ḥaḍra al-dīwāniyya).

Headed 'Still owed by the people,' this is the upper part of a long list of persons who had not yet made good their donor pledges. In two cases (of eight dirhams each), the outstanding amount is designated as balance. In all the others, obviously the sums accompanying the names represent the total pledged. Written by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. Many persons are known from contemporary documents (ca. 1220). Recto = App B 38, contains expenditures on clothing for communal officials. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 499, App. C 87)

Distribution of 150 pounds of bread to 39 households, in the same hand as T-S Misc.8.61. The large number of households receiving 3 loaves was clearly attributable to some monetary shortage, when the normal ration of 2 loaves per person could not be maintained. The additional allocations (verso: ziyada fi al-'aniyyim) were certainly answers to protests. The symbol א following numbers for some names might be a Coptic fraction. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, 452, App. B 47 [dated to1210-1225]).