Geniza Lab

Fragment of a marriage contract between ʿEzra b. Menahem and Jawhara bt. [...], a virgin. Dating: mid-11th century, since ʿEzra b. Menaḥem signed T-S 10J28.2 in 1052 CE. Marriage payments: 5 + 15 = 20 dinars. Grand total: 60 dinars (so the dowry was 40 dinars). (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 398.) See also T-S NS 327.146.

Long fragment of a letter by a man who, among other things, discusses the learning of his son and expresses outrage that, despite an impeccable record after 60 years of business, a lawsuit was being brought against him. Gil identifies the writer as Ismail b. Ishaq al-Andalusi and dates the letter to 1050. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 237, 477; V, 205, 565, and Gil)

List of contributors (end), almost all names known early 11th century. Included: The elders the Tasatira (Tustaris); the rest, mostly bankers. (Information from Goitein index cards)

Letter of business written in the 11th century by Yeshuʿa b. Ismaʿīl, sent to Alexandria to [...] b. Abī l-Ḥayy. (Information from CUDL)

Letter opening from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya, before 1048.

Letter opening from Yoshiyyahu Gaon to Efrayim b. Shemarya, approximately 1020.

List of payments of rent on heqdesh houses collected in the presence of Efrayim b. Shemarya. Written by Yefet b. David. Dated 438/1046-7. (Information from E. Bareket, Shafrir misrayim, pp. 61, 129, and from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 373)

Account of the Qodesh: building expenditures, ca. 1040. Mainly materials for ceilings and roofs, palm branches, ropes, reeds, etc. Treesare also listed and the supply of doors. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 189 #20)

Account, on parchment and much dilapidated, containing weekly revenue and expenditures (small related costs), in the elaborate hand of Aharon 'the expert cantor' b. Efrayim 'the scribe' (1058-1066). 7 persons in charge of collecting the pledges, one al-qammah (not a common Jewish profession). The total of 36 dirhams transferred from another leaf certainly was spent on bread for the poor. This list may refer to a community other than Fustat. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 476, App. C 13)

Account of the Qodesh: revenue from rent and building expenditures, probably ca. 1043. The recto of this leaf is a continuation of the two preceding accountings of revenue from rent (T-S NS 99.49 and T-S K25.84), mostly from the same names of houses and tenants being listed. The first part of the account, as preserved, lists some revenue for the month of Dhu'l-qa'da and the second, some for Dhu'l-hija. The verso lists expenditures in building operations, mainly for wood work, repairs for locks and doors, but also for sewage and other work materials. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 200 #26)

Account of rent, ca. 1096. Accounting of rent owed by four tenants. Besides the accounting of an anonymous tenant of which only the end is preserved here, there are three larger paragraphs, of which the first deals with a room of a man from Aleppo (al-Halabi), the other with the apartment of another anonymous tenant, and the third with the apartment of Sitt Qawdaf. The third tenant had to pay one dinar for six months, as did hte lady named Sitt Qawdaf. The periods of payment covered are unusually long. The account stretches over more than two years, from January 1094 to February 1096. The document is a leaf from a notebook, divided into two parts. Written mostly in the hand of an unknown parnas, but with additions inserted in the awkward hand of the parnas Eli b. Yahya, its upper part is missing. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 227 #38)

Accounts of Nahray b. Nissim (on the basis of handwriting), 1051, noting sums of money and giving some details about the wares. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 825.). On recto, a note about various wares requesting Nahray b. Nissim to give to Abū al-Walīd a small basket placed inside the sack belonging to Ibrahīm b. Azhar. (Information from Goitein notes linked below.)

Account of the Qodesh: building expenditures and revenues from rent, ca. 1037. The expenditures listed are for clay work, carpentry, sewage work. In this early period, the qodesh is already in charge of cleaning operations and removal of garbage. Some of the expentitures, such as the candlesticks, are probably related to the synagogue, but the majority pertain to the compounds of the qodesh. The revenues are mostly for longer periods, in some cases even a whole year. Several occupations are listed, of people who had their businesses in shops of the qodesh: a jeweler, a donkey driver, a spindle-maker, and a shoemaker. Written in the hand of Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 154 #8)

Account of the Qodesh: revenue from rent, ca. 1040. A fragment seemingly belonging to the same record as T-S NS J264a and also written by Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya. It contains a partial accounting of rent collected for (probably) Dhu'l-qa'da and Dhu'l-hijja, i.e. the accounts for five months, between T-S NS J264a and this one, are lost. Almost all the tenants are identical with those of T-S NS J264a. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 184 #16)

Account of the Qodesh. Revenue from rent. Dating: probably ca. 1043. The right margin of the leaf is missing; however, we have in it an almost complete list of revenue for one month, Rabīʿ I, and fragmentary details on the preceding one, i.e. Ṣafar, and the following one, i.e. Rabīʿ II. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 203 #27.) Previous description for T-S AS 145.18 (old PGPID 8612): List of rents collected from premises belonging to the Shāmī synagogue. Written by David b. Shekhanya. Dating: No later than 1025 CE. See Med Soc II, p. 436. (Information from Goitein's index card.) Join: Oded Zinger.

Recto: Petition or report to a Fatimid vizier, ending only, including raʾy, ḥamdala and ḥasbala. 5th century AH/11th century CE. Possible join with T-S Ar.22.140 which uses the same titulature. Verso: Hebrew poetry.

Account: building expenditures and revenue from rent, ca. 1039. This record contains details about sums of rent collected from "the Estate of the Synagogue of the Palestinians" for A.H. 429 and 430. It was written at the end of 1039. The revenue list mentions the first period during which Dar Qutayt was inhabited whereas before it had been empty. The building expenditures refer in part to the synagogue. The three parts of the document have found their way into three different boxes of the Taylor-Schechter Collection. Written in the hand of Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 167 #11)

Account of the Qodesh: payments to workers and revenue from rent, ca. probably 1043. The recto of this leaf contains details of different sums paid to building workers. The heading refers to sums collected by the workers employed in the building operations of the qodesh. The names are of Muslims. The verso has some details on collections of rent. The handwriting is that of Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 197 #24)

Fragment of an 11th-century legal document in Judaeo-Arabic, involving a Manṣūr and an ʿAmram.

Accounts of Abu Zikri Tabib in the hand of Nahray b. Nissim (Goitein) or Yehuda b. Saadya (Gil). A leaf folded to four pages, of which the last one is blank. All three pages are crossed out. Dated 1065 (Gil). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, vol. 2, p. 901, and Goitein's index cards)