Geniza Lab

Letter of complaint to the caliph in Arabic script concerning the tax that the Tiberias Jews need to pay. It seems like the second request. The Jews are complaining about the intention to increase their capitation tax (jizya). In the past, some have paid 5 dirhams, some have paid 10, and some have been exempt as Khaybarī Jews. The speaker of the Jews is Sibāʿ b. Faraj (maybe this is Hillel b. Yeshuʿa). This document is the middle part of three sheets that were attached. Dating: ca. 1030 CE. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 2 p. 453–54, #249). VMR

Recto: Arabic state document, reused (see separate entry for reuse), 4 lines, wide spacing, mentions the movement of a group of people to the Levant. Some phrases:"ʿalā l-mʾāthir wa nashr al-qalb kalima al-ṣidq bi āʿlā l-mʾāthir wa ṣarafat", "wa aṭafat ahwāhā ḥatta ṣārū ilā Bilād al-Shām".

Letter, fragmentary, from Eli Ha-Kohen b. Ezekiel, Jerusalem, to Eli Ha-Ḥaver b. Amram in Fustat written in his own hand. Eli Ha-Kohen expresses his anxiety over water "wa-qalbī mashghūl bi l- mā". (Gil) Middle of 11th century.

Fragment, 4 lines, in a chancery hand, probably a report or letter of official correspondence. The sender expresses his privilege of existing in the Caliph's reign (saʿda Allahu bi-ṣuḥbatihi wa l-kaun fī jumlatihi), reports glad tidings (wa l-aḥwāl bi barakat Maulana wa-Sayyīdina ṣalawāt Allah ʿalayhi), and expresses his gratitude (la-mashkūr jamīl al-ṣunʿ fīhi). He also reports traveling to a place (wa kharaja ʿabd Maulānā). Reused for Hebrew text.

Recto: Letter or legal query addressed to Avraham Maimonides (published by MAF). In Judaeo-Arabic. Conveys a lengthy story involving Franks in Akka and Haifa and someone who received a letter from al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam (r. 1218-1227). The draft petition on verso starts with a taqbīl clause and mentions Irāqiyīn and Shāmiyīn.

Fragment, concluding 5 lines of what seems a state document in a chancery hand ending with a ṣalwala. Some phrases: "wa l-dukhūl fīhi sana", "in kān l-zamān qad afīḍī/afḍī? wa ma talqu illa kullama", "in tuṭīʿū anfusakum". The last line mentions that the document was written in a hurry "kutiba/katabahu ʿajjil surʿattan".

Fragment, wide margin on the left, two sides of commercial accounts.

Rental document, in Arabic script, possibly a receipt of transportation of unspecified goods, dated to the month of Rabīʿ al-Awwal 1259/April 1843. The name of the tenant is Yeshūʿa and involves a property in Ḥārat al-Yahūd. Contains a seal and is duly signed.

List or accounts in Arabic script, used as a bifolio for Hebrew script. One of the readable items is lead (raṣāṣ).

Recto: Two lines in Arabic script, probably a petition to a Fatimid vizier "al-Wazīr al-Ajal Ṣafiyy Amīr l-Mumineen wa-khāliṣihi". In Judaeo-Arabic, between the lines and upside down, "God guard the servant of the Shaykh Abū ʿImrān." Verso: Prognostications in Judaeo-Arabic. If the year is born in Gemini (الجوزاء): harvests will be rich, the Nile will flood, the cattle will die, a skin disease will break out, and the Byzantines will set sail and their ships will founder. The noblest kings will die and fitna will break out. There will be many refugees. It ends "allāhu aʿlam bi-l-ghayb" (only God knows the unknown). ASE.

Legal document, fragment, in Arabic script, mentioning the property of the deceased in Fustat and Giza. This inheritance was attested in the presence of the chief justice, [al-A]jal Qāḍī l-Quḍat, testimony.

Fragment of a state document, three lines of Arabic in a chancery hand. The date of the tawqīʿ is Dhul Qaʿda (3)70?

Business letter from Abū l-Ḥusayn al-Ṭulayṭulī to Abū al-Najm Hilāl b. Yosef ha-Qara. In Arabic script. For other Qaraites from Toledo, see T-S 13J9.4 (PGPID 1236, discussed in Rustow, "Karaites Real and Imagined," Past & Present 2007). In line 7, instead of Aodeh's "وقد يخصك السلام," read, "وقد دخل الحمام," yielding, "Your son is in good health; he has entered the bathhouse (i.e., he has recovered from his illness)." ASE

Report or petition fragment, addressed to a higher state official regarding the matters in southern Upper Egypt, contains the taqbīl clause towards the end. The writer thanks the addressee for his benefactions and reports on a specific group of people who were consumed by greed and hence lost their decency. Mentions bāb al-Ṭāhir al-Nabawī, probably the Caliph himself, and reports that no traveler passed through the gates of southern Upper Egypt. The Hebrew in the lower right margin is a continuation of the text on verso, which is one of the prayers for Yom Kippur (the Vidui specifically).

Document in Arabic script. Text is arranged in columns with discrete entries, probably accounts of some sort. Needs examination. On verso there is also a Judaeo-Arabic text praising the attributes of God.

Fragment, text on prognostications. Each prediction starts with a new point (al-bāb). Contains some Hebrew script interspersed. Verso conatins a note saying that this paper was sent/commissioned for Maulāya al-Shayk Abū l-Mʿālī (نقل هذه الرقعة الى مولاي الشيخ ابو الم[عالي؟] والسلام). Left side of verso contains blocks of Hebrew script perpendicular to each other.

Fragment of a petition in Arabic script, interspersed with Arabic script in the wide spaces what seems like a draft of a letter or just casual reuse of the state document. The second hand also seems like a chancery hand but is different from the first hand. One of the interspersed phrases; "وانا احتاج الى مجي مولاي الشيخ وسعادته لي في الامور التي لا يصلح لها عنده فتنفصل؟" suggests that it could be an annotation on the petition (there are several instances of annotations on petitions with official actions on how to respond in the Geniza). Reused on verso for Hebrew literary text.

Letter fragment, 20 lines, well preserved. The writer at the beginning of the letter mentions a sale that did not reap any profits (lam yūlij minhā ḥabba wāḥida) and describes his anguish and shame over it (lines 2-4). He then mentions the arrival of a letter on 11th Rabīʿ al-Ākhar and the news of the addressee’s safety joyed him but the affairs that he described saddened him. Another purchase (piece of land?) from Abī l-Tayyīb, who is honored with several words of praise is mentioned. This object of purchase (land?) was then entrusted to Abī Ghālib ( lines 5-11). The apples reached safely but 3 freights were found empty (lines 12-13). The addressee’s wife (al-Ṣaghīra) conveys her greetings and was saddened to hear about his unwellness during the journey but was happy to hear about his well-being and homecoming (lines 14-15). The writer in the last few lines expresses his desire for prompt correspondence from Abī Ghālib either through his messenger or through ʿAbd Allah and assures frequent communication regarding affairs from his side. Needs examination.

Fragment, 4 lines of a state document in a chancery hand regarding issues pertaining to agriculture "an qad zaraʿ fī l-kufr l-madhkūr thalatha meʾya". Needs further examination.

Recto and verso each contain a separate document in Arabic script with plenty of lacunae. On verso, there is also Hebrew literary text. Needs examination.