Geniza Lab

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 the expenditures, recorded by Judge Shemuel b. Saadya, made on one day in Dar al-Zayt, ca. 1182. The note is for building materials, utensils and labor. More than three years later, he started to list sums collected for clothes for the poor on the same leaf, but left the list incomplete after only two lines. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 362 #93)

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.)

Accounts in Latin script.

Late accounts in Judaeo-Arabic.

Recto: Document in Arabic. Verso: Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Needs further examination.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic mentioning Abū l-Surūr b. Yiju.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic giving people's names and various goods, including garments and many "khawātim" (seals) such as khātim Fāṭimah and [...] min al-ʿayn. Needs further examination.

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 of the Qodesh: payments to building workers, ca. 1045. Two fragments written in Arabic script, on vellum, the verso of a letter. Apparently, this was an intiial record of the names of the people and the itemized list for the day on which work was done, to serve as a basis for payment and the final recording. The names seem to be of both Muslims and Copts. The record covers a period of about five months, from the beginning of July to the end of November, 1045. Gil's interpretation is that the work was done at the compound of al-rayis, by which a notable of the congregation was mean. The sums due aare not mentioned since there were set rates according to professional grade. Some of the workers are sani'in, which seems to mean here the more skilled masons; some banna'in masons; there is also a sabi, an apprentice. The only payment recorded is of one dinar, which was probably an advance. The handwriting seems to be of Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp.208 #30)

Account. Computation of sums handled by a Parnas, ca. 1151. An anonymous parnas apparently farmed out the revenue of a certain section of the estates of the qodesh, for a period of 16 months. He had to pay the qodesh 16 dir. a month. He is credited with various sums which he has paid in the meantime and which are to be deducted from the sum owed by him. Mention is also made of his father, who also took part in the operations. Written in the hand of Judge Hiyya b. Yitzhak. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 267 #53)

Account of Abu al-Faraj the physician upon his arrival from Damietta. Dated to ca. 1130.

Page from a bookseller's ledger, containing many names. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Page of the account book of ʿArūs b. Yosef, containing accounts and a note about the beginning of a pregnancy, birth and weaning. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 230, 233)

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic.

Account of the Tahirti brothers dealing with the sale of flax worth 800 dinars in the Maghreb and containing details about buying textiles in the Maghreb and shipping them. Dated 1025. Accounts in the same hand and possibly from the same book are also found in T-S J1.54, BL OR5554A.53-54r, Moss. VIII,476.1-2.

Document in Arabic script, probably accounts.

Accounts of Avraham Ibn Yiju's workshop for bronze vessels, India 1132-1139, 1145-1149. The verso of this document is III, 21.