Geniza Lab

Draft of a court record dated 623 (1226) written on a very small piece of paper (4 x 2.5 in) regarding the testimony of Abū Saʿīd al-Levi b. Abū l-Maʿānī that Abu ʾl-Faḍl b. Mukhtār al-Iskandarī had died while in Kalah (Goitein: on the west coast of present-day Malaysia). The document establishes that India traders ventured to Southeast Asia. Goitein didn't supply a reading for the place-name after Kalah ("the lands of ..."); Marina Rustow and Michael Laffan (March 2021) read "Java" (al-jāwa). The document gives dates according to the Jewish (Seleucid) calendar and the hijrī calendar. Old IB Number: 322. New IB Number: VII, 32. In the hand of Avraham Maimonides. Dating: 10 Tammuz 1537 (Seleucid)

Letter in the hand of Avraham Maimonides in which he instructs Fakhr al-Dawla regarding a sum of money, nine dinars, still owed, and what to tell Abu al-'Ala about it. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Responsum. On verso the answer, possibly in the hand of Abraham Maimonides. (Information from CUDL)

Note/order in the handwriting of Avraham Maimonides. In Judaeo-Arabic. He tells Eliyyahu the Judge to go together with Abū l-Faḍl al-jābī (the collector) and the messenger of the amir to the house of the glassmaker (or 'the house of glass (manufacture?)'), to honor the messenger, and to fulfill the order of the amir by paying the rent of the מכנאס(?). AA. ASE.

Letter from Avraham Maimonides, autograph. In Judaeo-Arabic. Begins with the motto הנה אל ישועתי. Addressed to the ḥaver, morenu ve-rabbenu, Yosef. This is a letter of recommendation for Yaʿqūb b. Dani'el: "he is in in grave need" (fa-huwa fī ḍurūra akhīdha wa-ʿindahu qaṭʿa(?) wa-qillat ḥīla); "appoint a guardian for him" (? tawaṣṣā bihi); "he is deserving"; mentions Peraḥya and other people in the margin; then, "encourage them to help him according to your ability" (tuḥarrikhum fī ḥaqqihi ḥasaba ṭāqatika). Information largely from Friedman's Dictionary (pp. 11, 209, 308, 762). ASE.

Verso: Autograph order in the hand of Avraham Maimonides. The cantor Abū l-Majd is to give 5 dirhams to a certain Kohen, apparently as reimbursement for what was paid to the blind cantor. The next word has been transcribed as תספיר (bookbinding?) and a previous description said that the 5 dirhams were for travel (ספר) expenses, but it's not clear this word has been read correctly. T-S K25.240 consists of small written orders, partly in Hebrew and partly in Arabic script, for monthly payments, made out of the rent-revenue from the pious foundation (waqf) 'Compound of the Poor' or from the pious foundation made by the physician al-Muhadhdhab. All dated orders are from spring and summer, 1218. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 420-421, App. A 48-92; pp. 449-450, App. B 39b [dated 1210-1225]; Cohen, Poverty and Charity in the Jewish Community of Medieval Egypt, pp. 218-220.)

Verso: Autograph order in the hand of Avraham Maimonides. In Judaeo-Arabic. Abū l-Majd is to give the bearer, a builder, 3.5 (dirhams?) for work on the lane of the Jerusalemites (darb al-Maqādisa). T-S K25.240 consists of small written orders, partly in Hebrew and partly in Arabic script, for monthly payments, made out of the rent-revenue from the pious foundation (waqf) 'Compound of the Poor' or from the pious foundation made by the physician al-Muhadhdhab. All dated orders are from spring and summer, 1218. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 420-421, App. A 48-92; pp. 449-450, App. B 39b [dated 1210-1225]; Cohen, Poverty and Charity in the Jewish Community of Medieval Egypt, pp. 218-220)

Public letter in the hand of Avraham Maimonides (d. 1237 CE). The cantors of Fustat are instructed to read it aloud in the synagogue on Monday, Thursday, and Monday, as well as Saturday morning. A ban of excommunication is declared against the women who continue dyeing silk privately ('in the houses'), because the tax farmer who had the license for silk dyeing had complained to the dīwān that he was losing revenue. Information in part from Goitein's note card. The CUDL description identifies the hand as belonging to Joshua b. Abraham Maimonides (active 1310-1355 CE), but Amir Ashur, who wrote that description, has now revised his view and identifies this hand as belonging to Avraham (I) Maimonides.

On recto beginning of a letter to Avraham Maimuni from Abu Sa'id (identification according to BL 5542.14. He also wrote T-S 8 j 21.12). On verso a letter written by Avraham Maimuni to Elya b. Zekharya asking him to go with Yosef and bring meat from the butcher. AA