Geniza Lab

Letter from the office of Yehoshua Maimonides dealing with the capitation tax and with the kashrut of meat, first half of the 14th c.

Letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Early 13th century, as Eliyyahu the Judge is mentioned. The writer greets the addressee as 'brother' and gives him a report on his family members. It seems the addressee's mother is in a particularly poor state. Munā b. Ḥiyyā and Abū l-Tāhir b. al-Quḍāʿī were staying with the writer's family. The writer struggled to pay the capitation tax (12 dirhams). He complains that he is all alone ('I have no one to wet my throat or give me a thread of silk'). The addressee's brother Surūr had a son born to him, given the name Bū l-Faḍl, on the day this letter was written. "Tell us whether you have found a stable situation, so that we can take the old woman [and move?] to you." Regards from the addressee's sisters and brothers-in-law. The writer asks for news of Bū l-ʿAlā and says to tell him that his children are unemployed and their rent is due, "and if we the men have been overwhelmed, how should they be?" The writer complains about his own unemployment and rent due. He reports on prices for silk and wheat and at least one other commodity; it seems they were bad before, but have now somewhat improved. "Let the response be quick, lest you earn the sins of your mother." The addressee is asked to meet with Eliyyahu the Judge on the writer's behalf. ASE

Letter draft from the wife of a drunkard to "sayyidnā." In Judaeo-Arabic, beautifully written. She reports that her husband took her belongings, demanded from her more; hit her with something unmentionable (his shoe); she had already once sent to the Nagid when he threatened to kill her in the evening. When her mother came on Sabbath, he demanded that she pay his capitation tax (jāliya); threatened to beat the mother so that she would be ill. His parents encourage him to beat her. Finally she left the house Saturday night. He had already taken from her 4 dinars and bought wine. Information from Goitein's note card.

Fragment of an official letter from Fustat addressed to a certain town in the Rīf (or perhaps a circular), exhorting them to be generous and assist the bearer with the payment of his capitation tax. For if they do not, he will go to prison for a long time, and it will be difficult to free him. Whatever they are able to do on his behalf, the cantor of the town should send a letter with a report. ASE

Letter of appeal. The writer states, "The illness was enough for me, and then the capitation tax assailed me." The tone is aggrieved; he complains about Abū ʿImrān al-Kohen and mashāyikh al-balad who get together to drink in the evenings. The writer wishes to get through to "Rabbenu," but he has not been allowed access, and he is ashamed to appear before al-Shaykh al-Thiqa, the brother-in-law of Rabbenu, and Yūsuf b. al-Tilmīdh. Merits further examination.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Likely in the same hand as T-S 13J7.24. Describing some kind of dire period of war or the like. "The slave of the king came . . . 30,000 dinars on the two wakālas(?) and the dīwān and all the merchants, and the country is closed (maghlūqa), and the exchange is 42.5 [this is tentative], and no one has a dinar any more, and the collection (istikhrāj) of all the remaining capitation taxes, and the poor are in perplexity, I have informed the master [this]." The surviving portion of the letter on verso is much more quotidian, consisting mainly of the standard closing salutations. Mentions the fatwā (jawāb al-faqīh) for the writer's cousin (ibn ʿamm) Maʿānī. Needs further examination. ASE.

Letter from a woman to a certain Yosef written in the hand of Shelomo ha-Melammed b. Eliya. The woman calles herself "his mother" but it is possible that she was not his biological mother and this is an attempt by her to show her closeness to him. In the letter the woman declares how much she misses and worries about him and asks him to come join her in Fustat. She promises that she will sell her own clothes to pay for his capitation tax. To show how serious she is, Shelomo ha-Melammed wrote a legal testimony on the back in which he testifies that this woman will pay Yosef's capitation tax (apperently she will pay the Shami rate in Egypt) on the conditions that he will come to Egypt. Another interesting point in the letter is that the woman mentions that Izz al-Din came to Egypt "Because the sultan called al-Kamil sent him" - a clear reference to the Ayyubid Sultan al-Kamil (1218-1238) giving us a dating for the letter. Finally, Shelomo ha-Melammed added a personal message to Yosef at the end of the letter: He asks him to send greetings to Shelomo's cousin (the son of Shelomo's mother's brother) Abu al-Faraj and his two sons Ma'ani abd Abu Majd. These relatives are also mentioned in T-S 10J7.2 and T-S 13J35.15 (OZ).

Letter to Eliyyahu concerning the thirty-dirham balance of the capitation tax (jizya) owed by Abu al-Makarim, who is in great need of it because he is under house arrest, guarded by the hashir (rallier). The addressee is asked to arrange to collect money at the congratulation reception (wedding) of either Ibn al-Muzaghlil ('The Dazzler') or that of Bu al-Barakat. (Information from Goitein, Mediterranean Society, vol. II, p. 492.)

Letter from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to an unidentified benefactor. Shelomo asks him to help him out with the payment of the capitation tax, as he had been ill and had to spend all the money he could save from school fees paid to him on medicine and chicken. (Information from Halper Catalogue and from Goitein's notes in margin)

Recto (secondary use): Lower part of list of male persons, mostly craftsmen or foreigners (Goitein surmises that they are people for whom the capitation tax was [to be] paid). Several names are preceded by sahh, 'paid.' Each name also ends with a line extended to the end of the column, possibly signifying that it has been paid. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 466-467, App. B 106.) Many of the people listed bear surnames indicating their place of origin, including Baghdad, Amid (in Iraq), Aleppo, Damascus, Tiberias, ?Azza, Sicily, or indicating their profession, including porter, packer, night watchman, dyer, soap maker, mosaic craftsman.

List of persons for whom the capitation tax was to be paid. Late eleventh century. (Information from Halper, Catalogue and Goitein, Med. Soc. II:467)

Letter from an unknown man, in Damietta, to his mother, probably in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. Dating: Perhaps 13th–15th century. The writer assures her that he is doing even better in Damietta than he was in Fustat. He sends regards to numerous family members. He discusses payments for the capitation tax. There are several interesting colloquial forms, including: טציקי for תציקי; the phrase "māshī l-ḥal" for "it's going well" still used in modern Arabic; אלך (ilik) for אליך (ilayki); and אלסלים for אלסלאם.

Letter from the Jewish community of Qafṣa (Gafsa), Tunisia, to Yosef b. Yaʿaqov. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Ca. 1016 CE, as it mentions Manṣūr b. Rashīq's conquest of (or arrival in?) the town, and this Manṣūr was the governor (ʿāmil) of Qayrawān in the year 1016 when al-Muʿizz b. Bādīs came to power. Gil identified the addressee as Yosef b. Yaʿaqov Ibn ʿAwkal, but Goitein disagreed (per his index card). The addressee is asked for a favor or intervention of some kind; Gil assumed that it had to do with the capitation tax, but it is not clear that this is actually mentioned in the letter. The letter is very damaged, but it may be possible to extract more information from it with great effort. (Information in part from CUDL and Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 603.) ASE

Interesting, late letter in Judaeo-Arabic from "the land of the Christians" to al-Muʿallim Yūsuf, the shammas of the synagogue, Cairo. The writer narrates in brief how he left Cairo with spices to sell overseas, was detained in Alexandria for a time due to an illness, spent 6 months (!?) at sea, getting lost and nearly getting drowned, first stopping in Turkey and then continuing the land of the Christians. At some point they also stopped in Tripoli (Lebanon?) and purchased more goods. "When we entered the city, the representative of the Amir was deposed (?) and the elders אתפרת (?)." (This sentence is not at all clear. The word נאיבו in fact looks more like נציבו and could even be the name of the city. What the elders did is also not clear.) The writer then describes his difficulties selling the goods from Cairo and Tripoli, mentioning the currencies dinar and muayyadi. He sends regards to Muʿallima Sara. He tells Yūsuf to expect the arrival of ʿAmmī Zikrī al-Quṣamṭīnī and his wife, who are poor. He asks Yūsuf to help them with the capitation tax and to help them get settled. He sends regards to the family (dār) of Rashīd; and the family (bayt) of Ḥakīm Shams Ḥanūna (?); and the cousins of the Muʿallima; and R. Avraham; and Khalaf; and the family of the syrup-maker (? ṭābikh al-sharāb spelled טבך אשרב) and his wife (ahlihi). The writer's wife and children send regards, as does the addressee's brother Barakāt (at the beginning of the letter). He concludes with greetings to Hārūn Jamal and his wife and children and reports that Hārūn's mother and brothers and sisters and maternal aunt are all well. Someone else added underneath the letter, "Greetings to ʿAyyād!" ASE.

Informal note addressed to Mukarram and Abū Manṣūr. In Judaeo-Arabic. They are requested to convey the dinar they had pledged for the first installment of the capitation tax to al-Shaykh al-Makīn Abū l-ʿIzz al-Levi. It will be used to pay the capitation tax of a cantor. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, p. 511)

Short note from Abū l-ʿAlā' al-Muʿallim to Abū Saʿīd urging him to send the money quickly because the writer urgently needs to pay the capitation tax.

Letter of appeal from a blind (maḍrūr) man Moshe who is unable to work and distressed on account of the capitation tax. Rather than asking for charity, he asks the addressee if he can think of any employment in his shop for the writer ("do you plan to open? . . . I heard from Ibrāhīm that you mentioned to him that you plan to open this Friday.") If there is no work directly in the shop, he writes that he would even work for a Gentile. He then asks for a loan of two dinars for the jāliya and promises to repay it as soon as possible. He perishes from sitting at home all day on account of the capitation tax owed. ASE.

Letter or letter draft from Muʿammar ha-Kohen ("the teacher of Qalyūb") to ʿAmram ha-Kohen, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Recto consists entirely of pleasantries and flattery and mentions that the when the addressee had departed from the writer's location, he had invited the writer to stay with him in Fustat, however the writer had no way of coming to Fustat and furthermore did not wish to burden the addressee. On verso there purpose of the letter emerges: the writer is destitute and needs help with the capitation tax and is staying in the synagogue (in Fustat?). He previously stayed for two months in Qalyūb and received only the mūna/mu'na (living stipend?) and 10 fulūs. Regards to Abū ʿAlī.

Letter from a European Jew whose ship sank en route on his way to fulfill a vow to visit Jerusalem, and lost all his belongings by jettisoning. The writer’s appeal to the congregation, written in Hebrew on a piece of vellum, describes his multi-faceted journeys: first to Alexandria, where the Muslims tried to collect the capitation tax from him, and secondly, to (likely) Fustat after being rescued by a Jew and where he was currently hiding out after being harassed by the tax collector and fearing imprisonment. (Mark Cohen, Poverty and Charity in the Jewish Community of Medieval Egypt, 120; and S. D. Goitein, A Mediterranean Society, 1:323, 483) EMS

Complete calligraphic letter of appeal to Yefet ha-Sar, a Levi, begging for money to help pay the capitation tax for the writer and his two sons. The letter contains several interesting features. The writer says that every year Yefet ha-Sar is accustomed to persuading al-Shaykh al-Nafīs to pay the writer's capitation tax. The writer is in debt to the tune of 300 dirhams plus interest, at least partly due to the expense of marrying his son. Everyone is dying of hunger because "I only buy the bread of the market." He then cites the maxim that the poor of your household precede the poor of your city who precede the poor of another city, "So consider me as the poor of your household." He does not want his brother-in-law to hear about this (perhaps he is related to Yefet ha-Sar through his brother-in-law?). ASE.