Geniza Lab

Official letter. After the basmala one reads :ʾaṭāla llāh baqāhā wa-ʾadāma taʾyīdahā wa-ʿalāhā (l. 2), ʿārafahu bi-mā li-l-ḥadra al-sāmiyya al-ʾaǧalliyya al-raʾīsiyya (l. 3), ʿalā al-ḥadrat al-mawlā al-ʾaǧall waladihā (l. 5), taḥmīl (or: bi-jamīl) al-raʾy al-šarīf, ǧaʿala llāh al-riyasa ʿalā al-ṭāʾiʿīn (l. 6), ʾinnī iǧtmaʿtu bi-ḥadrat mawlāya al-šayḫ al-ʾaǧall (l. 7). L. 12 mentions something that "deserves an increase" (istaḥaqqa or astaḥiqqu l-ziyāda)—maybe the sender is asking for a raise. L. 14 mentions a mukātaba ʾilā al-ḥadra al-ʾaǧalliyya al-raʾīsiyya.

Decree to a lower official commanding him to retrieve bricks and everything belonging to the government from a certain location (a ruined mosque?); and from other ruined mosques; and to assert the government's authority over the aforementioned mill.

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

Testimony in Arabic script probably meant to accompany an investiture petition from the gaʾon Shelomo b. Yehuda to the newly appointed caliph al-Mustanṣir billāh, listing the prerogatives the gaʾon has enjoyed for the past eleven years of his tenure. If this interpretation is correct, the document dates to 1036 CE. Goitein writes that the script and style are identical with those of T-S NS 320.45, and also that Halper 354 "is the most important Geniza document found thus far illustrating the official position of the Jerusalem Gaonate within the Muslim state."

Lists in Judeo-Arabic that mention a wide array of "ağa / אגה" official titleholders and are dated to 18 Safar 1243AH which is September 1827CE. For example, the heading furthest down on the verso mentions an individual by the name of Selim Ağa in connection with the commodity saffron. The coinage used in many entries is the silver kurush. MCD.

Letter from Eliyyahu ha-Kohen “Beit Din” b. Avraham from al-Raqqah to Ya’aqov he-Ḥaver b. Yosef, Aleppo, ca. 1030. The writer thanks the addressee for taking care of the his son, Amram, while he visited Aleppo. Eliyyahu mentions his satisfaction from his status as a judge in three communities in his town (probably the Iraqis, Shamis, and Qaraites), from his acceptance by several heads of Yeshivas in Iraq and the Exilarch (Rosh ha-Gola), and from his good relationships with the Qaraite community and the town governor. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #73) VMR

Capitation tax receipt for Sulaymān al-yahūdī b. Mūsā al-yahūdī al-Mutaṭabbib (?). Dated 24 Dhū l-Ḥijja 524 AH (1130 CE). Not authenticated at the top by officials of the dīwān al-ʿamal and ishrāf, as was the usual practice. The multidirectional text repeats phrases from the main text. This suggests either a practice-text written by a jahbadh, or a practice-text written by someone who isn't a jahbadh, in which case we could speculate that s/he was practicing to forge a tax receipt. (Information from MR.)

Part of a newspaper "al-Klīm" published by Karaite Jews discussing the visit of the Chief General Muḥammad al-Nagīb to the Karaite synagogue on Saturday October 25 1952 – 1 November 1952 – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 77) – in Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 59). The Latin-script rendering of this journal on its heading was "Al-Kalim Revue Israelite Caraime" and was published at 15 Torsina Street. Images of this visit by Chief General Muḥammad al-Nagīb appear in: El-Kodsi, The Karaite Jews of Egypt, 90-94. MCD.

Letter from Isma’il b. Salama al-Gazal, al-Bahnasa, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Dating: ca. 1051. Details about payments and business with local government officials in Upper Egypt. Mentions a stock of about 30 tons of grain. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #709.) VMR

Letter from Avraham b. Farrāḥ/Peraḥya, Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat, 1 May 1052. Contains details about the sailing of ships from Alexandria. The letter contains an order of payment for 40 dinars to be paid by Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥman al-Ṣāʾigh (Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ) to Nahray b. Nissim. Also mentions a vizier. (Information from Goitein's index card and Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 813.)

Letter from Avraham b. Farrāḥ, Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Dated 27 Iyyar, which Gil renders 1 May 1052. Contains details about the sailing of ships from the Alexandria port. The letter contains an order of payment for 40 dinars to be paid by Abū ʿAlī Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥman al-Ṣāʾigh (Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ) to Nahray b. Nissim. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 813.)

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

Letter from Yeshayahu b. Ishaq to Abu Avraham Ismail b. Avraham with an urgent request to hand over six loads of textiles to the 'Dar al-Kattan.' The sender also writes that he has paid a messenger four dirhams per day to travel from Alexandria to Cairo and back, which took him seven days in total. The 28 dirhams which the messenger received equaled at this time one gold piece, as is stated in the letter. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 167, 290, 440, 472, and Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Isma’il b. Farah, Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. September 23, 1056. The letter contains details about shipments of money and goods, and several requests to send letters, as well as requests related to buying goods (mainly sugar) and selling goods (mainly silk) in Fustat. Also mentions a large shipment of wax that was sent to the government. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #490) VMR

Letter from Daniel b. Azarya informing one of his supporters in Cairo that an unnamed prominent person had received a friend of his opponent in Dagun (a suburb of Ramla) and on top of that had not answered his letters. He urges his supporters to have the vizier write to the aforementioned man. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Last page of a letter from Abū Naṣr b. Avraham, in Alexandria, to a public figure, in Fustat. Identification is based on handwriting and style. The first page of the letter is missing. Dated: 9 Tammuz, apparently of the year 1141 CE (so the 8th of June). The letter contains information on ships that frequented the port of Alexandria. It mentions an attack of Bedouins on the passengers of the Sultan's ship in Tobruk (this note was added from Goitein) as well as general news and instructions of a commercial nature, dealing with spices, perfumes, books, pearls and gold. The letter reports the great distress in which the Jews of Alexandria found themselves. The leaders of the community, among them Abu Nasr himself, were under house arrest due to unpaid debts from previous years. The matter created 'hatred' (Heb. sinʾut) and general anarchy. The recipient is asked to intervene in the matter and petition a few Muslim public figures which might assist. (Information from Frenkel and Goitein's note card.)

List of customs paid in Aydhab by Avraham Ibn Yiju, around 1152. III 40a is the top of the page. III, 40b is the bottom of the page. III, 40c is the verso, a draft of a letter written by Avraham b. Yiju for another man and having nothing to do with the India trade, and therefore not edited in Goitein-Friedman. It is, however, edited in Assaf, Texts, 149-51.

Letter from a ḥaver of the Jerusalem yeshiva, probably in Aleppo, to a gaʾon, probably Shelomo b. Yehuda, in Jerusalem. Dating: ca. 1035 (Gil). The ḥaver complains about the members of his congregation who plot against him and have twice slandered him, once to the present gaʾon, once to his predecessor. The writer’s innocence has been proven before, and will be proven again, with the help of Ṣadoq b. Levi, whose previous letter was lost. Also mentions Tamīm b. Avraham and Yefet Ibn al-Shayzarī. The writer is also on good terms with the local governor. The writer is leaving for Calneh to attempt to resolve a dispute within the Jewish community there over who should succeed their recently deceased judge. It's unclear what is meant by Calneh; various candidates for this biblical toponym have been proposed, but the most likely here is probably the one near Aleppo, identified with the modern village by the related name Kullan-Köy. As the recipient’s last letter was lost, the writer requests that the recipient send a letter of support to strengthen the writer’s authority within the community in Aleppo; with allusions to Job 30:26, 10:22 and Proverbs 27:19. (Information from CUDL and from Marina Rustow)

Letter from the community in Ashkelon to the community in Fustat. Dating: Probably 1025 CE. Mentions praises to two of the Fatimid governors in Ashkelon. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 2 pp. 574-575, #314) VMR

al-Nusayr b. al-Hakim, a Muslim, declares before Yosef b. Yefet the teacher (who wrote the document) and Ya'ish Zayn al-Tujjar, that he would transfer to the diwan a document stating that Yefet b. Yehoshuaʿ (alias al-Makin b. Abu al-Majd) owed him around 4160 dirhams, for he owed the diwan 100 dinars. When asked how much Yosef still owed him, he replied that he owed him around 100 dirhams. Dated 1217 (Friday 4th of Av. Year 1528 Seleucid Era. Place: al-Mahalla. (Information from Goitein's index cards; also Mediterranean Society, I, p. 242; II, 402)