Geniza Lab

List of receivers of loaves of bread, similar to List T-S 24.76 (S.D Goitein, Mediterranean Society, II, App. B 1), in the same hand having many names and figures in common with it. Much damaged and effaced. It represents partly the left and partly the lower part of App. B, 52 (T-S 18J2.4). Together, the two pieces comprise 42 lines. Still, the original manuscript was longer, for there is clearly a scissors cut through the last line. Dated 1020-1040. (Information from Goitein's index cards and Mediterranean Society, 2:439, 453, App. B 2a and B 52) EMS

Letter from the community of Rabbanite Jews, in Ramla, to the community of Rabbanite Jews in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1050 CE. In a mixture of Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. Discusses the following matters: (1) praises for the congregation of Fustat (r1–12); (2) greetings (r12–17); (3) acknowledging the letter received from the Fustat congregation (r17–20); (4) apologies for the brevity of this letter (which is at least 50 lines and half a meter long), as the community is being persecuted and the Av Bet Din is wanted by the government (r21–24); (5) reporting that when Daniel b. ʿAzarya passed through Ramla en route to Egypt, they honored him, but they hadn't realized that Daniel had previously gone to Jerusalem, where the Gaon Shelomo b. Yehuda and his son Avraham ha-Reviʿi prayed for him and declared him the heir-apparent to the gaonate (r25–30); (6) when Daniel arrived in Ramla, he "took control" of the marketplace and appointed a Maghribī as deputy; there was a dispute over kosher slaughter, and the community of Ramla decided to boycott meat (r30–36); (7) a new kashrut supervisor was appointed, which was even worse; Daniel b. ʿAzarya gained further power (r37–47); when the conflict worsened, Daniel asked Ibn ʿAllūn, an influential Jew in Ashqelon, to intervene with the amīr to have Yosef Av Bet Din fired and banished. The amīr wanted the approval of the gaon before doing this, so Daniel wrote to the gaon (l. 50), who granted approval. The amir then required further approval from... (the fragment ends here) (r47–54). One of the important new pieces of information contained in this letter is that when Daniel b. ʿAzarya assumed the gaonate in 1051 CE, this was exactly as planned by Shelomo b. Yehuda and his followers. (Information from Goitein's published edition, index card, Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 442, and CUDL.)

Verso: List of beneficiaries of donations, similar to ENA 2713.26; T-S 20.112; T-S 24.76, on vellum, the majority of the names legible belonging to community officials and women. The recto contains a legal document (a release) dated 1049. It seems, however, that the list is older than the document. The beadles of three synagogues and at least two cantors are listed here. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 439-440, App. B 3, dated 1020-1040)

Letter from one community to another (possibly from Byzantium to Egypt), appealing for assistance on behalf of prisoners and the poor. Signed by Joseph b. ʿAm[..], Ḥayyim b. [...], Moses b. [...], and Nathan b. [...]. On verso there is a midrash on Esther, quoting Psalms 8:3 and 29:11. (Information from CUDL)

State document in Arabic script, an internal memorandum or report containing multiple hands. Containing (on the last fragment) the signature of the vizier Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad (441 AH/1049–50 CE). The dating is discussed in Stern's article and should be considered definite; it is also corroborated by the caliph's name. The Arabic text is written in five different hands, reflecting administrative procedure. NB: This is a continuous join: T-S Ar.18(2).193 + T-S Ar.30.306 + T-S Ar.30.314. Whether T-S 24.21 and ENA NS 10.31 also join is less clear: they were reused by the same scribe for the same text, but may not have been part of the same state document. If they were, the first two fragments don't join continuously with the last three. Between the lines on recto is a Judaeo-Arabic letter (see separate record, PGPID 16773). On verso is Shemuʾel b. Ḥofni's Kitāb Aḥkām al-Shurūṭ, parallel to the text in SP RNL Evr-Arab. I 2938 fol. 3b. (Information from CUDL and Marina Rustow.) Joins: Marina Rustow.

Letter from Shelomo Ha-Kohen Gaon b. Yehosef to a notable in Fustat and to its Jewish communities. This is the second leaf of a longer letter, which was pasted onto the (now lost) upper leaf. In Hebrew. Dating: 1025 CE. In particular, the letter is written to Yefet b. Toviyya (known as al-Nīlī, the indigo merchant), David b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Nasi, and Shelomo b. Ḥakīm al-Fāsī, and also to the heads of the congregations, the elders of the Jerusalemite and Babylonian communities, in which the Gaʾon asks that the recipients hasten to obtain, on his behalf, an overdue letter confirming his office from the caliph in Egypt (specifically al-Ẓāhir (r. 1021–35 CE)). It mentions the noble ḥaver Toviyya, who has come from Jerusalem, and refers to the Jerusalem Talmud. The Gaʾon complains about intercommunal strife, particularly in respect of Muḥsin b. Ḥusayn, who is praying at home rather than at the synagogue. (Information from CUDL and Goitein.)

Letter from Evyatar ha-Kohen to ʿEli ha-Parnas. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. Dating: 1070 CE (per CUDL). Containing an agreement about sending letters from Jerusalem to Egypt; mentions a courier, ʿAzarya b. Ṣemaḥ, from the Qaraites "our friends". (Information from Goitein, Palestinian Jewry, 126-128) VMR

Letter in the hand of Shemuel b. Natan to a circuit judge (Goitein's index cards). Nine persons mentioned by name acting as a board of arbitration with a circuit judge sent from the capital presiding. The circuit judge was advised by his superior to attempt a decision by law only if arbitration failed. Damira, dated ca. 1150. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 339, 601)

Letter from Daniel b. Azarya to Avraham ha- Kohen b. Yiṣḥaq b. Furat.

List of 136 households (mostly women with, or without, children, foreigners, disabled and indigent people) receiving approximately 570 loaves of bread. A postscript in Arabic characters (verso, line 9) states that the whole document was written by Efrayim b. Mahfuz (i.e., Shemarya), the well-known leader of the Jewish community of Fustat during most of the first half of the eleventh century. It was witnessed by Isma'il (i.e., Shemuel) b. Talyon (i.e., Avtaliyon), a prominent member of the Palestinian congregation, and two others. Efrayim and Shemuel signed many documents together in the years 1026-1029. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 439, App. B 1, dated 1020-1040)

Recto: copy of a letter from Sharira Gaon to Fustat, around 970. The writer asks to renew the community’s support for the Yeshiva. The letter was written soon after Sharira became the Gaon. Verso: an answer for a question about the rules when traveling in a ship during Passover and Shabbat. (Information from Gil, Kingdom. Vol. 2, #24) VMR

An epistle from Avraham b. Sabbatai, the Ḥaver of Minyat Zifta, to Moshe Nagid b. Mevorakh, congratulating the recipient for his success in dealing with the Jew hater Shippeṣ, with a metaphorical reference to Haman and Mordechai. Regards are sent to the recipient’s sons, Mevoraḵ and Yehuda, and also to his mother, on behalf of the writer’s son. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from the people of the Palestine Yeshiva to the community (qahal) of Fustat, probably approximately 1080.

Verso: List of names with numbers, distributions to individuals, followed, in another hand, by a list of arṭāl of some beverages (speficially: syrups/ashriba, including of quince/safarjal). MRC. ASE.

Letter in the hand of Avraham Maimonides (d. 1237) or his son David asking a cantor to arrange a collection in the synagogue on a Thursday morning for two chickens and bread for a poor, old, sick man. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 463, and from Amir Ashur; cf. T-S Misc.8.18, written in a similar hand and layout.) Dating: 13th century

Letter from a Damascene Karaite to a Karaite leader in Fustat, approximately 1040.

Letter from the head of the Gola concerning the calendar. Describes his opinion about the need to shorten two months (to 29 days) and explains that the head of the Gola and the heads of the Yeshiva are going after the Gaon of Palestine and his decision in this matter. (Information from Gil, Kingdom. Vol. 2, #3) VMR

Account for Nisan and Iyyar 1494 sel. ca. 1183. The revenue from only eleven apartments and compounds of the qodesh for two months is listed in the first part of this document. The total is 352.5 dirhams. For some reason, Abu'l-Bayan collected the rent from only half of the usual number of houses. There follows a list of expenditures, including the usual items, which total 125.75 dirhams. There is also a list of payments received by the qodesh from Abu'l-Bayan (some of them through the beadle, Makhfuz). (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 337-338 #84). The scribe is Shmuel b. Sa'adya Halevi (Date: 1163-1204)

Account for Elul 1494 and Tishri 1495 sel. ca. 1183. This document contains the last part of the expenditures for Elul. Then additional revenue from rent for the month of Tishri is listed. Here we have 24 items, totaling 174.5 dirhams. Afterwards, we find the usual additional expenditures for the same month, among them some sums paid in advance for the following one, Marheshwan. The accounting contains relatively high sums spent for making travel arrangements for the widow of the Nasi. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 347 #88). (Written by Shmuel b. Sa'adya Halevi. AA)

Account for Nisan and Iyyar 1493 sel. ca. 1182. This account deals with another part of the qodesh estates and the names of the 12 apartments and compounds in it differ from the ones in the previous accounts. The total revenue from these apartments, for two months, is 372.25 dirhams. There are two different categories of expenditures; a) the usual items whose purpose is specified, and b) major sums deposited with the parnas himself, and a certain Abu'l-Makhasin, apparently the beadle of the Synagogue of the Babylonians. Whereas the revenue total accords with the sum of the items listed, there is no way to check the total of the expenditures; apparently only some of the operations are noted on this sheet. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 332 #82). Written by Shmuel b. Sa'adya Halevi (Date: 1163-1204). AA