Geniza Lab

Fragment of a list of pledges to charity made at a wedding. The bridegroom, styled "the elder, the scholar Abu al-Baha" (written in larger letters, different from the rest), pledged (Ar. asma) 1/2 dirham, and so did the others. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 495, App. C 65)

Much effaced list of donors to charity. With one exception all called by their first names. Nineteen pledges of at least twenty-two persons. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 475, App. C 11)

Fragmentary list of contributions, it seems in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu, details of about twenty-five preserved: five giving 1, eight giving 1/2, two giving 3/8, three giving 1/4. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, 493, App. C 56)

List of about 105 prospective contributors, headed by the judge Yehiel b. Eliakim (dated docs. 1213-1233). At least 15 names recur in Bodl. c28.47, ed. Ashtor. Only the judge, who gives 1 (dinar), the Rasuy (a title), who appears second here, and another two who pledge 1/2, have sums attached to their names. But enough space is left between the lines for inserting numbers. About 20 different professions are represented. Some groups, such as goldsmiths, money changers, or purveyors of food, are listed together. The list comprises only a fraction of the members of the Rabbanite community of Fustat, probably only the more affluent. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 486, App. C 39)

List of donors to charity, in large characters, apparently destined for display, 6 persons under the heading 'Sunday' and another 10 under the heading 'Wednesday.' Verso contains lists in different hands for 'Monday' (10 persons), 'Thursday' (12), 'Tuesday' (11). These seem to be the names of the collectors of the weekly alms. Only one man, Yaʿaqov, the money assayer, served twice. Dated: time of David b. Avraham b. ha-Rambam. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 494-495, App. C 62)

List, neatly written, of 26 people pledging gifts of 5 to 60. The ten most generous donors remain anonymous, the relevant entry being 'mattan,' which is the beginning of the biblical verse 'a gift in secret averts anger' (Prov. 21:14), understood as 'the anger of God.' Verso, in a different script, hasty entries of donations made over three consecutive weeks (the first is incomplete) and, again in another hand, notes on pledges during a later week. On this page, too, a number of pledges are anonymous. The second week is headed by 'the h[aver] the nagid Musa, the eldest son of Nagid Avraham II b. David b Avraham I Maimonides, d. Nov. 1290. (Information from Cohen, Voice of the Poor)

Collection by R. Baruch during the week 'In the Beginning' Twenty-seven contributors totaling 36 1/2 (dirhams). With the exception of two scholarly persons, a banker, entitled haver, who gives nine, and a goldsmith, styled rabbi)--the only one in the list besides the collector--who contributes five together with his partner, all the others content themselves with gifts of one-half, one, or at most one and one-half. Actual payments were made once for several weeks. The insertion in small letters of 'Thursday' between lines 18 and 19 shows that R. Baruch completed his collection during the synagogue service on Thursday morning. This is an example of one of several lists of contributors that do not show a wide scale of social or economic differentiation, with craftsmen by no means always in the lower categories. The letter resh stands for rubaʿ (1/4) and the letter tav for thumn (1/8) (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 490-491, App. C 49, dated first part of 13th century)

List of 67 contributors to charity, headed by 'our lord, may his glory be enhanced,' namely, the Nagid Avraham Maimonides (d. 1237), giving 3 1/2 (dinars or dirhams). Another list superscribed sh (= sheni, second) of 13 persons mentioned before and making a 2nd contribution, is attached. The list contains many persons arranged according to 'business addresses,' namely, the bazaars where persons of the same professions had their shops or where craftsmen had their adjacent fields. This means they were solicited at the same time, in the workplace. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 486-487, App. C 40)

Two lists of contributors and beginning of a third, comprising 25, 32, and 4 names, respectively, all headed by ha-r (the rabbi) Yosef Israel. The 1st 2 lists are in the same hand as T-S K15.10 and have many names in common with it. The first number = the pledge; the 2nd number = the 1st installment actually made. A late list. (Information from Mediterranean Society II, p. 497, App. C 76)

List of contributors to charity, preserving only 26 names, many identical with T-S K15.106. First two, including again the representative of the merchants al-Hakim, give 1/8 dinar, approx 5 dirhams. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 477, App. C 17 [dating from late 11th or early 12th century])

Right upper corner of lucidly written list of contributors, the first thirteen each donating 2 dirhams. All names appear in abbreviated form. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 491)

Fragment of a list of donors similar to App. C 1, T-S Misc.36.137 (formerly T-S Loan 137) in the same hand and arrangement, in which at least 12 of the 23 names preserved recur. Most of the few sums extant are exactly or nearly identical with those listed there. The average of the sums contributed in silver in the 2 lists has about half the value of those given in gold. (First half of 11th century) (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 471, App. C 2)

Fragment of a list of contributors, in which at least 12 of the 23 names preserved recur. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 471)

List of names accompanied by sums of money and/or quantities of wheat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Presumably a contributions list, as it begins with Sayyidnā and 3/4 dinar. Other names include: Hiba al-Mūrid; Abū l-Riḍā b. Hilāl; the widow of al-Najīb; Abū l-Faraj al-Tājir; Ibn Ghulayb; his brother-in-law Abū Zikrī al-Ṭabīb; al-Kohen al-Siqillī; Abū ʿAlī al-Bilbaysī b. al-Bustānī; Ibn al-Muṭrib Ibn Nufayʿ; al-kātib b. al-shammāʿ; Ibn al-Nāqid; Ṭayyib b. al-Sarjās(?); ʿEli al-Parnas b. Abū Saʿd; Abū l-Faraj b. Ḥātim b. ʿAllān; Abū l-Faraj al-Ghuzūlī; Ṭayyib al-Bazzāz; Hiba al-Simsār b. Kallām.

List on two pages, torn apart, it seems in the hand of Immanuel b. Yehiel (ca. 1231–65). 41 contributors to charity, peculiar in the wide differences among pledges made (from 1/2 to 28 dirhams). On T-S NS J108b, recto, an Arabic list.

List of 20 pledges made in Coptic numerals during 6 weeks [MR Cohen: one week skipped, hence actually encompasses a 7 week period]. Among the donors only 2 persons, father and son, were called haver, and the grandfather, too, had borne that title. Reverse side superscribed 'Received,' noting 16 items, among them '220 through the Nagid' '225 anonymous gift' but only 3 contributions from overleaf. Since 2 persons are listed as living at the Gate of the Breach, Kharq, of (New) Cairo, the list might refer to that city. MR Cohen: in right margin, many entries preceded by a final mem, in a more faded ink, presumably standing for tasallam, paid. (Information from Mediterranean Society II, pp. 496-497, App. C 70.) This document is sometimes erroneously cited as T-S NS J250.

List of ten donors, headed by the Raṣuy (see T-S K15.36), seconded by the Shāʿir (Poet, see BL OR 5566C.11 and 12), and followed by other names known from the beginning of the thirteenth century. All but the last gave 1, namely, one jug (of wine), as proved by the last contribution which consisted of 'half a jug.' Wine is required at the domestic Passover ceremony 'even from the poor' and is provided here in kind to those who had no adequate supply. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 500, App. C 88)

Lower part of a carefully written list of contributors, practically all of whom appear in earlier or later lists. The first 15 donate 2 (dirhams); 9 donate 1 (d?); 2 donate 1/2 (d); 3 no amount indicated; 4 amount not preserved. Total: 33 persons or households. The collection seems to be one made for a special occasion. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 491, App. C 51 [dated to first part of 13th century])

List in same large characters as T-S 16.209v, mentioning everybody by his first name or otherwise abbreviated. At bottom, a line followed by 'al-shamiyyin b' no doubt meaning that this collection was made on a Monday morning in the synagogue of the Palestinians. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 475, App. C 10 [1st half of 11th century])

List of 24 persons to be solicited for contributions, headed by the judge and overseas trader Abu al-Mufaddal and the banker Abu Ishaq b. Tiban. Abu al-Mufaddal might refer to the scholarly merchant Nethanel b. Yefet, a nephew of the Nagids Yehuda and Mevorakh, who bore the same by-name. He was believed to be very influential with the viceroy al-Malik al-Afdal. He signed documents in 1098 and died in or shortly before 1121. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 477-478, App. C 18)