Geniza Lab

List of about 95 prospective contributors, consisting of 4 columns on recto and one on verso. Col. I is superscribed Massasiyyin, the is, people living in the Massasa quarter. Likewise 'Attarin in col. III must be understood as an abbreviated form of 'Square of the Perfumers,' for many persons listed had professions other than 'attarin. Col. V Physicians, 13 names, mostly known. From the time of the Nagid Avraham Maimonides (1205-1237). (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 508, App. C 136)

List of forty-five contributors, mostly referred to in an abridged and informal way, with coptic numerals. Ca. 1235. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 503, Appendix C 117)

List of 45 contributors, mostly referred to in an abridged and informal way, with Coptic numerals. Ca. 1235. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 503, App. C 117)

List of receivers of alms containing rare names, women and foreigners. The Hebrew alef evidently stands for ūqiya, ounce. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 462, App. B 83b)

A distressed letter to Abū ʿImrān, in the house of Umm Ḥasana, on the alley of the synagogue, Fustat. The handwriting and spelling are very rudimentary. The letter opens with the usual, "I assure you that I am in full well-being and health, all I lack is the sight of you. Otherwise: we are in terrible distress from the high prices and the lack of a living. We go five days without seeing bread, eating only turnips and fava beans and fresh dates. . . we have no food other than this. Life is worthless to me, and I beat my head from the distress and the killing." The writer desperately awaits a letter from his cousins (awlād ʿammi); perhaps there will be relief in it. He has heard that the addressee is studying to be a tailor and wishes him great success. He sends regards to various members of the addressee's family. The scribe may be the same as in T-S Ar.30.246 and numerous related fragments (books of magic and astrology). ASE.

Letter from a retired old Alexandrian merchant named Abū Saʿīd to a friend in Fustat. One side is a letter in Arabic script and the other side is a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The same scribe wrote both letters, as the Judaeo-Arabic includes a salām in Arabic script that is identical to the salāms on the other side. Both letters deal with a request to intervene with the Nagid and ask him to draw up a certificate (waraqa, nuskha) of indigence so that the sender can get support from the Jewish community of his hometown. Abū Saʿīd retired from his store about 2.5 years ago, still owing money. He was declared a pauper, and that matter was resolved. But he is still being sought for the capitation tax for his grandson. Someone (Abū Saʿīd? the son? the grandson?) has been absent from Alexandria for 12 years. It is not sufficient for the Nagid to certify that Abū Saʿīd is poor; the Nagid is also supposed to write a few lines explaining the circumstances. Perhaps in this way he will obtain relief ("since I might be regarded as an absentee (ghā'ib)"). Notably there is no hint of shamefacedness. (Information in part from Goitein's attached notes; see those notes for further information, references, and a draft translation.) ASE

Letter from al-Sharīf Ḥasan to the qāḍī Ṣanīʿat al-Mulk. In Arabic script, with diacritics and vowels, calligraphic. Dating: Perhaps 13th to 15th century, on paleographic grounds. This is a letter of recommendation for charity for six 'cut-off' women (nisā' munqaṭiʿāt) who have no husbands (lā azwāj la-hunna) or anybody else to provide for them: Umm Bū Muḥammad and her daughter; the midwife or wet nurse (dāya) and her daughter; and Umm Qays and her daughter. The addressee is described as a "cave (=shelter) for the cut-off and a refuge for those who ask/beg of him" (standard epithets for important and charitable people: see e.g. AIU V.B.48 and on it Cohen, Poverty and Charity, p. 48 n. 36). ASE

Letter from Abū l-Ḥayy b. Ṣāliḥ al-Ṣabbāgh, in Palermo, to Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Taherti. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Ca. 1050 CE. The sender came to Palermo in order to travel on to Egypt, because conditions in the country (presumably Ifrīqiyya) were poor, and he was unable to provide for his family. He describes his wretched situation. He booked passage on a ship (qunbār) belonging to a man from Tinnīs, but he waited and waited, and all the other ships ("even the ships of Tripoli") set sail. At last, the night of sleeping on the ship (al-mabīt) arrived, but in the middle of the night, the government commandeered the ship and its goods and turned out all the passengers, including even Abū l-Ḥayy the Unlucky (al-ḍaʿīf al-najm) (is he referring to himself?). Thus the sender has been stranded in a foreign land without any money. "My arms and legs have been cut off, and I have left my son and my family (or: wife) perishing." Abū l-Ḥayy asks Barhūn for help. (Information in part from Gil and from Ben-Sasson.)

Upper part of list, in the hand of judge Shemuel b. Saadya (see Bodl. f56.43c), on the reverse side of a document issued on the authority of Maimonides in spring 1172 (and copied by Mevorakh b. Natan). The contributions are partly in dinars (one-fourth - two, the latter sum appearing four times), partly in dirhams. Practically all the names recur in contemporary lists of donors to charity, but because of the dilapidated state of the manuscript no general conclusions are possible. Of the 16 persons whose names are discernible in the left column, four give together with their partners. Dated to last third of twelfth century (see Mediterranean Society, II, App. C 116, Bodl. f56.52, where Goitein speculates that this and other stray lists might have formed part of one booklet). (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, 485, App. C 35)

Note in the hand of Daniel b. Azarya to Eli, the parnas of Fustat, concerning aid for a poor man, Wahb of the city of Raqqa, ca. 1051-1062.

Letter dated 25 Tishrei 1212 (4973) from Yehuda b. al-Ammani, a cantor, schoolmaster, and clerk in Alexandria, to Abu l-Majd Meir b. Yakhin, a senior colleague in Fustat. Recapitulating previous communication between the two (cf. T-S 13J21.25 written four years earlier), Yehuda notes with frustration that the addressee asked him to send dirges for the deceased, and so he sent him about thirty, and the addressee had replied that he had them all with the exception of two or three. Yehuda advises the addressee to advise him of the first lines of the poems so that there would not be unnecessary duplication (Med Soc V:179, 556.) Almost all of the letter deals with this topic and with the vicissitudes of mail delivery, since many letters both from Yehuda and from Abu l-Majd's brother Abu l-Najm Hilal were either delayed or never arrived at all. Starting on line 16 of verso, Yehuda writes, "On the night that I wrote this letter, seven great and learned rabbis arrived, and behind them 100 people—men, women, and children—asking for bread. This is apart from the 41(?) beggars we already have in the city [Alexandria], and most of the congregation has been exhausted by poverty." Along with other family news, Yehuda writes, "Your brother Sa'id quarreled with his wife and traveled, and no one knows where he traveled. A roof fell on his wife, but she was saved from death." EMS. ASE.

Letter from Eli Ha-Kohen b. Ezekiel, Jerusalem, to Eli Ha-Kohen b. Hayyim, Fustat. Discusses the matter of the 18 dinars owed to the poor of Jerusalem. Daniel b. Azarya is on his way back to Jerusalem. Possibly alludes to the drought and epidemic in Fustat ("I am very preoccupied about your situation," verso, line 2), and mentions several people in difficult straits.

Fragment of a list of beneficiaries of charity similar to T-S K15.93, App. B 6, and in the same hand. Much effaced. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 441, App. B 7, dated 1040-1060)

List of donors to charity on the back of piece of vellum (fragment of an ancient marriage contract), headed by Avraham 'The Cherished,' al-sagul. This is an abbreviation, used also on letter CUL Or.1080 J265, ll. 6, 16. of the unique title 'The most cherished and esteemed of the People of Fustat,' borne by the notable Avraham b. Mevasser (dated docs. 1028-1-45), see Mann, Jews, II. pp. 98-100). Avraham al-Tahirti could stand for any of 4 cousins (usually called Barhun) from Qayrawan, all of whom frequented Egypt. Avraham Tahtahi is probably from Ifrīqiya, since tahtaha = 'open space,' probably a place name, is Ifrīqiyan. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 475, App. C 9)

Remains of 28 lines of a list of beneficiaries of charity, each containing the names of 3 or 4 households in receipt of 2, 4, 6, 8 or more (loaves). (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 453, App. B 52)

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

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)

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)

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 asking for charity in which the writer describes how “exacting” the upcoming holiday of Passover is in terms of expenses, noting that his "prayer shawl" for Sabbath is torn and although it’s patched, he’s embarrassed to been seen it. He also mentions the purchase (not yet carried out) of new bowls and cups for Passover. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society 4:156, 397, 444) EMS Verso: Jottings in Hebrew and Arabic script. (Information from CUDL)