Geniza Lab

Fragment of a letter written by Daniel b. Azarya, probably in 1051. A complaint about harassment by the brothers Yosef and Eliyyahu ha-Kohanim, sons of Shelomo Gaon, and especially about the older. Daniel b. Azarya complains that they did the same to Natan b. Avraham several years ago. It seems like it was written after the death of Shelomo b. Yehuda. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 2 p. 675-677, #363) . VMR

Account of the Qodesh: revenue from rent, probably ca. 1043. A fragment of the right part of a leaf, the top and bottom of which are missing. A list of revenue for two months is partly preserved. All names given here have been encountered in previous documents. The handwriting is of Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 199 #25)

Legal document fragment connected to the Mustʿarab congregation of Cairo—perhaps an acknowledgment of a deposit and a commitment not to benefit from it. The document names Moshe Dammūhī, who may be identical with the father of one of the witnesses of T-S 8J8.23 (1577 CE). This document is a join to T-S NS 99.59 (found via FGP joinfinder). MCD.

Verso: Letter from Daʾūd (probably muqaddam of Bilbays) to the judge Eliyyahu b. Zekharya. This is a petition in which the sender expresses his alarm over the fact that a responsum from the Nagid Avraham Maimonides with instructions had been sent some time before this present letter to Eliyyahu, who had not acted upon it yet. On recto, there is also an Arabic document (see separate record). (Information from CUDL and Mediterranean Society, II, p. 338.) Join: MAF and AA.

Account of payments to officials and to the families of deceased officials during the sixteenth week of the liturgical year. R. Menashshe, so frequently mentioned in previous lists, as well as his colleague R. Daniel, are mentioned here as dead. The collector 'Shemuel b. Shelomo, the partner of R. Ḥalfon' is identical with Bū Manṣūr b. Shelomo of T-S K15.93, but his description as the partner of another man shows that he must have been comparatively inconspicuous. Shelomo b. Eliyyahu, the writer of the account, paid out the total of 44 1/2 dirhams he had received from the collector. When no money was left for one of the beadles, he had to 'transfer' him to another social officer, the Kohen al-Naḥḥāl (Mr.'Beekeeper,' often mentioned as a donor). Only 16 dirhams were spent for bread, presumably for only one of the two weekly distributions.' (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 453, App. B 49 [dated 1210-1225])

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.

Letter from Jerusalem addressed to Efrayim b. Shemarya (Maḥfūẓ), concerning the revenue from the Compound of the Jerusalemites in Fustat, ca. 1040. This letter is written in Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script, whereas the great majority of letters written from Jerusalem to Efrayim b. Shemarya, the leader of the Palestinian congregation in Fustat, are in Hebrew. The writer of the letter is not the gaon himself, but somebody in his retinue. Only the left part of the letter is preserved. Apparently, the writer complains that the revenue from "the compound" (by which the compound in Fustat dedicated for the Jerusalemites is obviously meant) did not arrive; nor did they receive an additional sum which used to be sent from Fustat for "the holiday." Since a holiday just past and one in the near future are mentioned, the period is probably between Pesach and Shavu'ot. The situation in Jerusalem is described in gloomy terms. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 149 #6)

List of daily collections in which almost all the benefactors give one or two dirhams. The lower parts of columns three and four contain accounts of expenditure on communal property in the Great Bazaar, written in Arabic characters. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society 2:490)

Detailed letter sent by Meir b. Hillel b. Sadoq Av, written in between the lines and on the remaining blank spaces of a letter he had received from another man (see also T-S NS J171), asking for assistance. This is a letter of appeal on his behalf, and it suggests that the man was a physician out of work. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 577, 578)

List of beneficiaries of community charity consisting of about 125 names, mostly craftsmen, laborers, and foreigners (from Palestine and Syria). Each name is separated by a dot. Individuals include Hassan b. Kushik, Sa‘id al-‘Aqrabani, a lacemaker (al-‘aqqada) and a pastry chef (qaṭāʾifī). There are also two Karaites: Abū l-ʿAlāʾ and Ibrahīm al-Ghazzī b. Hārūn. Ca. 1050-1070 CE. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society 1:438, 447; 2:411; 3:428) EMS

List (calligraphic) of male persons, intended recipients of charity. With one exception ('he paid 1/4 dinar') no amounts are indicated. (Information from Mediterranean Society II, p. 441, App. B 9 [dated 1040-1060])

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.

Communal records, perhaps defective, consisting in payments to specified persons (all in promissory notes, ruq'a), to three officials, for bread, and for the transport of palm branches (for Sukkot). Sept. 24, 1219, two days before the first Sukkot holiday. (b) Complete accounts of revenue and expenditures on Sept. 29, 1219, the eve of the concluding Sukkot holiday (officials, bread, some needy persons). (MR Cohen: hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu) [(c) = App A 152 an addition in Arabic characters in which a lazzām, or revenue farmer, leases a vineyard from the community against a weekly payment of 10 dirhams. Normally one would expect yearly or half-yearly, but in that period (1219), when the community was always short of funds, weekly revenue, even though small, was welcome (Mediterranean Society, II, p. 430)]. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 452, App. B 48)

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)

Account of the Qodesh: building expenditures, ca. 1040. A badly damaged fragment of an account written by Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya. Work done at Dar al-Barqi is mentioned, and various payments for water, bricks, clay, lime, pillars, gypsum; also, repairs of doors and windows. Water carriers, masons, diggers, and helpers are paid for different periods of work, in the course of several weeks. The names of the months are preserved, Shevat and Adar. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 191 #21)

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 without numbers of communal officials and needy persons, mostly women and foreigners, ending with 'the strangers/foreigners in the synagogue'. Recto: sums owed to or by the community. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 462, App. B 83a)

List on a small slip of paper, 22 names of indigent persons, mostly women. The first three are in T-S NS J239v (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 462, App. B 84 [dated to 1200-1240])

Accounts of weekly expenditure of a type similar to App. B 41-43, 49, and also in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. A clean copy for three weeks, always opening with the amounts collected by two persons: first week, two laymen; second,the beadles Tahir and Mahasin; third, Tahir and the cantor Abu al-Majd. Cash was 74 dirhams in the first week, 32 1/2 in the third. Here too the standard price for bread was 1 dirham for 10 pounds, since in the second week 9 loaves of bread were resold for 7/8 dirhams. In the second week, a loan of 10 dirhams had to be taken from the judge Hananel to cover the expenses for the bread, and in the third, another loan from a different source. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 461, App. B 77 [dated to 1200-1240]).

Account of the Qodesh: revenue from rent, ca. 1040. A very damaged leaf, in the handwriting of Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya. The revenue from several apartments and shops is listed, as collected monthly, during Rabi' al-awwal, Rabi' al-akhir, and Jumada'l-awwal. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 182 #15)