Geniza Lab

Letter addressed to a 'Sar ha-Leviim,' asking him to help his son, who is imprisoned in Cairo for a debt. Fifteen dirhams had been pledged, but his son owes 25 more. (Information from Goitein's index cards). The letter is written by Yehuda Hakohen b. Tuviahu, who served as the muqqadam of Bilbays from 1180's-1220 (identified by Amir Ashur)

Letter from Ibrāhīm, Yosef b. Hillel, and Moshe to Yehuda ha-Rav. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: No earlier than 13th century. Asking to have some produce sent to them, some of which should be given to ʿIwaḍ, the addressee's cousin.

Letter of request for money addressed to the Qaraite community on occasion of a circumcision. (Information from Goitein's index cards). Goitein may have identified it as Qaraite becuase of the blessings to the Nesi'im

Petition, probably. In Arabic script. Only one line and a couple words from the line below are preserved. "irtifāʿ mā. . . lā yadillu ʿalayhi. . . ʿabduhu." Reused for Hebrew literary text.

Petition to a higher official asking for a horse "oḥḍur taḥtahu faras mulkihi wa-huwa ḍaʿīf nāqiṣ l-ḥāl", "yaḥmiluhu ʿalā faras" with an innovative taqbīl formula "wa-huwa yujaddid taqbīl al-arḍ wa-yasʾal al-inʿām" - "the slave renews the kissing of the ground" (a variant of this formula also appears in T-S Ar. 39.487).

Fatimid state document, perhaps a petition (...min iḥsānik...). On verso, Hebrew literary text.

Recto: Petition in Arabic script. Draft. Dating: Probably Mamluk-era. The sender asks to be excused from having to go up to the dike. Reused for Judaeo-Arabic poetry in the hand of Nāṣir al-Adīb al-ʿIbrī (d. after 1298).

Letter in Hebrew, late and beautifully written, to a communal leader. The writer seems to be a woman (although the letter has מתנפל and not מתנפלת). She has a daughter for whom she cannot provide a dowry. She asks the recipent for help. The response should be sent to Shemuel Virgash (שמואל וירגאש ) who is "the father of widows and orphans and is like a brother to me." The writer is a widow named Simha, and her duaghter is Rahel. יוסף טורישאקס is also mentioned.

Report to an Ayyubid official mentioning al-Malik al-ʿĀdil and a deceased official named Shams al-Dīn. The Mainz shelfmark is how it's listed in FGP, but it's not actually in Mainz. The image in FGP is from a microfilm at the National Library of Israel; the original was at a paper museum in Mainz that has since closed, now presumed lost. Join: Marina Rustow.

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."

Letter to Eliyyahu concerning the thirty-dirham balance of the capitation tax (jizya) owed by Abu al-Makarim, who is in great need of it because he is under house arrest, guarded by the hashir (rallier). The addressee is asked to arrange to collect money at the congratulation reception (wedding) of either Ibn al-Muzaghlil ('The Dazzler') or that of Bu al-Barakat. (Information from Goitein, Mediterranean Society, vol. II, p. 492.)

Petition appealing for help from Shemuel ha-Nagid (1140-1159). A woman asks him for help paying the capitation tax for her husband, who is in detention for non-payment and the family has no food.

Recto (secondary use): Lower part of list of male persons, mostly craftsmen or foreigners (Goitein surmises that they are people for whom the capitation tax was [to be] paid). Several names are preceded by sahh, 'paid.' Each name also ends with a line extended to the end of the column, possibly signifying that it has been paid. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 466-467, App. B 106.) Many of the people listed bear surnames indicating their place of origin, including Baghdad, Amid (in Iraq), Aleppo, Damascus, Tiberias, ?Azza, Sicily, or indicating their profession, including porter, packer, night watchman, dyer, soap maker, mosaic craftsman.

Verso (original use): Bottom of a petition to a vizier (ḥaḍrat al-wizāra). In Arabic script, with ḥamdala and ḥasbala at end. Layout: landscape mode, eastern-style. A group of petitioners ask for help against a group of people who are wronging them. None of the specifics of the conflict are preserved.

Petition from a Jewish man to a dignitary. In Arabic script. Fragment (upper left corner). Opens with two lines of grand titles for the presumably Muslim addressee (Fakhr al-Dīn Jamāl al-Ruʾasāʾ, Ṣ[...] Amīr al-Muʾminīn). and then the description of a Jewish man who is presumably in need of help of some kind. There is a single word in Hebrew in the upper margin. On verso several lines of rhymed Hebrew (including one line against gentiles). On verso there may also be the remnants of the address of the letter on recto (in Arabic script). Needs further examination.

This is a fragment of a letter asking for assistance, possibly on behalf of a man and his dependents. The author mentions that the subjects of the letter are 'naked,' a commonly used description of poverty; for the significations of 'nakedness and hunger' in petitions on behalf of the poor in the Geniza see Mark Cohen, Poverty and Charity in the Jewish Community of Medieval Egypt, pp. 156- 158. The verso is blank.

Beginning of a letter of appeal by an individual named Makin who addresses his plea to an elder. The verso contains a much faded letter in a different hand.

Document containing blessings for the caliph al-Hafiz li-din Allah (1131-1149 CE). See also see T-S NS 110.26. (“Prayers from the Geniza for Fatimid Caliphs, the Head of Jerusalem Yeshiva, the Jewish community and the Local Congregation,'' in Studies in Judaica, Karaitica and Islamica, Presented to Leon Nemoy...Bar-Ilan University, 1982, 49-58) EMS. NB: This description corresponds to some other shelfmark.

End of a petition from someone identifying himself as a certified hazzan to two people in Cairo requesting their assistance. The writer refers to someone, perhaps al-Ḥasan Abu Sahl (?), taking an oath in the Palestinian synagogue. Undated. Verso is blank.

Letter of recommendation from Bū l-Barakāt to a dignitary. In Judaeo-Arabic. Asking for assistance for the bearer. The writer mentions an earlier conversation that took place between al-Shaykh al-Makīn Abū Sahl and the Rayyis.