Geniza Lab

Announcement from the Grand Rabbinate of Cairo [Ḥakhamhāne Miṣr] for the celebration of the coronation of the King of Britain – Museum of Islamic Art – 3 May 1935CE – (number 27) – in Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 57). No British monarch was coronated in this year, however, the Silver Jubilee of King George V was celebrated three days after this announcement on May 6 1935CE. A scan of this document that is mostly legible can be found in Al-Janiza wa-l-maʿābid al-Yahūdiyya fī Miṣr (p.170) where Ḥasan and Sarrāj analyze its contents and mention that the document came from the Mosseri family crypt at the Bassatine Cemetery during an excavation in 1987. This analysis also cites the venue of the celebration mentioned in the communal announcement: the Ismaʿilīya Synagogue on ʿAdlī Street in Cairo. MCD.

Advertisement of prices for types of groceries and wine – 1931CE – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 285) – in Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 67). MCD.

Contract of agreement between Yeshiva Ahava VeAhva and Maʿallam Ḥasan Ṣadīq – 2 January 1946CE – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 288) – in Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 66). MCD.

Account statements – 1943-1944CE – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 288) – in Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 75). MCD.

Account statement – 1946CE – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 289) – in Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 75). MCD.

Announcement prohibiting the purchase of mezuzot other than from trusted individuals – June 26 1954CE – Museum of Islamic Art – in Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 35). MCD.

Request from the World Zionist Organization to the Zionist Histadrut of Egypt for the revitalization of Herzl's thought – 1921CE – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 292) – in Hebrew and French. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 54). MCD.

Invitation from a charitable institution and the Jewish union in Egypt for attending a course of the educational committee and the institute at al-Ẓāhir Square in Cairo – undated, yet it is noticeable that it was written after 1923CE – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 293) – in French and the title is in Hebrew. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa. ed. Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 30). MCD.

Invitation from the administration of the Paḥad Isḥak Synagogue (Kraïem) for attending the celebration which will be held in the synagogue on Passover between Saturday 29 March and 9 April 1955CE – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 294) – in Arabic and French. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 44). The synagogue had the alternate title of Kraïem after its builder Zahi Kraïem. MCD.

Contract of a commercial sale – 192_CE [digit missing] – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 30) – in Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 67). MCD.

Letter letting a friend know of the sender's arrival to Jerusalem – 27 September 1923CE– Museum of Islamic Art – (number 32) – in Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 59). MCD.

Donation of agricultural floodland from one sister to another – 30 December 1909CE – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 35) – in Arabic, and four lines in French. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 74). MCD.

Letter regarding the construction of the tomb of Rabbi Yaʿacov Abu Haṣīra [in Damanhur] – 1935CE – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 36) – in Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 36). MCD.

Monetary sales papers from the Nadā, Ḥalfūn, and Partners Bank in Cairo for Kẖawaja Elli Kohen in al-Ẓāhir in Cairo – February 24 1940CE – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 37) – in Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 74). MCD.

Announcement to members of the community about donating to the Egyptian army for the defense of Egypt – May 28 1948CE – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 38) in Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 64). MCD.

Letter requesting correspondence with knowledge of prices for lost packages and also it is asking for the purchase of clothing and a personal gift – 29 September 1929CE – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 39) – in Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 68). MCD.

Appeal from the administrative council of the Jews of Egypt to the assembly of the religious group – undated and it appears that it is dating to after the year 1903 the date of the establishment of the synagogue – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 40) – in Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 33). MCD.

List issued by the Grand Rabbinate of Cairo naming the butchers who are permitted to slaughter chickens on the eve of Yom Kippur Tishrei 1920-1922 – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 41) – in Judeo-Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 38). A scan of this document is available in Al-Janiza wa-l-maʿābid al-Yahūdiyya fī Miṣr, where Ḥasan and Sarrāj also offer a transliteration of its contents to Arabic script. This is a fascinating list because it lists the approved kosher butchers by twelve specific locations in Cairo: Hārat al-Yahūd, Ismaʿilīya, Tawfīqīya, al-Ẓāhir wa al-ʿAbassīya, Darb al-Barābarā[?], Heliopolis, al-Mansi wa al-Khalīj, Suq Khuḍar Bāb al-Lūq, Sharʿa Ġamara, Meydān Fakhrī Qabīsī, Fustat [Miṣrayīm al-ʿAtiqa], and Ḥelwan. The names of each butcher are handwritten below each of these typewritten locations and they are all in the same hand. This document is also crucial for establishing that when nineteenth- and twentieth-century documents refer to the Ḥakhamhāne Miṣr/Rabanūt ha-Rashīt bi-Miṣrayīm, the implication is that Miṣr/Miṣrayīm is refers to Cairo, specifically, rather than Egypt as a broader territory (this is confirmed by the tri-lingual letterhead which includes the French "Grand Rabbinat du Caire" parallel to the other two titles). MCD.

Notice from the District Court of Qalyub for the appearance of two proprietors and each of them are Jewish individuals living in Cairo's Jewish quarter – 5 February 1920CE – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 42) – in Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 56). MCD.

Registration certificate for an Egyptian Jew in the schedule of the elections – December 1930CE – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 45) – in Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 61). MCD.