Geniza Lab

Letter of recommendation concerning one of the chief people in Sunbat, who had to flee because he could not afford to pay his own and his son's capitation tax. (Mentioned by N. Golb in Journal of Near Eastern Studies 33 [1974], p. 142)

Letter from Alexandria expressing the deep gratitude of the community after the appointment of an inspired teacher and judge. The letter was sent to Fustat to the caravanserai of al-Mahalli (‘funduq al-Mahalli’), a well-known compound, large enough to accommodate a mosque. The note is likely from the early thirteenth century; the writer refers to Avraham Maimonides as Nagid, a title he bore from 1213 to 1237. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:349, 490; 2:193, 561) EMS

Verso: Record of the scribe Abū l-Faraj b. Abū Naṣr b. al-Mesos in which he testifies to having received from Shelomo ha-Nasi one Egyptian dinar. He will repay by copying. Dated: end of Av 1549 Seleucid, which is 1238 CE. No signatures. (Information from Goitein's index cards) EMS

Legal document draft detailing that Makin, son of Moshe, the judge, was a proprietor of part of a sugar factory and agreed to sell his share to Ibrahim b. Abu Sa‘id. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 4:91, 373) EMS

Letter (petition) addressed to a certain notable named Perhaya. AA

Recto and verso relate to the same case: the betrothal of a nine year old orphan girl. A court document recording the refusal of the grandmother of an orphaned bride to pay her granddaughter's dowry in full when the groom Abraham b. Yefet, fails to live up to the promises he made in the betrothal agreement. The elders arranged a compromise between the groom and bride's grandmother. Bilbays 1221. See also PGPID 2223.

Accounts, dated October 1230 CE, in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu, referring to a cellar (maṭmūra) in his father’s house with 117 jugs of wine. Most of the wines are described as ‘crossbred’ (muwallad), and just 10 are described as ‘real wine’ (khamr). (Information from CUDL.) See also DK 201.2.

Account of building operations ca. 1240. A double leaf taken from a notebook, this document is written in Arabic script. Work on a dome is mentioned, and on verandas. Then comes the installation of a pipe and then a qa'a in which the main work is on the cieling and drainage system. A staircase made of palm trees is installed and fixed with mortar made of gypsum. Different kinds of word and nails are mention in connection with the installation of the qa'a doors. Extensive paving work is also detailed. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 457 #137)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely Tammuz 1232 CE, and almost definitely 1232–37 CE. See below for explanation. Writer and addressee are unidentified. The writer dictated the letter to his son. They were evidently affluent merchants and suppliers to the army. The letter is mainly about the controversy over the prayer reforms of the Nagid Avraham Maimonides. The sons of the Sixth (the family members of the previous dynasty of Nagids) submitted a petition against Avraham to the Sultan al-Malik al-ʿĀdil, to which Avraham responded with a counter-petition signed by almost 200 people from the community, testifying that he had not forced his prayer reforms on anybody. The writer maintains that all those who signed in favor of Avraham testified falsely and deserve to be punished by the shaving of their beards, for he claims that Avraham certainly did force his prayer reforms on the community in their synagogues. The writer goes on to report on recent deaths, including that of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu (who predeceased his father) and Yūsuf b. al-Kharrāz (who ate dinner and went to sleep and died; in the morning, his face was "black as ink"). There is a section on the prices of various commodities, a section on relations with the military officer Kātib al-ʿArab, and greetings. As for the justification for the dating: Avraham Maimonides died in 1237. There were two sultans named al-Malik al-ʿĀdil. The first was the brother of Saladin and reigned 1200–18. The second was the grandson of the first (the son of al-Malik al-Kāmil) and reigned 1238–40, after the death of Avraham Maimonides. However, during the years 1232–38 when al-Malik al-Kāmil lived in Syria, al-Malik al-ʿĀdil the Younger sometimes represented his father in Egypt. Goitein determined that the reference must be to al-Malik al-ʿĀdil the First, which would date the document to 1204–18. But the plot thickens, because Shelomo b. Eliyyhau—whose death is reported in this document—was still alive in the month of Av in 1231 CE (Med Soc II, 575 n. 60) and Heshvan 1231 CE (Freer F 1908.44H). The present letter is dated Sunday 5 Tammuz. This narrows the window to 1232–37 CE. The trouble is that the 5th of Tammuz can never fall on a Sunday.... so either the scribe was off by a day or meant to write 15th of Tammuz. The latter option is supported by the phrase "may its sadness be turned to joy," which might refer to the upcoming 17th of Tammuz fast. (Information mainly from Friedman's article on this document; see also Mediterranean Society, I, p. 141; II, p. 485).

Account of revenue from rent ca. October 1201. A double leaf of a notebook, of which only the upper part is preserved. It was originally an account of both revenue and expenditures, but only a few items are preserved of the latter. Its first part contains revenue for the month of Marheshwan, followed by that for Kislev. The account contains 27 names of inhabited apartments belonging to to 15 compounds, inclusive of the funduq. The total revenue of Marheshwan was 269 dirhams, as against the expected 555.5 indicating a loss in revenue of 286.5, i.e. more than half. This is of course one of the indications of the famine and distress of the period. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 388 #103.) In the hand of the court scribe Yosef b. Shemuel b. Seʿadya ha-Levi (c.1181–1209).

One page is a book list, and one page is an inventory of items of clothing without prices except the first 4 items. Dating: early 13th century. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Account of building operations ca. 1200. List of expenditures, recording the daily amount of construction work lasting two weeks, of which the details for six days are preserved. The main items refer to preparation of mortar and plastering. Written in a calligraphic hand, the accounting was perhaps intended for public display. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 396 #107)

Declaration about five generations of males and females related by ramified family connections. Dated to the 13th century. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 286)

Account of a partnership, ca. 1218-19. Fragment of a leaf on which the accounting for the apartment of Ibrahim b. al-Sha'ir is presereved. The apartment is in the compound named after Menashshe (b. Yosef, the judge). Ibrahim b. al-Dayyan, mentioned in our documents of this period, is perhaps the son of the judge who lives in the apartment, half of which belongs to the qodesh. The compound is elsewhere described as shirkat al-Dayyan R. Menashshe. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 422 #125)

Settlement made before the divorce between Abu al-Faraj b. Abu Ishaq and 'Alam bint Abu Ishaq al-Hazzan. Abu al-Faraj renounces his rights to 3/5 of a mill in his possession and all his furniture, clothing and books in favor of his wife, 'Alam bint Abu Ishaq al-Hazzan, in order to be permitted to divorce her. Dated Sivan 1514/ May 1203. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 485)

Two lists of contributors, neatly written (by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu?), one above the other. The 12 names in the upper list are repeated in the lower (which has one more), often in abbreviated form (Abu al-Majd: Majd; Najib al-Ma'tuq: Najib). The contributions, ranging from 1/2 to 1 1/2 (dirhams), are almost identical in the two lists, perhaps a collection for two musicians at a minor family affair. Dated ca. 1225 (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 505, App. C 127)

Deathbed declaration of an 'attar (perfumer) entrusting his employee with the running of his store, fixing daily wages for him, and protecting him from future claims even by the declarant's own heirs. Dated Tammuz 1555/June 1244. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 136, 543)

Prenuptial contract of Moshe ha-Kohen b. Yosef and the daughter of Shemarya ha-Kohen, stipulating the details agreed upon for the marriage. Dated ca. 1220. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 403)

Address of a letter sent to Fustat to Eliyyahu the judge (beginning of 13th century). (Information from CUDL)

Legal document mentioning that a man in Fustat is prepared to pay 1000 dirhams for two and one-half out of twenty-four shares of a well-known house in Alexandria. The fragment contains also instructions to a scribe. The transaction summarized is preceded by another one in which Abu al-Faraj b. Abu Mufaddal al-Marawihi buys a Nubian maidservant. Dated ca. 1250. (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 285)