Geniza Lab

Contributions to a collection of loaves of bread for the poor, ranging from 100 pounds (a qintar) down to 1/2 pound. Instead of bread, one person gives three dirhams. Most of the contributors of larger amounts are introduced with the title 'my lord the elder,' while most of those giving small ones are simply called by name, such as: Yaʿaqov-1/2, Ibrahim Ibn al-Mawazini (maker of scales)-1, the oil-makers-1, the Karaite-1/2. No consistency, however, was observed in this distinction. The donors of the third and fourth largest amounts (25 and 10 pounds, respectively) receive no title, while others giving only two pounds do. The handwriting of this much-effaced document is of the calligraphic type used in books, which is extremely difficult to locate and date. Reason: The list is headed by Abu Zikri (taking him as son of Eliyyahu the dayyan, who was a prominent physician in Alexandria), while R. Yeshu'a is second, even though he donated only 4 pounds 'The haver' is also listEd. All three are conspicuous in T-S 10J16.6, the complaint of the administrator of the quppa in Alexandria, who was threatened with death when he retained certain quantities of wheat in order to meet emergencies in time of scarcity. The Nagid might have asked that all the relevant lists connected with the breadbasket of the community be submitted to him, one of which (the present list) would have finally made its way into the Geniza. If the above reasoning is correct, the document should be dated ca. 1230. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, 491-492, App. C 53 and from Cohen)

Letter, fragmentary, from Isma’il b. Barhun ha-Tahirti from al-Mahdiyya, to Yosef b. Ya’aqov b. Awkal from Fustat. Mentions some information about the Sultan interfering in trade matters. Mentions Yosef b. Brahya and the Nagid – Avraham b. Ata. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #119) VMR

Communal accounts with revenue available and expenditures: 'A [public] Fast--29' 'Food for the poor (mezonot)--39.' Among the expenses, besides bread and salaries, are payments to a traveler called by his name and his rafiq, traveling companion. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 462, App. B 82)

Letter in the hand of Daniel b. Azarya, ca. 1051-1062.

Letter from Josiah (Yoshiyahu) Gaon, apparently to Efrayim b. Shemarya, ca. 1015.

Letter from the first half of the eleventh century which contains an appeal for help in ransoming captives. The letter is from the community of Alexandria to Efrayim b. Shemarya and the Palestinian congregation of Fustat. (Information from Frenkel)

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya, ca. 1028.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda, apparently to Fustat, concerning a dispute in the community, ca. 1026.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Avraham b. Mevasser, Fustat, approximately 1030.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Sahlan b. Avraham, Fustat, ca. 1046.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya, approximately 1048.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Shemuel Ha-Kohen b. Avtalyon concerning a trial that took place in Ramla ca. 1030.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya.

Letter from Shelomo ha-Kohen Gaon to Efrayim b. Shemarya, Fustat, 1025.

Letter fragment on behalf of the lepers of Tiberias to Efrayim b. Shemarya in Fustat.

Letter from Eliyyahu ha-Kohen b. Shelomo Gaon, Jerusalem, to Efrayim b. Shemarya, Fustat, ca. 1055.

Letter from Shelomo ha-Kohen Gaon b. Yehosef to Efrayim b. Shemarya, in Fustat, spring 1025.

Letter from Alexandria to Efrayim b. Shemarya, Fustat, requesting donation for the ransom of prisoners of the Byzantines, 11th century. On verso Hebrew rhymed poems.

Letter from the Yeshiva to a Jewish community outside Jerusalem.

Previous description for ENA 2805.2 (upper fragment): Letter from Shela b. Mevasser, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1065 CE. The sender, the judge of Alexandria, has the name “ḥaver” from the yeshiva in Palestine. He writes about wills of people who passed away and taking care of the widows. He specifically mentions a youth named Manṣūr who made a will while suffering the remnants of an illness (line 15). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #790) VMR Another letter to Nahray, in a different hand, is bound together under the same shelf-mark. Previous description for ENA 2740.3 (PGPID 5263): Letter from Shela b. Mevasser to Mevorakh b. Saadya, written after 1094. Shela reports on how he handled an inheritance dispute in Alexandria that ended up in a qāḍī court. (Information from Frenkel.) Join: Oded Zinger.