Geniza Lab

Fragment of a petition, two wide lines. The first line reads 'wa-ʿabd mawlānā,' then '[...] al-shāmil.'

Nine lines in two different hands; one hand seems to be a chancery hand and the other one is not as elegant. The document starts with a basmala and then becomes relatively difficult to read. The first line reads '..Lawlā l-ḥāl fī l-ḥad li-l-ḥukm'. Contains "innā" as well as "lām" multiple times, possibly "mālik" and "mamluk". Towards the end, the writer also mentions that he doesn't grieve upon something, 'lam yaḥzun ʿalā'.

Report probably on military matters. In Arabic script. 6 lines preserved. Mentions a wall (al-ṣūr), the dispatching of a warship (ʿushārī), someone named Ibn al-Qaṣʿ(?), arrival in Jabla, arrival in al-Dānūr (or al-Dāmūr?) between Beirut and Sidon and perhaps a battle. Needs further examination. Reused on recto for the beginning of a Judaeo-Arabic treatise on divining the future using a table of 89 letters which are referred to as "the chess houses" (al-buyūt al-shaṭranjiyya). Further down, mentions the city of Alexandria in an unclear context.

Recto: Legal document in Arabic script. The middle portions of ~11 lines are preserved from near the top of the document. The price of a commodity according to a particular price - ḥasab seʿr and dirham, darāhim are mentioned. The document was chartered when the beneficiary was in sound health and had fully consented to the cause; 'fī ṣeḥatin.... ṭawʿan lahu ʿalaihi', and is referred to as 'this document/letter'; hadhā l-kitāb. Mentions names such as Sulaymān and Maḥmūd bin Ṣafīh (?). Needs further examination. Verso: Legal document in Judaeo-Arabic. Possibly from a court ledger (shimmush). Mentions the name Sālim, otherwise, very few details are preserved. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card).

Fragment of a legal document. The terms sāiʾba (endowment/waqf property more generally ) and mūwāqafa (safeguarding waqf/endowment properties) are suggestive that the document could be related to a matter pertaining to waqf. The last lines reveal the beginning of a name "al-Fāḍil al-Ajal al-Asʿad". Recto contains a Hebrew script with one line of not very legible Arabic script in a chancery hand at the bottom.

State document, fragment, in a chancery hand, mentions the dīwān al-amwāl. The duality of the noun "aʿdāʾhuma" (line 3) suggests that it is addressed to two people, the first name ends with[..] al-Dawla, and the second is referred to as al-Shaykh al-Jalīl. Hebrew script on verso.

Legal document, 12 lines, in Arabic script, dated 4th Muḥarram al-Ḥarām of an undecipherable year [8..?]. Concerning [...] b. al-Muʿallim Ṣadaqa the Samaritan Jew, a receipt of something (waṣala...), and a period of time. The occurrence of few sums of money indicates a fiscal account or commercial transaction - 'min al-fiḍḍat al-anṣāf al-judūd', which points to the Mamlūkī silver 'half' coin of al-Muʾayyad Shaykh and suggests that this letter is dated no earlier than 1415 CE, as this was the year when the ruler imposed the 'half' as the basic silver coin. Other measures mentioned are 'Khamsīn naṣṣan mā-huwa ḥāmiluhu', 'khamsat wa-thalāthīn fiḍḍa'.

State document; Fatimid? Seems like a peace treaty/gifts (hudna/hadiyya?) addressed towards the city of Baghdad, possibly, - 'li-l-hudna/hadiyya ilā madīnat al-Salām'. Sums of money, min l-waraq (silver), aʿin (gold), dawāb (cattle), and khadam (slaves) are mentioned, which could be the reparations sent for ensuring a peace treaty or gifts to engender diplomatic relations. The persons mentioned are Abu Bakr and ʿĪsā, who is referred to as Ṣāḥib al-Ḍawāb (Man of cattle). The document is dated Wednesday 15th of a month unknown. Reused for a literary text-oriented at 180 degrees citing Talmudic rabbis and written in a combination of Hebrew and Arabic script (rather than Judaeo-Arabic) — common among Qaraites but more unusual among Rabbanites.

Small fragment with Arabic script in a chancery hand with wide spacing. Possibly a state document. A few words from the two fragmentary lines read - "bimā tashraḥ min ḥālihim", "jamāl al-Dawla".

State document, a chancery hand; probably Fatimid. Starts with a Basmala and above it are words of blessings upon the Caliph li Maulānā Ṣalla Allahu (....). Mentions the royal kitchen (waṣala ilā l-maṭbakh al-Maʿmūr) and the rations that were sent to it and were claimed by the needful (arbāb al-ḥājāt ilaihi). Reused for a Hebrew text. Needs examination. Indirect join: Oded Zinger.

State document, probably a fiscal order. Mentions rāhin/dāʾin in the first line, slaves (ghilmān), and property (ʿamāʾr). Some of the names mentioned are Abū Jawhar, Sayyid al-Ahl bin Muḥammad and ʿAbd al-Bāqī bin...Day recorded in the margin is Thursday; 'bi tārikh Yawm al-Khamīs'. Also mentions 'sulṭān' and '[...]al-Dawla', probably the title of an official. Verso: Hebrew text; Pizmonist ( Similar hand as ENA 3714.5, T-S Ar.38.119, T-S NS 145.22, T-S Ar.42.186).

Fatimid state report from a lower official to the caliph or other high official(s), including raʾy clause, ḥamdala and ḥasbala. Only the last two lines before the ending are preserved. Mentions Ibn al-Anbārī and excuses for why a group of people were prevented from arriving somewhere (possibly tempests—anwāʾ).

Receipt, with a bunch of names of the contributors, dates, and days of the week on both sides. A few Hebrew characters also appear in the otherwise Arabic script commercial account. A list of communal contributions (?).

Petition. Dating: Late 16th or early 17th century, as it involves the well-known rabbi and judge Ḥayyim Kapūsī (1540–1631). The petitioner makes accusations against a Jewish man named Saʿd b. al-ʿAyṣī(?) who held the rights to a capitation tax farm (kāna multazim bi-muqāṭaʿat al-jawālī) but who was caught up in some sort of scandal (unkira ʿalayhi min al-amwāl al-muḥarrara ʿalayhi li-jānib al-dīwān) and had to leave Egypt for a long time. He eventually returned and attached himself to the court of Ḥayyim al-Kapūsī. Now, whenever litigants come before the court, he extorts bribes from them and hinders them from bringing cases before the Muslim courts. He infringes on people's rights, especially the poor and anyone who does not pay him enough of a bribe. The addressees are asked to send two witnesses to observe the truth of these claims and then act against the wicked man. The Hebrew script in the margin likely belongs with the accounts on verso; it does not appear to be a filing note. This document is particularly noteworthy, because the most famous hagiographical anecdote about Ḥayyim Kapūsī (also spelled Capoussi or Capousi) is that he miraculously regained his eyesight after being accused of taking bribes, thereby proving his righteousness and silencing his enemies. ASE

Mamluk or early Ottoman petition.

Letter in Arabic script addressed to al-Mawqif al-Ashraf and ʿIzz al-Dawla. Maybe Fatimid official correspondence. Mentions the amīrs Shujāʿ al-Dawla, Majd al-Dawla, and the city of Tripoli. The writer mentions sending a delegate/appointee to the amīr Shujāʿ al-Dawla, but the latter refused to accept him and sent the delegate back claiming that he hadn't received an amr (order) from al-Haḍra al-Muṭahhara (=Fatimid Caliph). The writer then sent the delegate/appointee back to the amīr Shujāʿ al-Dawla with a copy of the Noble Letter which was sent in this regard. He also mentions the case of the amīr Majd al-Dawla and explains that Ibn Dardār or someone else hadn't messed up but rather the cause was what he had mentioned in the previous letter. Deserves further historical inquiry into the names of the officials and especially for the light it may shed on administrative practices e.g., نسخت الفصل من الملطف الكريم الوارد في معناه. Al-Maqrīzī attests that the al-Mulaṭṭaf was a royal letter issued by the Caliph (al-Iṭṭiʿāẓ, vol.2, pg. 153). Reused for Hebrew literary text.

State document, possibly a decree. Suggests orders conferred upon an authority 'hayʾat (?) l-muṭālaʿa wa-l-āʿmāl bihā'. There is Arabic script in another not-so-elegant hand and a few words in Hebrew script towards the end. Needs further examination.

Fragment of a letter or petition. In Arabic script. Six lines, fragmentary, difficult to read. Some words read as lil-haṣr(?), thaman(?), ʿadlhā wa-ṣadaqāthā (appealing to the addressee's justice and charity). Reused on verso for an unidentified Hebrew text (something halakhic or liturgical? mentioning the high priest and Rosh ha-Shana).

Recto: trial of the pen. Verso: arithmetic calculations.

Deed of acknowledgment (iqrār), with many lacunae in the fragment. In Arabic script. Involves [...] b. Abū Ṭāʿa(?) al-Ḥāmī and Manṣūr b. Faraḥ al-Ḥāmī in Cairo for default in debt payment. The testimony declares that the debt owed by Manṣūr is proven - "kitāb lahu dainan ʿalaihi ḥatman wa-ḥaqqan wājiban lāziman ḥāllan lahu ʿalaihi", and there is no record of a bankruptcy (wa lā yaddaʿī lahu fi dhālika falsan walā ʿadman) established in his favor till this date. Hence, the creditors are entitled to take from him what they want, when they want it, and how they want it, either at night or in the evening or in the day - yāʾkhozuhu bihi wa bimā shāʾ minhu ayyu waqtin shāʾ wa-kaif shāʾ min lailin av-nahārin masaʾin av-ṣabāḥin. The letter is signed by Sahal Ibrāhīm al-Ḥasan. Dated: Shaʿbān 459(?) AH, which would be 1066/1067 CE. Needs further examination.