Geniza Lab

Letter from Ibrāhīm b. Isḥāq, evidently of al-Maḥalla, to Abu Saʿd Hibatallāh (aka Netanʾel b. Yefet Rosh ha-Qahal), in Cairo. The beginning is in Hebrew ("twelve lines of exquisite Hebrew proem"), and the body of the letter is in Arabic script, except for two phrases. (On verso there are also a few lines of accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals.) This is a letter of recommendation for the bearer, one Yakhin ha-Meshorer ("the poet") who had settled in al-Maḥalla but fled from there and abandoned his family,when the superintendent of revenue (ṣāḥib al-Maḥalla) "harassed him" by demanding from him the capitation tax (al-kharāj). The letter presupposes that Yakhin was entitled to tax exemption because he was a Khaybari, a Jew descended from an Arabian clan that asserted it had received special privileges in the time of Muḥammad. The addressee is asked to help Yakhin sort out his documentation. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, 386, 611, MR, OZ, NV, ASE.)

Recto: Letter from Futūḥ the cantor to Shemuel and Hayyim and Nasir and their cousins Sadaqa and Yiṣḥaq, congratulating them on their safe return and requesting their help in the form of a gift that would solve the writer's problem of being imprisoned after being unable to pay the capitation tax. The letter starts with a biblical quotation (l. 1, Ps. 33:1). The letter is in Hebrew, beautifully written and styled. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 352, 490; III, p. 436, and Goitein's index cards) Verso: Arabic document and jottings. (Information from CUDL)

Letter (petition) asking for help to free the writer’s brother who apparently had been incarcerated for failing to pay the capitation tax (here, called kharāj). Dating: 11th century. The spelling is phonetic and possibly somewhat archaic: the definite article lacks lām before sun-letters, and many of the short vowels are written plene. (Information from CUDL and Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Manṣūr (probably Manṣūr b. Sālim) in Alexandria to his brother in Fustat mentioning that his son Moshe started to speak and has since kept repeating: 'my uncle, my uncle Musa,' referring to his deceased uncle and the sender's and recipient's brother, who bore the same name. The sender also writes about an agreement that was reached with a tax-farmer about a payment made in installments and expresses regret about the fact that a female relative who was involved in a law-suit with her husband enjoyed 'no holiday and no Saturday.' Finally, the writer requests the recipient urgently to return a note from the tax-farmer. The Verso is written in a different hand. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 235, and from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Walad al-Nezer (i.e. Mevorakh b. Nathan b. Shemuel) to the notable Netanel b. Avraham, a physician living in the Rif (and muqaddam of al-Mahallah, see 10J20.21), recommending ha-Hazzan Abu l-Bayan Moshe b. ha-Hazzan al-Ahuv who traveled to the Rif in order to collect money for his capitation tax. The young man is recommended as one growing up among the hazzanim in the time of Sar Shalom - may his name live forever - and in our own time. Information from Goitein's note card and S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:389-90, 612. EMS. ASE.

Letter in which a tax-farmer named Yehuda, who received one and a half dinars a month, is mentioned. Dated to the 12th century.

Letter from the wife of Shemuel, a poor woman from al-Maḥalla, addressed to the Gaon Maṣliaḥ. She asks for assistance for herself and for her blind son, particularly for paying the capitation tax. She had already been in Fustat one month without relying on anyone for charity. (Information from Goitein's index cards.)

Letter from Yūsuf b. Faraḥ al-Qābisī, in Alexandria, to his nephew Abū l-Surūr Faraḥ b. Ismāʿīl b. Faraḥ, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: September 6, 1056 CE, based on Gil's assessment. The letter contains a wide array of news and business matters. Yūsuf describes an attack by Ibn al-Thumna's soldiers on merchant ships and the requisitioning of merchandise (r10–12). He passes on the news (r14–15) that the addressee's uncle (ʿamm) Sulaymān was seriously ill in Sūsa but recovered (פק, to be read fāq); that Yaḥyā b. Mūsā al-Majjānī died (r16–17); that the writer's own cousin (ibn khālat{ī}) Abū l-Faḍl is critically ill (ʿalā khuṭṭa) in al-Mahdiyya (r17–18); that the customs tax (ʿushr) has become more stringent (r18); and that Yosef b. Shabbetay al-Ḥazzān converted to Islam in Palermo, a grievous day (r19–20). Amidst the bad news, and a business partner's complaint that his goods never reached him, Yūsuf complains, "My boy, by God, before this trip I was very strong, but now it is the opposite, by God, my spirit is weaker than a thread of silk" (r21–22). He continues with news of Qayrawān, al-Mahdiyya, and Sfax (v1–4); instructions regarding the purchase of flax in Būṣīr (v8–11); and information on the movements of ships. (Information in part from Gil.) ASE.

Letter from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, Qalyub, to a family member in Fustat, dealing with sundry small business matters. He orders walnuts, sugar, and Sinnārī cheese (this last to be sent with Salāma). Ibn al-Nuʿmān is to be paid 42 dirhams. Ibn al-Dajānī will receive some as well. Moshe refers to the pressing of the grapes. He is anxious to know about the capitation tax and how much remains to be paid so that he can send some money to help. Abū Khalaf is mentioned in the margin. Verso is more faded and difficult to understand. He writes that Farruj's name is Furrayj b. Ishaq (?), and the agent's name is Ma'ani b. Abu l-Khayr. He asks for medicine and/or medical advice regarding the boy who was circumcised on Friday and who 'chafed' his 'leg' and has a bit of blood at the opening. In a postscript Moshe says he has sent with the bearer a copper vessel (qumqum) that is either filled with or to be filled with rose water. Mentioned in Ashtor, Histoire des prix, 1969, p. 136. ASE.

Fragment of a letter from a mother in the Maghreb to her merchant son in Fustat. The beginning of the 11th century. Including information about shipments and ships. Seems like the tax collectors are after the mother but the reason for that is unclear. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #239) VMR

Letter from ʿAyyāsh b. Ṣedaqa, from Alexandria, to the Tahirti family, Fustat. May 27, 1050. ʿAyyāsh returned from Busir where he bought a large amount of flax, for Nahray, to the cousins (the Tahirtis) and several others. There were some accidents with the goods, several shipments got wet and several others were stolen. ʿAyyāsh mentions deals of silk and pearls with Abd al-Rahman the jeweler, and several other goods. Verso: Draft of an account regarding flax and other goods, as well as details about the expenses for ship rental, bribe, and taxes. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #485) VMR

Letter to Abu Imran in which the writer, a perfumer and judge in Minyat Zifta, describes repairs to the local synagogue along with news of other matters. The writer also notes payment of capitation tax at the rate of 2 dinars. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:46, 276, 532, 546, 586; Geoffrey Khan, Arabic Legal and Administrative Documents in the Cambridge Genizah Collections, 370-1) EMS

Recto: State document. Report to al-Ẓāhir about a tax farmer, beginning only. Dating: 1021–36 CE. (Cited in Khan, BSOAS 53 (1990) 25; Arabic Legal and Administrative Documents in the Cambridge Genizah Collections 311 n27 with partial transcription.) Indirect join: Oded Zinger.

Complaint of a damin (tax farmer) in al-Minya about competitors, submitted to the Nagid Mevorakh around 1096. The writer claimed to receive one of his appointments as tax-farmer from the father and predecessor of al-Malik al-Afdal. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:361, 605-6) EMS See also Cohen, Jewish Self-Government, p. 149; Mann, Jews in Egypt, II, p. 249; Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 85, 411; II, pp. 359, 361, 606; V, p. 367

Letter from a young man named Sibāʿ, in Alexandria, to his mother, in Fustat, but addressed to his brother Abū l-Najm. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Possibly early 13th century, if Abū Saʿīd b. Thābit al-Ḥazzān mentioned at the end is identical with the brother of Meir b. Yakhin (aka Bū l-Majd b. Thābit). The letter describes the troubles the writer encountered from a capitation tax official on his travels in a Nile boat and saying he had arrived safely in Alexandria. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 299, 300.)

Letter sent by a young man named Siba to his mother in Fustat but addressed to his brother, Abu al-Najm, describing the troubles he had encountered from a capitation tax official on his travels in a Nile boat and saying he had arrived safely in Alexandria. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 299, 300)

Abū ʿAlī b. ʿImrān, Alexandria, writes to the son of his dead sister, to Abū Mūsā Hārūn b. al-Muʿallim Yaʿaqov, Fusṭāṭ, the shop of Abū Naṣr al-Tilmīdh. See T-S 8J17.22, same writer, same recipient. "The troubles caused by agnates—but endured with resignation—are vividly brought home in a letter from Alexandria, addressed to the sons of a dead sister in the capital. The writer must have had a number of children, for he reports the death of the youngest, a boy, only in passing, adding drily: "May God preserve the rest." Two aged sisters lived with him, together with an orphan boy from a niece whose recent death is also reported. Another niece staying with him had a suitor whom she could not marry because she was a divorcee and had not received the legal documents (barā'a) needed for the new marriage, probably proving that she did not possess anything from the property of her former husband. The main purpose of the letter to the nephews was to secure the missing papers (perhaps one of them had been married to the unhappy woman). As though that were not enough: two sisters of those nephews lived in a house belonging to their family in Alexandria. The house was ill-omened (mayshūm), probably because someone had been killed there, or had died an unnatural or premature death. No one came to visit the girls, and they lived in complete solitude, "the most miserable creatures in the entire city with no one to care for them." The writer was prepared to invite these nieces to stay with him, but their brother would not permit them to move, probably in order to have someone to look after the property. Having already been ill for five months, during which time he was able to go out to the bazaar only once, the writer had entrusted one of the sons of his dead sister, Ḥassūn, with some of his business, but he had completely wrecked it. "The complaint is to God alone" (for what can one do against a close relative?). Several other relatives are mentioned in the letter in a rather sarcastic vein." Med Soc III A 3, n.2 (p.34).

Legal/official document in Arabic script. Drawn up in the majlis al-khidma of an amir with grand titles (...majd al-khilāfa ʿizz al-dīn jamāl al-[...] fakhr al-mulk sayf al-dawla wa-[...]hā b. al-M[...]m ṣanīʿat amīr al-muʾminīn...). Dated: 16 Rabīʿ II 504 AH = 1 November 1110 CE. In which Rawʿ b. Ḥammūd, a Muslim funduqānī (proprietor of a caravanserai), undertakes to transport to the Ṣināʿa ("the Arsenal"), the river port of Old Cairo, all falat (goods that had evaded the payment of dues) and all those for which customs had to be paid, whether they had been brought to his own place or to other caravanserais, or had otherwise come to his knowledge. Reused on recto for Hebrew poems. (Information in part from Goitein's note card and Med Soc I, 189–90.)

Letter from Tamīm to his two brothers. In Judaeo-Arabic (for the body) and Hebrew (for the learned blessings). Dating: Unknown. Goitein identifies the handwriting with that of Tamīm b. Yosef, who gave a legal testimony in Qalyūb in 1231 CE (GW Plate XII corresponds to the current shelfmark F 1908.44H). He also wrote a letter addressed to Maimonides, TS Misc. 28.98 (See Ashur, 'A new letter to Maimonides', Fragment of the Month October 2010 Cambridge University Library) . In this letter, Tamīm informs his brothers of his terrible misfortune this winter. The family had amassed a substantial store of wheat from the earnings of Tamīm's wife, which they had chosen to buy in lieu of warm clothing, saying, "this will be a support behind us." They then hosted foreigners in their upper room (ghurfa) despite the fact that Tamīm, his wife, and their little children were seriously ill. When he began to recover, he found that all the wheat stored in the upper room had been stolen except for 3.5 waybas and two qadaḥs, along with their sleeping carpet (waṭa'). "I emerged from the ranks of the sick as a beggar." On top of all this, he still has to pay the capitation tax. He asks his brother to urgently send him 'Qedoshim' (the tractate?) and to inform him of when sixty days have passed from the autumnal equinox ('ha-tequfa') so that he knows when to begin saying 've-ten ṭal u-maṭar.' Information in part from Goitein's index cards. See also Med Soc IV, p. 370, n. 164. ASE.

Letter from a tax farmer in the Fayyum, who was cheated of his share by his partners, was unable to pay his debts, and was therefore taken into custody. He has been in prison for four days. He is sick with ophthalmia and his dependents are perishing. He asks help getting released before the Sabbath. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 35, 362 and from Goitein's index cards )