Geniza Lab

Account of expenditure for the distribution of bread (100 pounds costing 31 1/2 dirhams) and for payments to a nasi, to teachers, and other officials during the eleventh week of the liturgical year (Dec. 1241). (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 453, App. B 50)

Much effaced list of donors to charity. With one exception all called by their first names. Nineteen pledges of at least twenty-two persons. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 475, App. C 11)

Fragmentary list of contributions, it seems in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu, details of about twenty-five preserved: five giving 1, eight giving 1/2, two giving 3/8, three giving 1/4. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, 493, App. C 56)

Calligraphic list of 29 persons (to be solicited), professions ranging from butcher to physician. A list of potentially related names in Arabic script appears on the verso (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, 497, App. C 71)

List of about 105 prospective contributors, headed by the judge Yehiel b. Eliakim (dated docs. 1213-1233). At least 15 names recur in Bodl. c28.47, ed. Ashtor. Only the judge, who gives 1 (dinar), the Rasuy (a title), who appears second here, and another two who pledge 1/2, have sums attached to their names. But enough space is left between the lines for inserting numbers. About 20 different professions are represented. Some groups, such as goldsmiths, money changers, or purveyors of food, are listed together. The list comprises only a fraction of the members of the Rabbanite community of Fustat, probably only the more affluent. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 486, App. C 39)

List of donors to charity, in large characters, apparently destined for display, 6 persons under the heading 'Sunday' and another 10 under the heading 'Wednesday.' Verso contains lists in different hands for 'Monday' (10 persons), 'Thursday' (12), 'Tuesday' (11). These seem to be the names of the collectors of the weekly alms. Only one man, Yaʿaqov, the money assayer, served twice. Dated: time of David b. Avraham b. ha-Rambam. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 494-495, App. C 62)

Two lists of recipients of clothing, in two different scripts, the first part, extending from col.I, l. 1, to col. II, l. 14, the second from col. II, l. 15, to col. IV, l. 21. At least half of the recipients were women. Four names recur in both lists, meaning that two different distributions are recorded here. Details about 44 plus 37 households are recorded, but the leaf, which is folded to form a booklet of four pages, is superscribed 'Leaf no. 3', so that the total number of persons listed originally might have been not 81, but three times as many. It is not excluded that this one and Appendix B 33 and 64 originally formed one document. Abu al-Faraj the parnas is in charge of the the second distribution (which was made in two steps, col. II, l. 15; col. IV, l. 6), is listed as recipient of a thawb, or gown, in the first distribution (col. I, l. 20 [read: 10]), where, however, the item is crossed out. This could hardly mean here, as in some other documents, that the garment had already been delivered to him, for about forty items, or half the total contained in this leaf, exhibit the Arabic final mem, which Goitein takes as an abbreviation of (tasalla)m, 'received' (the same in Appendix B 33, 64, and C 41). Thus the deletion of the parnas share probably had another reason. Other parnasim, mostly outsiders, or their relatives, receive clothing, for example, 'the sister of the parnas from Jerusalem' I l. 18, 'the firnas of Damietta' I:31, 'the parnas of Crete' II:6 (also crossed out), also II:1, IV:1 and 5. Note the large number of foreigners. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 444, App. B 25, dated 1100-1140).

List of payments made on a Thursday. In addition to the usual expenditure for bread, salaries, and extras, the official twice paid 3/4 dirhams to a teacher, the weekly tuition for a poor boy (or two brothers) for whom the community paid. School fees were paid on Thursday. Verso, ll. 1-3, contributions, possibly received on the morning of the same day in the synagogue. Headed by Ibn Jalal al-Mulk, 'the Splendor of the Kingdom,' a government official. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II. p. 463, App. B 87, dated 1200-1240)

List, neatly written, of 26 people pledging gifts of 5 to 60. The ten most generous donors remain anonymous, the relevant entry being 'mattan,' which is the beginning of the biblical verse 'a gift in secret averts anger' (Prov. 21:14), understood as 'the anger of God.' Verso, in a different script, hasty entries of donations made over three consecutive weeks (the first is incomplete) and, again in another hand, notes on pledges during a later week. On this page, too, a number of pledges are anonymous. The second week is headed by 'the h[aver] the nagid Musa, the eldest son of Nagid Avraham II b. David b Avraham I Maimonides, d. Nov. 1290. (Information from Cohen, Voice of the Poor)

Collection by R. Baruch during the week 'In the Beginning' Twenty-seven contributors totaling 36 1/2 (dirhams). With the exception of two scholarly persons, a banker, entitled haver, who gives nine, and a goldsmith, styled rabbi)--the only one in the list besides the collector--who contributes five together with his partner, all the others content themselves with gifts of one-half, one, or at most one and one-half. Actual payments were made once for several weeks. The insertion in small letters of 'Thursday' between lines 18 and 19 shows that R. Baruch completed his collection during the synagogue service on Thursday morning. This is an example of one of several lists of contributors that do not show a wide scale of social or economic differentiation, with craftsmen by no means always in the lower categories. The letter resh stands for rubaʿ (1/4) and the letter tav for thumn (1/8) (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 490-491, App. C 49, dated first part of 13th century)

List of 67 contributors to charity, headed by 'our lord, may his glory be enhanced,' namely, the Nagid Avraham Maimonides (d. 1237), giving 3 1/2 (dinars or dirhams). Another list superscribed sh (= sheni, second) of 13 persons mentioned before and making a 2nd contribution, is attached. The list contains many persons arranged according to 'business addresses,' namely, the bazaars where persons of the same professions had their shops or where craftsmen had their adjacent fields. This means they were solicited at the same time, in the workplace. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 486-487, App. C 40)

T-S K15.66 forms the upper part and T-S K15.14 the lower part, of one list of about a hundred persons, contributing or being asked to contribute from 1/6 to 3/4 dinar, as partial payment of the capitation tax, the community making up the balance. These are all male, foreigners, laborers, craftsmen mostly of lower standing, community officials, persons called ghulam or sabi', that is, slave, freedman, or employee, and five others designated as damin, persons for whom security was given. Alternatively, the sums following the names may indicate the amounts to be paid by the community. The notables whose employees are mentioned (Dosa, Ibn Sighmar, Ibn 'Awkal [son of the Yosef], Bahudi, Ibn Hirbish) were active around 1040. Foreigners from Palestine, 5 (Tiberias 3; Baniyas 1; Jish, 1); Persia,2; Tiflis, 1; Spain, 3; Saqlabi (of Slavic origin), 1. Some names are only partly visible. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 440, App. 4-5).

List of about sixty recipients of charity, some identical with those in T-S NS J293. One section is superscribed 'In the Tujib' (a quarter of Fustat). No numerals or other indications of the charity involved. Like T-S K15.102 (Appendix B 31), it is written in very large characters, but in poor script and with bad spelling. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 448, App. B 34, dated 1100-1140).

Two lists of contributors and beginning of a third, comprising 25, 32, and 4 names, respectively, all headed by ha-r (the rabbi) Yosef Israel. The 1st 2 lists are in the same hand as T-S K15.10 and have many names in common with it. The first number = the pledge; the 2nd number = the 1st installment actually made. A late list. (Information from Mediterranean Society II, p. 497, App. C 76)

List of about ninety persons receiving subsidies for their capitation tax obligation, similar to T-S K15.14 + T-S K15.66, Apps. 4-5. Many names and sums are identical. As in official documents from the Fatimid chancelleries, a blank space, three times as wide as the height of the script, is left between the lines. Thus, no doubt, the list was destined for public display. Col. I, l.2 'from the collection, pesiqa' is added because of a special circumstance. It was found that the person concerned was unable to pay even the very reduced rate of 1/4 dinar imposed on him. Verso col. II, l. 11: Yahya al-Majjani, 9 qirats. probably the well known merchant, in dire straits that year and in need of assistance with his capitation tax. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 440, App. B 6, dated 1040-1060)

List: “Register (thabat) of the names of the elders who...” written upside down on the reverse side of a list of payers of incomplete capitation taxes (see T-S K15.94). The superscription is nearly entirely effaced but the word ‘jarida’ (also register), mostly used on lists of the poor, is clearly visible in the second line. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society 2:476) EMS

List, eight columns, of more than 180 names receiving alms. Many payments of 1/8 dinar. Many foreigners, designated as such: Palestine 13; Iraq 12; Syria-Lebanon 7; Rum 3; Sicily 2; Qayrwan 1; Barqa 1; Spain 1. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 441, App. B 8)

Letter of appeal for charity, probably. Dating: Perhaps 14th–16th century. Few details are preserved. NB: Verso does not seem to be digitized; the image listed as verso on FGP actually belongs to T-S K25.157.

Letter in Ladino with interspersed Hebrew phrases. Dating: ca. 18th century? This is a letter of appeal for charity. There may not be any information to identify the sender or the addressee ("my noble and virtuous master"). The sender complains that he has no money to clothe his wife or children ("tengo mi mujer desnuda..."). (Information in part from http://www.investigacion.cchs.csic.es/judeo-arabe/sites/investigacion.cchs.csic.es.judeo-arabe/files/Genizah-Al-Andalus.pdf.)

List of expenditures for a week. Here, 100 pounds of bread and its transportation cost 22 1/2 [1/4 MR Cohen] dirhams. The salaries recorded are typical. When a beadle is listed here with a salary of 4 dirhams (instead of 2, as usual), the sum certainly included arrears for the preceding week. Also, some entries of personal expenditure made by the official.' MR Cohen: Same names as in lists of Shelomo b. Zechariah from the beginning of the 13th century. (Information from Mediterranean Society II, p. 462, App. B 80)