Geniza Lab

Small scrap with ~2 words of Arabic script. T-S K25.240 consists of small written orders, partly in Hebrew and partly in Arabic script, for monthly payments, made out of the rent-revenue from the pious foundation (waqf) 'Compound of the Poor' or from the pious foundation made by the physician al-Muhadhdhab. All dated orders are from spring and summer, 1218. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 420-421, App. A 48-92; pp. 449-450, App. B 39b [dated 1210-1225]; Cohen, Poverty and Charity in the Jewish Community of Medieval Egypt, pp. 218-220)

Verso: Autograph order from Avraham Maimonides. Abū l-Majd is to give the cantor Abū l-Ḥasan (=Yedutun ha-Levi?) 9 dirhams. T-S K25.240 consists of small written orders, partly in Hebrew and partly in Arabic script, for monthly payments, made out of the rent-revenue from the pious foundation (waqf) 'Compound of the Poor' or from the pious foundation made by the physician al-Muhadhdhab. All dated orders are from spring and summer, 1218. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 420-421, App. A 48-92; pp. 449-450, App. B 39b [dated 1210-1225]; Cohen, Poverty and Charity in the Jewish Community of Medieval Egypt, pp. 218-220)

Autograph order from Avraham Maimonides. Abū l-Majd is to give the bearer (also named Abū l-Majd?) two dirhams for baking matza (khabīz faṭīr) for Passover. There is one line in Arabic script at the bottom. T-S K25.240 consists of small written orders, partly in Hebrew and partly in Arabic script, for monthly payments, made out of the rent-revenue from the pious foundation (waqf) 'Compound of the Poor' or from the pious foundation made by the physician al-Muhadhdhab. All dated orders are from spring and summer, 1218. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 420-421, App. A 48-92; pp. 449-450, App. B 39b [dated 1210-1225]; Cohen, Poverty and Charity in the Jewish Community of Medieval Egypt, pp. 218-220)

Verso: Autograph order from Avraham Maimonides to the cantor Abū l-Majd. Abū l-Majd is to convey the remaining 10 dirhams owed to Abū l-Faraj for support (mezonot), from the rent of the compound. Mysteriously, there is a נע (indicating that Abū l-Faraj is dead) over the שצ (indicating that he is alive). T-S K25.240 consists of small written orders, partly in Hebrew and partly in Arabic script, for monthly payments, made out of the rent-revenue from the pious foundation (waqf) 'Compound of the Poor' or from the pious foundation made by the physician al-Muhadhdhab. All dated orders are from spring and summer, 1218 CE. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 420-421, App. A 48-92; pp. 449-450, App. B 39b [dated 1210-1225]; Cohen, Poverty and Charity in the Jewish Community of Medieval Egypt, pp. 218-220)

Account of the qodesh, ca. 1165. A double leaf from a notebook. The draft of an accoutning occupies only one half of the leaf, and the remaining parts are covered with Coptic numerals. The majority of the items seem to represent expenditures, except for the last part, where apparently some revenue from rent is listed. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 306 #69)

Account: building expenditures and revenue from rent, ca. 1039. This record contains details about sums of rent collected from "the Estate of the Synagogue of the Palestinians" for A.H. 429 and 430. It was written at the end of 1039. The revenue list mentions the first period during which Dar Qutayt was inhabited whereas before it had been empty. The building expenditures refer in part to the synagogue. The three parts of the document have found their way into three different boxes of the Taylor-Schechter Collection. Written in the hand of Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 167 #11)

Account of the Qodesh: payments to workers and revenue from rent, ca. probably 1043. The recto of this leaf contains details of different sums paid to building workers. The heading refers to sums collected by the workers employed in the building operations of the qodesh. The names are of Muslims. The verso has some details on collections of rent. The handwriting is that of Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 197 #24)

Account for Siwan 1494 sel. ca. 1183. This very orderly written list of revenues and expenditures covers the revenue from 18 apartments and compounds, the total being 205 dirhams. The expenditure section lists several ordinary items, but in the main gives details of sums spent on repairs in Dar al-Nagid. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 339 #85)

Account for Tammuz and Av 1494 sel. ca. 1183. Only the revenue part of this account is presevred. It contains the sums from 22 apartments and compouns, the total being 374 dirhams, to which 15 dirhams are added, from the account of the preceding month, all of which is to be handed over by the parnas. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 342 #86) Written by Shemuel b. Saadya. AA

Account of the qodesh ca. 1240. A record of pecuniary operations. Apparently legal matters and relations with the Muslim authorities now figure among the activities of the qodesh. Watchmen are engaged during the building operations; also an army officer, amir, is mentioned, and negotiations which were going on, al-Askar, the location of the government offices near Fustat. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 465 #139)

Revenue from rent in Damascus, date unknown. Leaf of a notebook, recording revenue from rent from shops and apartments belonging to the qodesh of Damascus. The reconstruction of several such shops is mentioned, carried out under the direction of the beadle Na'im b. Benyameen. One of the apartments was inhabited by people who came ffrom the Maghrib. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 229 #39)

Accounting of the qodesh ca. 1247. The recto contains the lists of revenue from rent for the month of Siwan. The verso has a list of expenditures made during the same period. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp.471 #142) Probably written by Shlomo b. Shmuel b. Saadya. AA

Account of the compound of the Jerusalemites ca. 1191-93. Personal notes of the panason, in which they recorded rent payments by six tenants of Dar al-maqadisa. Several payments are in dinars and some of them seem to be advance payments. The accounting is written on a double leaf from a notebook, in two different scripts, one of them quite awkward, and the other obviously the work of a skilled writer. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 369 #97)

Petition of a teacher. Fragment of a letter written by a teacher, apparently to one of the parnasim of the qodesh. Insisting that he is in distress, the applicant evokes a decision of the Nagid, David b. Avraham, giving him the right to live in an apartment of the qodesh for the reduced rent of 12 dirhams. It appears that after having lived in it for 13 years, he is faced with a demand for increased rent. (Information from Gil, Documents of the Jewish Pious Foundations, pp.480-481, #146)

Account of the Qodesh: revenue from rent, ca.1040. The upper part of a leaf, writtten by Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 181 #14)

Account: revenue from rent in Damascus.

Fragment, middle part of orderly accounts in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. In addition to items known from previous accounts, many new ones appear, for example, 'myrtles [for the Sukkot Feast]--2 1/2 dirhams; a shoe for the halisa...--1 1/2; to the Muezzin...who lives near the synagogue of the Palestinians as per a memo by R. Ḥalfon--2; from the Yemenite for Dammuh--6.' (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 452, App. B 46 [dated 1210-1225])

List of daily building operations/expenditures, ca. probably 1092. Three days are accounted for, in one week of Elul, from Monday the 11th, to Friday the 15th. The parnas who recorded the list probably advanced money of his own, or even resorted to loans, since he lists the sum collected each day and the deficit, which is called salaf (also dawn). 52 dirhams are due on the first, 21 on the second, and 21 on the third day. Then the total weekly deficit of 94 dir. is listed. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 224 #37)

List of payments made by tenants of the Qodesh, ca. 1059. Revenue from rent written in the awkward hand of the parnas Eli ha-Kohen b. Yahya-Hayim. A hajj, i.e. a Muslim who has performed the pilgrimmage to Mecca, is among the tenants. The document is a double sheet taken from a notebook, written only on recto. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 222 #36)

List of the houses owned by the Qodesh ca. 1160. (SH [1-29-87]) The beadle Maḥfūẓ presents a list of houses belonging to the qodesh which he is responsible for collecting the rent of. The list is written in Arabic characters and contains 26 items. Four of the compounds have the added notation that the sums owed by their tenants have been paid. The houses are said to be aḥbās, i.e. waqf dedications, of the Jews for their masākīn (poor). The list may have been compiled for the purpose of showing the sum due for ground rent (ḥikr). (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 295 #65)