Geniza Lab

Letter in Arabic script. The sender is a man from Alexandria who was forced to flee from that city because he was unable to pay the capitation tax for his little boy. He asks the Nagid Avraham Maimonides to instruct the judge Eliyyahu to help. He had been unsuccessful in obtaining work. See verso.

Recto: State document. Accounts regarding agrarian administration submitted by Boqṭor b. Sisinne, a Copt, the overseer (al-khawlī) in Badsā (in the province of al-Giza), for the year 401 kharājī (= 1011/12 CE) and the following year, detailing the amount of produce (ghalla) paid as karaji, the amount of produce remaining in the hands of the cultivators, the amount of seed-advance (taqāwī) used, what was given in by Imāʿīl b. al-Qāsim al-Jaʿfarī and what was transferred to the surveyor (al-dalīl) ʿAbdallāh b. Malik. On verso there is a Hebrew liturgical text. Information from Khan via GRU catalog via FGP.

Receipt relating to the tax farm of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb written by Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the Office of Accounts on behalf of the Office of Supervision: the warehouse keeper has paid the sum of two, a quarter and a sixth (dirhams?) on behalf of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb for the estates in Al-Fayyūm, under the supervision of the judge Ṯiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, and the accountant Abū l-Sarī Theodor b. Yuḥannis. Dated: 24 Muḥarram 404 AH, which is August 1013 CE. (Information from CUDL)

Tax receipt. Fatimid-era. In Arabic script. Granted to Bū Saʿd Ibrāhīm. The sum is 7.5 (written at lower left), and half of that is 3.75 (written at lower right). The sum of 7.5 is also written on verso in Judaeo-Arabic. The name of the scribe appears at the bottom. It is not immediately clear if there is a date. Needs further examination.

Recto: receipt relating to the tax farm of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb written by Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the Office of Accounts on behalf of the Office of Supervision: Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb has paid the sum of a third and a twelfth (dirhams?) for the estates in Al-Fayyūm, under the supervision of the judge Ṯiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, and the accountant Abū l-Sarī Theodor b. Yuḥannis. Dated: 7 Ṣafar 404 AH, which is August 1013 CE. Verso: Arabic accounts (incomplete). (Information from CUDL)

Receipt relating to the tax farm of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb written by Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the Office of Accounts on behalf of the Office of Supervision: the tax-farmer Ḏāt al-Ṣafā has paid three, a half and a sixteenth (dirhams?), under the supervision of the judge Ṯiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, the deputy judge Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan b. Yaḥyā b. Bahār and the elder accountant Sadīd al-Dawla Abū l-Faraj ʿAbd al-Masīḥ b. Qūrīl. Dated: 3 Ramaḍān 402 AH, which is March 1012 CE. Verso: beginning of a draft of the document on recto. (Information from CUDL)

Verso: Receipt relating to the tax farm of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb written by Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the Office of Accounts on behalf of the Office of Supervision: AAbū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb has paid the sum of two, a half, a third and an eighth (dirham?) for the estates in Al-Fayyūm, under the supervision of the judge Ṯiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, and the accountant Abū l-Sarī Theodor b. Yuḥannis. Dated: 25 Dhū l-Qa‘da 403 AH, which is June 1013 CE. Recto: letter (see separate entry). (Information from CUDL)

Recto: two documents. The first is an order for delivery of dues to the office of land tax (dīwān al-kharāj) written by the accountant Abū Musabbiḥī Abū l-Qāsim al-Ḥasan b. al-Ḥusayn, in which it is stated that Abū l-Ḥasan Mājid b. Yaʿqūb shall deliver to the land-tax office the dues that he received from Wasly b. Maymūn and that went through the hands of Abū Qalā ʿAbd al-Raḥmān […], Zakariyā b. Mukhtār, ʿAlūn b. Ḥanūn (the clerk), Ṣayfī b. Rashīd and Qolte b. al-Sarrī (surveyors). Dated: 423 AH, which is 1031/32 CE. The second document is a receipt issued by a tax officer testifying that he has received the total payment by the aforementioned Abū l-Ḥasan Mājid b. Yaʿqūb. This receipt is written in the form of a declaration: yaqūl ʿabd mawlānā.... On verso and on the left margin of recto, there is a homily in Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew. (Information from CUDL and Khan.)

Receipt relating to the tax farm of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb written by Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the Office of Accounts on behalf of the Office of Supervision: the ware-house keeper has paid the sum of two, a half, a third and an eighth (dirham?) on behalf of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb for the estates in Al-Fayyūm, under the supervision of the judge Ṯiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, and the accountant Abū l-Sarī Theodor b. Yuḥannis. Dated: 25 Dhū l-Ḥijja 403 AH, which is July 1013 CE. (Information from CUDL)

Receipt relating to the tax farm of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb written by Yūḥannā b. Mīkhāʾīl on behalf of his father Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the Office of Accounts on behalf of the Office of Supervision: Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb has paid the sum of two and a half (dirhams?) for the estates in Al-Fayyūm, under the supervision of the judge Ṯiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, the judge Ṣafī al-Dawla ʿAbd Al-Majīd b. Ḥasan (agent of the office of inspections) and the elder accountant Sadīd al-Dawla Abū l-Faraj ʿAbd al-Masīḥ b. Qūrīl. Dated: 27 Ṣafar 405 AH, which is August 1014 CE. (Information from CUDL)

Letter of appeal from a man, unknown location, to Musallam (or Musallama) Abū ʿAlī, the wakīl of Shams al-Dīn Ildakīz al-Birṭāsī, in Minyat Bāsik in ʿAmal al-Sharqiyya (present-day al-Minya in the district of al-Ṣaff in the province of Giza). In Arabic script. Beautiful handwriting. Dated: 7 Rabīʿ al-Awwal 644 AH, which is 23 July 1246 CE. The sender asks the help of the addressee, "because, as everything is so expensive, he has contracted debts, and himself eats only bread and onions. Presumably, there was a wakīl in every iqṭāʿ, and each of them enjoyed prestige and wealth, similar to that of the Shaykh Musallam." Information from Rabie, Financial System of Egypt, p. 65.

State accounts relating to the tax farm of the lands of Dayqūf, in the province of al-Bahnasā, administered by Basṭiyya b. Marqūra and the property of the office of the noble lady of al-Āmir in the "Muḥawwil chamber" (al-majlis al-muḥawwil was a chamber in the qaṣr al-baḥr, which in turn was a component of al-qaṣr al-kabīr, the great palace complex of the Fatimid caliphs). Dating: this account is for the kharājī year 550, which corresponds to 551/52 AH and 1156/57 CE. The produce of the land consists of 200 irdabbs: 133 irdabbs of wheat and 66 irdabbs of barley. The verso contains a summary of the document on recto. (Information from CUDL and Khan.)

Recto: receipt relating to the tax farm of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb written by Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the Office of Accounts on behalf of the Office of Supervision: Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb has paid the sum of a third and an eighth (dirhams?) for the estates in Al-Fayyūm, under the supervision of the judge Ṯiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, and the accountant Abū l-Sarī Theodor b. Yuḥannis. Dated: 8 Rabīʿ II 404 AH, which is October 1013 CE. Verso: Arabic document regarding the proceedings in the office of inspection in the province of Al-Fayyūm. (Information from CUDL)

Fol. 1: receipt relating to the tax farm of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb written by Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the Office of Accounts on behalf of the Office of Supervision: the tax-farmer Ḏāt al-Ṣafā has paid two and a half (dirhams?), under the supervision of the judge Ṯiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, the deputy judge Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan b. Yaḥyā b. Bahār and the elder accountant Sadīd al-Dawla Abū l-Faraj ʿAbd al-Masīḥ b. Qūrīl. Dated 8 Ramaḍān 402 AH, which is 3 April 1012 CE. (Information from CUDL)

Fol. 2: receipt for the amount of 2 and a quarter (dirhams?) relating to the tax farm of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb written by Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the Office of Accounts, under the supervision of the judge Ṯiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, the deputy judge Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan b. Yaḥyā b. Bahār and the elder accountant Sadīd al-Dawla Abū l-Faraj ʿAbd al-Masīḥ b. Qūrīl. Dated: 17 Dhū l-Qaʿda 402 AH, which is June 1012 CE. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Arabic script document containing several sections. The lower part may be a tax receipt for a sum received from Zuhayr b. [...] from the ḍamān of [al-Abwāb?] for the year 1023/24 CE (414 kharājiyya). Needs further examination. Verso: "List of male persons, low occupations, foreigners, in Arabic characters, superscripted with Isaiah 65:23 (in Hebrew). Presumably persons for whom capitation tax has to be paid" (Goitein's note card). In addition to this list, and upside down, is a literary paragraph discussing ʿilm and citing verses by al-Imām al-Shāfiʿī (taʿallama l-ʿilma fa-laysa l-mar'u yūladu ʿāliman. . .") ASE.

Letter from Abū l-Ḥusayn b. al-Rayyis b. Nāḥūm, in the Rīf, to his brother Abū Thābit, in Fustat. In Arabic script. Concerning the capitation tax of the bearer of the letter, who is (or was) the muqaddam of Damīra (his name may be given in line 6: النارين؟ الغاريب؟). The sender insists that this muqaddam is deserving and that they must help him. Interestingly he calls him a בעל תורה but writes it in Arabic characters: باعل تورا. In recent years, this person had paid his capitation tax in al-Maḥalla. It seems that this year he is registered as a newcomer in Fustat (and therefore exempt), but the authorities in al-Maḥalla refuse to recognize his documents. The recipient is to go to Abū l-Majd Thiqa, who is to get a certificate from the authorities in Fustat proving that he is exempt. If Abū l-Majd is unable to help, the recipient is to go to Abū l-Faraj b. al-Kohen. If it weren't for all the sender's work in the Rif, he would have come along himself to help this person. In the margin, he reminds the recipient of the books that he is supposed to send. Regards from the sender's nephew Abu Sahl. Regards to: the addressee's son Abū Naṣr; Abū l-Maʿālī and his children; Abū Isḥāq; Abū Saʿīd and his son. Goitein read the name of the sender as Abū l-Khayr and connects him to the Abū l-Khayr b. Naḥum in line 9 of T-S NS J403, a list of contributors to be solicited, ca. 1080. (See Med Soc II, App. C, #18.) MR. ASE.

Letter in Arabic script from Naṣrallāh (he begins the letter "mamlūkuhu akhūhu Naṣrallāh," line 2) to his brother Sharaf al-Dīn (line 3). The writer seems to be a provincial official of some sort. He reports awaiting the arrival of al-Qāḍī al-Ẓahīr (?) (named in lines r5, r10, and rm1). When the judge arrived, it seems that he started hearing the suits (? jihāt) of the locals. As the local tax assayer (mushārif) was new, he knew nothing of these (wa-dhālika anna l-mushārif jadīd lā yaʿrif jihat aḥad). The writer therefore prepared a register that the judge approved of (ʿamiltu lahum jarīda istaḥsanahā l-Qāḍī al-Ẓahīr). In the margin he is pleased to report that the Qāḍī plans to continue employing him and to promote his interests and to speak well of him to the governor (. . . yaqṣad an yastakhdimanī ʿindahu . . . wa-l-ẓāhir annahu yastakhdimunī fīhā wa-yaqṣad fī ḥaqqī wa-yashkurunī ʿind al-wālī). On verso he seems to describe a waterwheel on the Nile, for some reason of interest to his brother, that he found broken (. . . sāqīya ʿalā -baḥr fa-innī wajadtuhu kharāb bi-bāb. . .). He asks his brother to keep him informed about "the story of the Ra'īs." He sends regards to ʿAlā al-Dīn b. [...] and to their mother, among others. ASE.

State document. Petition to a Fatimid ruler in which the writer asks to be exempted from the payment of his capitation tax (of 1 + 1/3 + 1/4 dinars and a dirham), since lost his sight as a consequence of an eye illness and is now unable to perform his job, while the tax collectors are increasingly pressing. The writer also states that in the past he had been able to pay his capitation tax only thanks to the charitable intervention of the community. Dating: 12th century. On verso there is Hebrew text, possibly liturgical. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Legal testimony. In Arabic script. Dated: First decade of Rabīʿ I 486 AH, which is April 1093 CE. Apparently concerning some confusion over shipments of produce (ghalla) from two tax farmers (? bi-rasmi muqṭaʿayn). The captain/owner (rayyis) of the ship who delivered the produce to the arsenal (Dār al-Ṣināʿa) may be insisting that the taxes have already been paid on these shipments. (For more on the Fatimid arsenal, see David Bramoullé, Les Fatimides et la mer (909-1171) (Leiden, 2019), ch. 5.) The rayyis swears by God, by the caliph al-Mustanṣir, and by another person titled amīr al-juyūsh, sayf al-islām, nāṣir al-imām, chief dāʿī, etc. (=Badr al-Jamālī?). (Information in part from the Baker & Polliack catalogue.) Needs further examination.