Geniza Lab

Letter by Saʿadya Gaon to the Jews of Fustat, fragmentarily preserved; this copy 11th century. Saʿadya stresses the importance of the Oral Law, mentions the names of his supporters in Baghdad and urges the Jews of Fustat to maintain close links with him and his Academy, viz., Sura. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 27; the classmark in Gil is incorrect.)

Copy of a petition to the caliph al-Ẓāhir (matn only) against acknowledgement of the Iraqi authority in Palestine. Dating: original document ca. 1030, but this copy may be several decades later. Discussed in Khan, JRAS, p53; Rustow, Heresy and elsewhere; Rustow, Lost Archive, p. 347. Previous description (Goitein's?): Shelomo b. Yehuda to al-Mustansir defending his position against Yūsuf al-Sijilmasi, the Iraqi leader in Palestine. In the same hand as ENA NS 13.15 and T-S K25.244.

11th-century copy of a letter by Saʿadya Gaon to the Jews of Fustat, fragmentarily preserved. Saʿadya stresses the importance of the Oral Law, mentions the names of his supporters in Baghdad and urges the Jews of Fustat to maintain close links with him and his Academy, viz., Sura. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 27; the classmark in Gil is incorrect.)

Fihrist copy of Saadya Gaon’s works sent to Fustat by the gaon’s sons Sheʾerit and Dosa in 953. The copy is dated 2 October 1113. In the fihrist the exact date of Saadya’s death is given as Sunday, 26th Iyyar, 1253 of the Seleucid Era, corresponding to 15th May 942 CE. Another copy of the same fihrist is found in T-S NS 298.27. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 30 and Allony, Frenkel, The Jewish Library in the Middle Ages, p. 312.)

Decree (copy in Hebrew script) from the Fatimid caliph al-Ẓāhir to a governor of Palestine (probably Anushtekin al-Dizbirī) informing him of another decree that had come in response to a petition in the name of the Rabbanite Jews regarding a conflict with the Qaraites. That decree is referred to as muktatab lahum (registered with them). Ca. 1030.

Will of a notable, dividing his landed property, his flocks of sheep and all the orchards possessed or leased by him between his brother and his children. Dated ca. 1090. This is a copy of the original will found in Bodl. MS heb. b 13/46. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 117, 425)

Copy of a fihrist of Saadya Gaon’s works sent to Fustat by the gaon’s sons Sheʾerit and Dosa in 953. The copy is dated 2 October 1113. In the fihrist the exact date of Saadya’s death is given as Sunday, 26th Iyyar, 1253 of the Seleucid Era, corresponding to 15th May 942 CE. Another, more complete, copy of the same fihrist is found in T-S 10G5.7. Verso is blank. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 30 and Allony, Frenkel, The Jewish Library in the Middle Ages, p. 312.)

Legal fragment. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Mentions [...] b. Yaʿaqov; Yiṣḥaq ha-Melammed b. Ḥayyim [al-Nafūsī]; Avraham b. Shemʿaya ha-Ḥaver. The next line states that the contract was copied (perhaps this is the copy) verbatim and checked against the original. Possibly the names in the first two lines are the names of the witnesses who signed the original document.