Geniza Lab

Letter fragment to a certain ḥaver ("... ba-sanhedrin gedolah...") describing the writer's financial distress. He also provides a recommendation for the bearer of the letter, who is in still greater distress from the capitation tax and is intending to travel to al-Shām and needs help. There is a postscript implying that the recipient or someone in his family is sick or in distress and conveying the writer's worry.

Official account mentioning the transfer of sums to the fisc (bayt al-māl) from the bureau of the capitation tax (bayt al-jawālī): "mablagh al-maḥmūl ilā bayt al-māl al-maʿmūr min māl al-jawālī," followed by names like wa-walī Butrus b. Yuḥannā.

Letter from Moshe b. ʿOvadya, in Aleppo, to a Nagid, in New Cairo, who receives 20 lines of eloquent Hebrew praises but does not appear to be named (he may be identifiable on the basis of the titles, or if the writer or other people mentioned in the letter prove to be dateable). The writer also conveys his longing for a R. Moshe and for the entire community of Cairo. When the Nagid's third letter arrived in Aleppo, the "season/period" (epidemic?) had already begun in Aleppo and numerous Jews died, including R. Avraham ha-Dayyan the author of Etz Hayyim. Trade came to a standstill. Then the rains began: four months in which they did not even see the sun, and two-thirds of Aleppo "fell" (flooded? buildings collapsed?). Now it is the period of the capitation tax. For all these reasons, the writer was not able to respond sooner. The writing now becomes messier and somewhat trickier to understand. Possibly someone named al-ʿAjami and his son were in Damascus for 10 days, and the "deputy of al-Sham" confiscated all their property, amounting to 1000 dinars. Furthermore, a Jew from Aleppo who was in Damascus at the time reported that someone got their hands on all the money and all the books that Avraham ha-Dayyan had left in the possession of his daughter (possibly her husband was the villain). The writer plans to send another letter having to do with legal/judicial matters (?) so that the recipient can advise him. Noaḥ ha-Levi b. Shemuel ʿAḍʿāḍ added a postscript stating that he was present when this letter was being written and that he sends his respects. ASE.

Two lists of partly identical persons, the first without, the second with sums, ranging from 1 through 11 dirhams and 1/4 dinar. The first list comprises fourty persons, of these some scholars, others foreigners or persons in inferior positions, such as employees or gatekeepers. These lists were probably prepared for the capitation tax, the second list indicating perhaps the sums still due, to be paid by the community if the persons concerned were unable to pay. (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below and Goitein, MedSoc, Vol. 2, p. 454, no. 54.)

Shelomo urges Abu'l-Makarim in Qalyub (?) to collect money to pay the capitation tax of needy people

Family letter from the end of the 12th century to Abu al-Faraj b. Abu al-Barakāt, a doctor in Fustat, from his brother in Alexandria. The letter mentions forceful collection of the capitation tax (jaliya) in Alexandria. (Information from Frenkel. See also Goitein, MEd. Soc. 2:372, 2:372, and 4:61. Goitein describes the document as following: Family letter from a physician in Alexandria to his brother, also a physician, who had traveled to Fustat without having paid his poll-tax (or having forgotten to send the receipt back). The writer had to pay a certain sum every day to the Muslim authorities (tarsim) until he would pay the poll-tax for his brother. After two days of refusing to do so, he was confined to prison and paid the poll-tax.

Recto and verso: Draft of a legal document. Abu Saʿd al-Levi undertakes to provide his elderly father Shemuel with food and drink and the money for the capitation tax, since his father had traveled widely on business and was too exhausted for regular work. This fragment also contains an unrelated legal document dated 1232 CE (see separate PGP record). (Information from Mediterranean Society, vol. 5, pp. 122–23, and from Goitein's index cards.)

Letter sent by the community of Fustat to a place in the Egyptian Rif, asking to help a Palestinian, as the local people had just paid the capitation tax for ninety poor men. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 95)

Court case from Fustat, 15 March 1285. The document involves the arrangements for paying the capitation tax (jaliya) in Alexandria and Fustat.

Petition in Judaeo-Arabic with a Hebrew beginning for financial assistance addressed to Rabbenu Avraham, can be dated by script to around the 13th century (i.e. probably Avraham Maimonides). Yosef al-Andalusi has spent three months in Fustat, his robe is torn and the authorities are demanding the capitation tax from him. He needs help.

Tax receipt for jizya in the name of Bū Naṣr al-Yahūdī for the year 514, beginning with addā and containing a registration mark.

Tax reciept for jizya in the name of [..] b. Ghālib with two registrations marks; 'al-ḥamdu lil-lāh al-muʿīn al-dāʾim', praise be to God who is the steadfast supporter, and 'al-ḥamdu lil-lāh waḥdahu karīm niʿamuhu', praise be to God who is one, generous are his benefactions. Dated 514 (517?).

Letter sent from Minyat Zifta by Abu al-Baha b. al-Mashmia to his father. The writer reports that his brother was caught by capitation tax collectors and that he had to pay for the entire family. The receipts were written in Ashmum, as they were inhabitants of that town. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from the office of Yehoshua Maimonides dealing with the capitation tax and with the kashrut of meat, first half of the 14th c.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. The addressee is called 'my brother.' The content is not clear; mentions someone fearing death and mentions the capitation tax (jizya).

Letter from a woman to a certain Yosef written in the hand of Shelomo ha-Melammed b. Eliya. The woman calles herself "his mother" but it is possible that she was not his biological mother and this is an attempt by her to show her closeness to him. In the letter the woman declares how much she misses and worries about him and asks him to come join her in Fustat. She promises that she will sell her own clothes to pay for his capitation tax. To show how serious she is, Shelomo ha-Melammed wrote a legal testimony on the back in which he testifies that this woman will pay Yosef's capitation tax (apperently she will pay the Shami rate in Egypt) on the conditions that he will come to Egypt. Another interesting point in the letter is that the woman mentions that Izz al-Din came to Egypt "Because the sultan called al-Kamil sent him" - a clear reference to the Ayyubid Sultan al-Kamil (1218-1238) giving us a dating for the letter. Finally, Shelomo ha-Melammed added a personal message to Yosef at the end of the letter: He asks him to send greetings to Shelomo's cousin (the son of Shelomo's mother's brother) Abu al-Faraj and his two sons Ma'ani abd Abu Majd. These relatives are also mentioned in T-S 10J7.2 and T-S 13J35.15 (OZ).

Letter to Eliyyahu concerning the thirty-dirham balance of the capitation tax (jizya) owed by Abu al-Makarim, who is in great need of it because he is under house arrest, guarded by the hashir (rallier). The addressee is asked to arrange to collect money at the congratulation reception (wedding) of either Ibn al-Muzaghlil ('The Dazzler') or that of Bu al-Barakat. (Information from Goitein, Mediterranean Society, vol. II, p. 492.)

Letter from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to an unidentified benefactor. Shelomo asks him to help him out with the payment of the capitation tax, as he had been ill and had to spend all the money he could save from school fees paid to him on medicine and chicken. (Information from Halper Catalogue and from Goitein's notes in margin)

Recto (secondary use): Lower part of list of male persons, mostly craftsmen or foreigners (Goitein surmises that they are people for whom the capitation tax was [to be] paid). Several names are preceded by sahh, 'paid.' Each name also ends with a line extended to the end of the column, possibly signifying that it has been paid. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 466-467, App. B 106.) Many of the people listed bear surnames indicating their place of origin, including Baghdad, Amid (in Iraq), Aleppo, Damascus, Tiberias, ?Azza, Sicily, or indicating their profession, including porter, packer, night watchman, dyer, soap maker, mosaic craftsman.

List of persons for whom the capitation tax was to be paid. Late eleventh century. (Information from Halper, Catalogue and Goitein, Med. Soc. II:467)