Geniza Lab

State document, possibly a decree. Suggests orders conferred upon an authority 'hayʾat (?) l-muṭālaʿa wa-l-āʿmāl bihā'. There is Arabic script in another not-so-elegant hand and a few words in Hebrew script towards the end. Needs further examination.

Recto: trial of the pen. Verso: arithmetic calculations.

Deed of acknowledgment (iqrār), with many lacunae in the fragment. In Arabic script. Involves [...] b. Abū Ṭāʿa(?) al-Ḥāmī and Manṣūr b. Faraḥ al-Ḥāmī in Cairo for default in debt payment. The testimony declares that the debt owed by Manṣūr is proven - "kitāb lahu dainan ʿalaihi ḥatman wa-ḥaqqan wājiban lāziman ḥāllan lahu ʿalaihi", and there is no record of a bankruptcy (wa lā yaddaʿī lahu fi dhālika falsan walā ʿadman) established in his favor till this date. Hence, the creditors are entitled to take from him what they want, when they want it, and how they want it, either at night or in the evening or in the day - yāʾkhozuhu bihi wa bimā shāʾ minhu ayyu waqtin shāʾ wa-kaif shāʾ min lailin av-nahārin masaʾin av-ṣabāḥin. The letter is signed by Sahal Ibrāhīm al-Ḥasan. Dated: Shaʿbān 459(?) AH, which would be 1066/1067 CE. Needs further examination.

Legal document, 13 lines, in Arabic script. Dated: 9 Ramaḍān 883 AH, which is December 1478 CE (if read correctly). Mentions the Mālikī court (majlis al-ḥukm) in the Ṣāliḥī mosque in l. 2. Needs further examination.

Accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals, contains the glyph. Perforations for binding. Probably a join with ENA 3925.14.

Accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. Mentions many names. Perforations for binding, especially on verso, the part with the perforations has stayed very light in color presumably where it was tightly bound and not exposed to oxygen. This in turn suggests that the brown paper of which we see so much in the geniza may once have been much lighter in color and darkened over time.

Fiscal record or receipt, early Fatimid. Binding perforations, indicating that it was once stiffening material for a book cover.

Blank recto and verso, perforations for binding.

Fragmentary letter (draft?) with many lacunae, 8 lines. Many glorifying phrases: "...[al-shaykh] al-ajall Sadīd al-Mulk ballaghū Allāh taʿālā aʿlā al-manāzil... dīn wa-dunyā... awdaʿahū Allāh taʿālā...." In the bottom line, mentions "the children of Mūsā b. ʿImrān" (=the Jewish people?).

Part of a letter in Arabic script, probably regarding a commercial account. Mentions "al-dīwān". Needs examination.

Receipt (fiscal?) for Abū l-Mūnā b. Ibrāhīm al-Malījī (?) Bū l-Ḥusayn b. Sulaymān [tawliya al-shadd??]. Ends with ḥamdala and ṣalwala, with no registration requests or marks. Perforation marks for binding. Needs further examination.

Fiscal register (possibly equivalent to what al-Makhzūmī and Ibn Mammātī call a rūznāmaj). Contains multiple entries, each with a date and a sum. Each entry has a pair of ʿalāʾim on top, suggesting a process of registration and certification akin to that on the fiscal receipts themselves. The procedure implied here is remarkably congruous with al-Makhzūmī’s claim that the mushārif and ʿāmil signed off not only on the receipts, but on the makhzūma of the jahbadh. (Information from Marina Rustow)

Fragment, 11 lines in a chancery hand with not very legible script. Mamlukī names in pretty naskhī script on verso. Perforations of binding.

Top of a decree(?) fragment with a basmala and few honorifics: al-amr al-karīm al-ʿālī al-mawlawī. Probably Mamlūkī.

Letter or petition from a certain Bū Naṣr (to a woman?). In Arabic script. Begins: عبدها يقبل يديها وينهي انه شهد الله على غاية من اشتغال الخاطر بالست(؟) الكريمة(؟).... Most of the lower part of the document is missing. There are neatly spaced holes along the margin (like the other fragments in this folder), so this document was once bound together with other documents in a (presumably modern) folder. AA. ASE. YU.

Document, in a very faded Arabic script. Mentions a few commercial accounts, probably a receipt or just pen trails. Needs examination.

Tax receipt.

List or table listing a bunch of names on both sides. Needs examination.

Note in Arabic script addressed to [al-]shaykh ʿUmar at Raʾs al-Khalīj ("the head of the canal"; there is apparently a site just south of Fustat with this name), "may God preserve him." As soon as he receives this note, he should assist the bearer Abū Saʿd the banker for the amīr (ṣayrafī lil-amīr al-makhdūm). The addressee should accompany him and diligently help him find a boat to rent passage in. "You need no exhorting in this, for he does not know the boats." Scrawled ḥamdala at the end.

Fragment, few lines a very faded script. Mentions silver pieces (waraq). Needs examination.