Geniza Lab

Account of the Qodesh: building expenditures, ca. 1041. Most items in this account refer to building operations at the synagogue. Some other synagogue expenditures, such as oil, are also listed. Further details refer to a number of compounds belonging to the qodesh. It is written in a calligraphic handwriting and the account was probably intended ofr public display in the synagogue. The handwriting of Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya can be recognized. Since the document refers to oil used in the synagogue to the end of Elul 1351 Sel. (10 Sept. 1040), it was probably written in 1041. The verso of the document was used at the end of 1041 for an account written in Arabic characters. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 175 #12)

Codex containing 'the eight books of the Prophets.' With a dedication note. Raḥel bt. Shelomo who is connected somehow (דמתחכים?) to Ḥadīd b. Ayyūb b. Shelomo b. שתון b. מרב כשיתא, dedicated this volume to the qodesh of the Palestinian synagogue in Fustat. It may not be sold or redeemed. Whoever misuses it shall be excommunicated and cursed with the curse of Yehoshuaʿ b. Nun and Yehuda b. Yeḥezqel (cf. the scorpion-amulets T-S AS 143.26 and T-S NS 73.12). Whoever honors and reads it will be blessed with the blessings of Abraham the patriarch.

List of functionaries from the Babylonian synagogues of Fustat and Cairo eligible for funds from the community.

Inventory of the books and furnishings of the Palestinian Synagogue received by Ṭāhir b. Maḥfūẓ al-Khādim. (Cf. previous fragment.) Dated: Ḥeshvan 1498 Seleucid, which is 1186 CE. An addendum notes that Umm Thanā' the female embroiderer (raqqāma) has had a new muṣḥaq copied and granted it to the qodesh (aqdashathu). (Information in part from Goitein's index card.)

Inventory of the books and furnishings of the Iraqi synagogue. (Cf. previous fragment.) Abū l-Faraj b. Abū Saʿd al-Miṣrī takes over the service of the Iraqi synagogue, receives from Maḥfūẓ what was listed before and many additional items. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Lease of a ruin belonging to the Great Synagogue of Ramla, ca. 1038. The "people of the Great Synagogue," i.e. the representatives of the congregation of the Palestinians, in Ramla, lease one half of a ruin owned by the synagogue, to a certain Sedaqa b. Yefet al-Shiraji. The lease is for a period of 20 years, at the price of hald a dinar yearly, to serve for repairs and other needs of the synagogue. The lessee intends to repair the ruin. His investments in stones and timber will be considered as covered after that period. He will then have to decide whether he wants to live there and pay rent at the prices then current or to live elsewhere; in either case, if there is a balance from his investment which will not have been covered, the congregation will return it to him. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 147 #5)

Congratulations to Eli ha-Kohen the Parnas (dated documents 1057–1107) and his son Abū Kathīr from Ḥasan b. Manṣūr al-Ne'eman from a locality in the Rīf. Al-Mumḥe b. al-Shofeṭ served as cantor. But when he said public prayer for the elders of the community and included Marwān, there was trouble. The addressee knows who the troublemakers were and is asked to intervene with Sayyidnā. Goitein identifies this cantor, son of the slaughterer, as the same peron as the writer of T-S 8J15.3. The shelfmark ENA 2736.20 is either erroneous or no longer exists, true shelfmark TBD. Goitein's transcription is attached.

Document, either a legal fragment or a letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Regarding the Palestinian synagogue in Fustat and the cantors David b. Shekhanya and Meir, who perhaps have a dispute about who gets to take the Torah scroll out. Needs examination.

Letter or letter draft from Muʿammar ha-Kohen ("the teacher of Qalyūb") to ʿAmram ha-Kohen, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Recto consists entirely of pleasantries and flattery and mentions that the when the addressee had departed from the writer's location, he had invited the writer to stay with him in Fustat, however the writer had no way of coming to Fustat and furthermore did not wish to burden the addressee. On verso there purpose of the letter emerges: the writer is destitute and needs help with the capitation tax and is staying in the synagogue (in Fustat?). He previously stayed for two months in Qalyūb and received only the mūna/mu'na (living stipend?) and 10 fulūs. Regards to Abū ʿAlī.

List of names of functionaries in Egyptian synagogues.

A mother buys her little son the privilege of reading the book of Esther in public, Damira in the Nile Delta, February/March 1244.

Informal note without the names of the sender or addressee (as was common in notes exchanged between friends). In Judaeo-Arabic. Written on a long vertical strip of paper. The scribe may be Shelomo b. Eliyyahu (per Goitein). Dating: Probably late 12th or 13th century. The sender opens, "What is the reason for this anger?! It is senseless and misplaced." He apologizes for not meeting the addressee out of fear that they would attract a crowd at the synagogue. He wants the addressee to come see him: "from the day that you departed... my temperament has not been balanced." (Information in part from Goitein's index card and Med Soc V, p. 505n7.)

Drafts of a testimony to the effect that Yeshuʿa b. Shelomo ha-Levi is a genuine Levi and that he used to be called up to the reading of the Torah in Jerusalem when no other local or foreign Levi was present. T-S NS J66 (mainly Hebrew) and T-S 8.161 (mainly Judaeo-Arabic) are versions of the same document. Location: Fustat. Dating: 1229 CE (based on the other version). This version contains no signatures. Underneath the draft, at 90 degrees, it says in Judaeo-Arabic, "Hey you, who are my master, sign this testimony. And peace. Shelomo wrote this." (Shelomo b. Eliyyahu) On verso (not transcribed) there are additional versions: two lines in Hebrew and one line in Judaeo-Arabic. And at 90 degrees, there are cryptic notes in Arabic script. In huge letters at the top, it says "yā sīdī" (same as the Judaeo-Arabic note on recto). Underneath, there is a difficult text block that includes a reference to sending a messenger. (Information in part from Goitein's index card). VMR. ASE.