Geniza Lab

Tax receipt, Fatimid.

Fragment of a state correspondence, probably a decree, 5 lines, bottom-left corner of the document with traces of paper decay. Mentions the day of movement (ʿalā l-nahr al-sālik) and an occurrence which enforced the preparation of something (biḥaithu kān l-ʾamr kadhālik li-tajhīz dhālik..). Emphasis is also laid upon majlis al-qaḍāʾ (wa-nahnu nuʾakkidu ʿalā l-Majlis fī qaḍāʾ), ending with in-shāʾ-llāh taʿālā. Dated like early Ottoman or late Mamluk.

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

Petition from a Jew on behalf of the Jewish community to the government. The petitioner's name appears in the lower right margin. In Arabic script. Dating: Probably Ottoman-era or possibly late Mamluk. Regarding their dispute with a group of people (jamāʿa) in lawsuits (daʿawī sharʿīyya). The petitioner requests that an official (royal?) order (al-khaṭṭ al-ʿālī) be granted to the effect that no suit against them be heard except in his august presence (al-bāb al-ʿālī).

Official state correspondence, beginning of two wide lines, chancery hand "al-ʿabd al-mamlūk". List or table on verso, requires examination.

Recto: Report fragment, 7 lines. The sender mentions a group of people who came before him and pledged their allegiance (...ʿindī mudhʿinīn muslimīn ilayya qāʾimīn bi-l-khidma fī dhālika...). Later, "after they departed," a group of infantry and cavalry came before him (...dakhala ilayya jamāʿa min al-mutarajjila wa-l-khayl...) and said, "Our master, we heard that so-and-so and so-and-so came before you and told you the opposite of what was agreed upon in the majlis" (haḍarū bi-haḍratak wa-takallamū bi-khilāf mā istaqarra fī l-majlis bi-l-asr(?)), and they didn't realize it until it was nearly too late (...mā ʿalimnā bihi ḥattā tamḍī al-sāʿa...). Verso: Financial record—a receipt for a certain Mufaḍḍal. Possibly with eastern Arabic numerals (but these are not used in the classical Geniza period) and possibly with a dāl abbreviation for dīnār or dirham.

Recto: Fragment of a petition (?), 3 fragmentary lines, containing part of an inhāʾ section (al-mamlūk yunhī anna) in which reference is made to the petitioner's unfortunate condition, involving the capitation tax (al-jawālī) and the tax collector (al-ḥāshir). Preceding the narrative is the phrase wa yamḥaq al-ribā which clearly alludes to Quran 2:276 ("God blots out usury") suggesting a possible reason for the petitioner's misfortune.

Capitation tax receipt for a 1 dinar payment made by Bū l-Thanāʾ b. Bū Saʿd b. Ṭayyib al-Murakkib (the saddle maker) in New Cairo and Fustat for the year 405 AH, which is 1014/15 CE. Dated: 21 Muḥarram. Registration mark: 'al-ḥamdu lil-lāh ʿalā niʿamih', all praise be to God for his benefactions (found twice on recto and once on verso). Verso also has some numbers written out in Judaeo-Arabic (might be a writing exercise). (Information from PGP tax receipt team.)

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.

Fatimid tax receipt possibly from the time of al-Ḥākim bi ʿAmr Allah from the archive of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb. Multiple registrations marks: 'al-ḥamdu lil-lāh ʿalā niʿamih', all praise be to God for his benefactions, 'al-ḥamdu lil-lāh bihi athiq', all praise be to God in him I trust.

Tax receipt, jizyā, dated 507 H (?).

Tax receipt, mentioning the tax was credited towards the treasury - "Waṣala li-bayt al-māl".

Verso: Tax receipt from the archive of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb, with holes at the margin. Registration mark - al-ḥamdu lil-lāh ʿalā niʿamih, praise be to God for his benefactions.

Tax receipt.

Tax receipt from the archive of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb. Multiple registration marks such as 'al-ḥamdu lil-lāh ʿalā niʿamih', praise be to God for his benefactions, and 'al-ḥamdu lil-lāh shukran', praise be to God and gratitude.

Tax receipt.

Tax receipt, Fatimid. Registration mark - 'al-ḥamdu lil-lāh bihi athiq', praise be to God in whom I trust.

Tax receipt.

Tax receipt with holes at the margin. General note on ENA 3944: It appears that the tax receipts under the classmark ENA 3944 were stored together throughout the Middle Ages and remained together until Adler sold his collection to JTS, at which point they were put under the same volume classmark. They had apparently been turned into a quire of reused paper at some point during the Middle Ages. Some have holes at the margin where they were apparently bound together. Whether this run of tax receipts is really from the Geniza is unclear; one of them has an Ottoman-era stamp, suggesting that the collection may have been owned prior to its sale to the Bodleian before 1910 or to Adler before 1922. MR.

Tax receipt. Few names on verso.