Geniza Lab

Tax receipt from the archive of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb, in the hand of Mikhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ

Receipt.

Tax receipt for [...] b. Yūsuf.

Receipt for the capitation tax of Ibrāhīm b. Yūsuf the Jew, a silk worker (qazzāz) and craftsman (ṣāniʿ). Dated: 537 AH = 1142/43 CE. Same payer: T-S Ar.34.224, T-S Ar.34.282 (where he is called qazzāz wa-ʿaṭṭār instead), T-S Ar.35.55, and T-S Ar.35.22.

Bottom of a formal letter (petition?) in Arabic script. Needs examination.

Accounts in Arabic script, might be fiscal. Needs examination.

Receipt for the capitation tax of [...] b. Khalaf the Jew in Fustat for the year 507 AH = 1113/14 CE. Payment: 1/2 dinar. Written on the 7th of Muḥarram (unclear if 507 or 508).

Receipt for the capitation tax of Eliyya b. [...] in New Cairo and Fustat for the year 631 AH = 1233/34 CE.

Receipt for the capitation tax of Khalaf b. Ghālib the Jew, a druggist (ʿaṭṭār) and something else (jabbān? jazzār?) in Fustat for the year 504 AH (or 540?).

State/fiscal document. Dated: 403 kharājī = ca. 1012/13 CE. "...mablagh …… fī l-ṣināʿa al-sulṭāniyya bi-nāḥiyat …… al-sana 403 al-kharājiyya...." Needs examination.

Fiscal document recording the receipt of a sum of money. 108 dirhams is mentioned. There is at least one ʿalāma (al-ḥamdu lil-lāh mustaḥiqq al-ḥamd, same as one of the ʿalāʾim found on Stern's decree #3). In the text block underneath mentions Bū l-Riḍā b. Hibatallāh the Jew and the phrase "ʿan jizyatih li-sana 5[..]."

Recto: State document. In Arabic script, in a chancery hand. The beginnings of 7 lines are preserved. Possibly a decree? Talking about the destruction of the districts (wa-athāruhu maʿrūfa... al-nawāḥī wa-afʿālahum... maʿrūf wa-lladhī... kharāb al-nawāḥī...). On verso there are ~8 lines of poetry in Arabic script and 12 in Hebrew script. Both the Arabic and Hebrew poems are headed with "basīṭa." The Hebrew poem is also headed with the name of the melody (ʿalā X) and then "fī nuskhat mawlāyyā al-ḥazan."

Draft of a petition, possibly. In Arabic script. Addressed to al-majlis al-sāmī al-ajallī al-mawlawī... The entire page is covered with Arabic jottings. On verso there is the qiddush for Passover.

Letter, possibly state correspondence, in Arabic script. Chancery hand (though not the best), with wide space between the lines, and with white space used to divide sections. The ends of 9 lines are preserved. Mentions that something should only be done in a timely manner (l. 7) and Abū l-Faraj (l. 8) and a desire that someone should do something for Sayyidnā (l. 9). On verso is Hebrew liturgy, including biblical verses from Nehemiah 1:6–11. Needs further examination.

Recto: Probably a petition. In Arabic script. Large script, chancery hand, wide space between the lines. Only the first 4 lines and a tiny piece of the 5th line are preserved. Conveys praises for the addressee and then offers the sender's services in any kind of craft ("... an yakhduma bi-kulli ʿināyatin marḍiyyahū min kulli ṣināʿati...").

Petition. In Arabic script. Dating: Perhaps Mamluk-era based on handwriting and format, but that is a guess. The addressee is Shams al-Dīn [...] b. Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Nāṣir al-Dīn [...]. The petitioner is a physician or surgeon, expert in blood-letting, enema-giving, fresh wounds (al-jurḥ al-ṭarīʾ), and yellow-bilious boils (al-damāmil al-ṣafrāʾ). He is asking for a license to practice his trade. He concludes, "Let the [response] be recorded in the noble registers (al-ṣaḥāʾif al-karīma)." There is a rescript in the right margin: "I have granted his request" (adhantu lahū fī dhālika). (Information in part from Baker/Polliack catalogue.) ASE

Official document or letter in Arabic script. Dating: Likely Mamluk-era, based on handwriting and format. The bottom 11 lines of the document are preserved. Moderately wide space between the lines. Needs examination. On verso there is Hebrew liturgy and other jottings.

Probably a petition, but possibly a legal document. In Arabic script. On parchment. About 6 lines are preserved. Includes phrases such as "as your [excellency] sees fit" (...ʿalā mā tarāhu...) and a reference to getting angry or being merciful (يغضب ولا يرحم). Needs further examination.

Report of a provincial official, Ibn لفش(?) al-Shihābī. In Arabic script. It seems that he received an order to present himself, together with the qāḍī and the ʿāmil (and the kātib?) (ll.5–6). He reports that a well/cistern overflowed and posed a danger to all the land underneath and had to be fixed (ll.10–12). He complains about a Christian named Abū l-Fakhr who made a complaint; "do not ask about the trouble he caused me and the tax farmers (ḍummān)" (ll.14–16). Needs further examination.

Report to the chancery of the caliph Al-Āmir bi-Aḥkām Allāh regarding the arrival of some Byzantine (Rūmī) merchants named Sergius the son of Constantine, Grasso the son of Leo the Amalfitan, and Bon Senyon the Genovese, who brought timber to trade. Dating: ca. 495–524 AH, which is 1101–30 CE. (Information from CUDL)