Geniza Lab

Ayyubid state document. Bifolio, possibly from a fiscal accounting ledger. Dated: Shawwāl 622 AH, which is October/November 1225 CE (if read correctly). Mentions al-Malik al-Kāmil (r. 1218–38). The phrase 'al-mablagh al-mustakhraj' repeats at least twice. Mentions the names of qāḍīs. Large and relatively well-preserved. Needs examination.

Recto: Fragment of a letter in a chancery hand; official correspondence? May mention al-faqiḥ al-wakīl ʿAbd al-Bāqī b. al-Ḥasan b. al-Ḥusayn. Verso: Fragment of a letter addressed to a judge (...fakhr al-quḍāh...).

Recto: Fatimid document. Verso: Part of a preliminary draft of a chancery document addressed to a government official. ". . . bi-l-shadd minka fī istikhrāj al-māl ʿalā l-kamāl ʿalā l-kamāl (sic!) wa-l-tamām wa-qaṣr yad man yudawwim al-iḥtimā' ʿalayka wa-l-manʿ min iḥdāth rasm lam tajri bihi l-ʿāda. . . . " That is, an order has been issued in favour of the addressee: "for you to be granted the power to levy the money in its entirety, for the hand to be restrained of whomsoever continually defaults (on his payment) to you, and for the prevention of an unwonted practice.' Information from Khan, "Copy of a Decree," 443n17 and Khan, Arabic Legal and Administrative Documents in the Cambridge Genizah Collections, 343n20. See the same references for the term "shadd," likely a refrence to some kind of financial administrator called a shādd.

Petition to the Fatimid vizier Al-ʿAbbās requesting an allowance in corn to be paid to the petitioner in yearly instalments. Dating: 548–49 AH, which is 1153–54 CE. (Information from CUDL.) The dating is based on the identification of the vizier in question with Abū l-Faḍl al-ʿAbbās Ibn Abī l-Futūḥ.

State accounts relating to the tax farm of the lands of Dayqūf, in the province of al-Bahnasā, administered by Basṭiyya b. Marqūra and the property of the office of the noble lady of al-Āmir in the "Muḥawwil chamber" (al-majlis al-muḥawwil was a chamber in the qaṣr al-baḥr, which in turn was a component of al-qaṣr al-kabīr, the great palace complex of the Fatimid caliphs). Dating: this account is for the kharājī year 550, which corresponds to 551/52 AH and 1156/57 CE. The produce of the land consists of 200 irdabbs: 133 irdabbs of wheat and 66 irdabbs of barley. The verso contains a summary of the document on recto. (Information from CUDL and Khan.)

State document in Arabic script. Genre and content are unclear. There are multiple text blocks, at one point written in two parallel columns. There are two different registration marks / mottos at the top. The end of the first line may read وكشفنا صح, indicating that the information contained here has been checked. About halfway down, on the right, there is a note addressed to a Qāḍī named Thiqat al-Mulk. Needs further examination.

Recto is a petition, mentioning (asking for?) a rescript (tawqīʿ). Has a raʾy clause. Verso may be the rescript. Needs further examination.

Draft of an official letter. In Arabic script. One side has wide line spacing and the other has narrow line spacing, but it is the same handwriting and some of the same phrases appear on each side. It is a letter to "al-amir al-muwaffaq al-manṣūr fāris al-dawla," and there is a blessing involving the Fatimid caliph (amīr al-muʾminīn).

Accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. Fiscal? Including short notes, names and numerals, arranged in two columns on each side. Some of the language in the large text block on each side is identical on each side. Needs examination.

Bottom eight lines of an official letter in Arabic script. Ends with a ḥamdala and ṣalwala. Difficult handwriting; needs examination.

Fragments of 4 lines of a Fatimid decree. Mentions the caliph (amir al-muʾminīn) and the date (but the date is missing). The blank space on recto and verso has been reused for an Arabic literary text.

State document. Dating: Beginning of 12th century CE. Appointment of a Christian dignitary by the government and confirmation that the ordinances of previous caliphs are still valid, mentioning al-Mustanṣir, al-Āmir and al-Afḍal. (Information Khan, CUDL, and Goitein's index card)

Draft of the opening of a petition or official letter. On verso jottings of accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. المجلس السامي الاجلي المولوي المح . . في المجد وفي عمدة الملوك خاصة السلاطين وكيل ص[نيعة] امير المؤمنين . . . الله سعادته وضاعف نعمته

Petition to the caliph al-Mustanṣir from a man who has been detained in the arsenal (khizāna, probably the khizānat al-bunūd, which was also used as a prison). The man’s family, including his mother who is disabled or chronically sick (zamina), have stood ransom. Dating: ca. 427–87 AH (= 1036–94 CE). (Information from Khan and CUDL)

Recto: Fragment of a state document, probably Fatimid. In Arabic script, chancery hand, huge letters, wide (but variable) space between the lines. The basmala appears twice, and one line begins, "Qāla Amīr al-Muʾminīn..." Verso: Also a state document; the relationship to recto is not clear. Opens with a reference to an employee of the treasury (al-mustakhdam fī bayt al-māl al-maʿmūr) and possibly the date Ṣafar 548 AH, which would be 1153 CE, and then the funds of Dīwān al-Abwāb.

Recto: Report or official correspondence, possibly. In Arabic script. Wide space between the lines. The ends of 5 lines are preserved. Mentions "the great resolution" (al-ʿazm al-kabir) in l. 2 and possibly jihād and rich people (dhawī l-aḥwāl wa-l-rafāha) in l. 3.

Recto: Official letter, likely a report to a superior. In Arabic script. The first few words of ~26 lines have been preserved. "The slave renews the kissing of the ground...." (al-mamlūk yujaddid taqbīl (al-arḍ)). Mentions cows and calves and someone named Muḥammad b. Mudāfiʿ. Verso: Incomplete bill of delivery of 48 different materia medica with numbers (prices) only (i.e., no weights or quantities). Very clearly written in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.)

Recto: Petition, probably. In Arabic script, in a Fatimid chancery hand, with huge space between the lines. Portions of two lines are preserved: ...ʿalā yadih mutatā[...]...bi-ʿuluww himmatih wa-yankashif ʿan al-m[...]....

Formal letter(s) in Arabic script. Only a few words from the beginning of each line are preserved. There are several distinct text blocks and at least three different hands. The section at the top may be a letter of appeal for charity or help, since it describes someone's "lack of energy" (qillat nahḍatih). Needs further examination.

Probably a draft for a letter or petition. In Arabic script. The two sides are in different hands, but each contains elaborate titles of important people (e.g., ʿImād al-Mulk, Jalāl al-[...] wa-Amīnuhā... Shujāʿ al-[...]). The Baker/Polliack catalog says that it may be dated 34?, but this does not seem to be correct. Needs further examination.