Geniza Lab

Fatimid capitation tax receipt for somebody's payment in New Cairo.

State (tax?) receipt. Dated: 9 Muḥarram 545 AH = 8 May 1150 CE. Needs examination.

Receipt for the capitation tax (jizya) for the Jewish man Bū l-ʿAlāʾ b. Bū l-Faḍl al-Qazzāz (the silk trader) in Fustat. Same man: T-S AS 182.90, T-S AS 182.186, T-S Ar.35.170, and T-S Ar.35.204.

Fiscal account? Mentions a dīwān and possibly the term muqṭaʿ. Needs examination.

Petition from the wife of Ṭayyib b. Musallam al-ʿIblānī, a Khaybarī Jew, to the caliph al-Mustanṣir (r. 1036–94). Seeking the restitution of money taken from her or from her husband, who is missing (?) in Syria. The same woman and her husband appear in T-S 24.44 (1102 CE). Previous scholarship: Khan, JRAS, 48 (“other petitions by women are extant, e.g. T-S K6.98, T-S Ar. 42.129, T-S NS 306.70, T-S AS 124.135, T-S AS 182.251, T-S AS 202.396”); Khan, “Historical Dev,” 20, 24–25 (reading of raʾy clause); Khan, ALAD, 311 n27, 314 n39. Ed. Marina Rustow, with suggestions from Alan Elbaum and Luke Yarbrough.

A few words from a state document, likely a decree. On verso there is mirror-image Arabic text.

Fatimid capitation tax receipt for Isḥāq b. Shūʿā (=Yiṣḥaq b. Yeshuʿa), a Jewish druggist (ʿaṭṭār)

Fatimid capitation tax receipt for Hiba b. Yūsuf.

Petition, probably. In Arabic script. Fragmentary. The sender seems to be complaining that someone has opposed him or will oppose him in conducting his business (...al-mamlūk min al-[...] taṣarrufuh fīh taṣarruf... min dhālika aw iʿtaraḍah...)

Bottom of a formal letter or petition in Arabic script. On verso, torn and reused for a miniature receipt. Needs examination.

Recto: Official letter in Arabic script. Portions of 7 lines are preserved. On verso there is an inscription in enormous Hebrew letters (אלקדר יצ...) flanked by floral designs, inside of a thick red border above and below (compare ENA 3907.6 and T-S 12.459 + T-S G1.55 + T-S G2.150 + Halper 164).

First line of an official letter. Begins, "The noble letter/document (al-kitāb al-mukarram) [reached] the slave of your excellence...." On verso there is a different Arabic-script document, very faded.

Receipt for the capitation tax (jizya) for the Jewish man Bū l-ʿAlāʾ b. Bū l-Faḍl al-Qazzāz (the silk trader) in Fustat. Dated: 52[.] AH = 1126–35 CE. Same man: T-S AS 182.90, T-S AS 182.186, T-S Ar.35.170, and T-S Ar.35.204.

Receipt relating to the tax farm of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb written by Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the Office of Accounts on behalf of the Office of Supervision: the ware-house keeper has paid the sum of two and a half (dirhams?) on behalf of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb for the estates in Al-Fayyūm, under the supervision of the judge Ṯiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, and the accountant Abū l-Sarī Theodor b. Yuḥannis. Dated: 10 Ṣafar 404 AH, which is August 1013 CE. Verso: beginning of an Arabic letter to a judge (see separate entry). (Information from CUDL)

Recto: very damaged text of a makhzuma (ledger of receipts). Verso: makhzūma (ledger of receipts) submitted in Rajab 495 AH (= April-May 1102 CE) by Muḥammad b. ʿAlī, representative of a sugar cane extraction factory and a honey factory, to the office of supervision (dīwān al-ishrāf). The makhzūma is witnessed and signed by ʿAlī b. al-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī. The accounts are for the kharājī years 490 and 491, corresponding respectively to 493/94 AH and 494/95 AH. The makhzūma was so named apparently owing to the fact that it was sealed or strung together with other leaves by 'piercing' (khazama). (Information from CUDL and Khan.)

Receipt relating to the tax farm of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb written by Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the Office of Accounts on behalf of the Office of Supervision: Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb has paid the sum of 3 and a half and a sixteenth (dirhams?) for the estates in Al-Fayyūm, under the supervision of the judge Ṯiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, and the accountant Abū l-Sarī Theodor b. Yuḥannis. Dated: 13 Jumādā II 403 AH, which is December 1012 CE. (Information from CUDL)

State document, Fatimid period. Petition or report to a vizier (beginning only), possibly under al-ʿAḍid (see line 4, where the blessing uses the verb ʿaḍada; thanks to Lara Balaa for this observation). (MR)

Minute fragment of a state document. The only words preserved are "[al-Must]anṣir Billāh Amīr al-Muʾmin[īn]." Dating: 1036–95. Reused for a Hebrew liturgical jotting on verso.

Seems to be a state report on agricultural tax collection. Dating: Likely Mamluk-era based on formulae, names, and handwriting, but this is a guess. Seems to mention Lājīn (the sender's name? second to last line of recto) and the amirs Majd al-Dīn and ʿIzz al-Dīn. Needs much more examination.

Fragment of a state document. 8 lines are partially preserved from near the beginning. Wide space between the lines, chancery hand. Opens with prayers for the distinguished addressee (the caliph?). Mentions al-[...] al-Ḥāfiẓiyya, indicating that this document comes from the administration of al-Ḥāfiẓ (1132–49). On verso there is a calendar in Hebrew script with the molads for two different maḥzors; the date range could probably be identified with effort, but the numbers of the maḥzors are missing.