Geniza Lab

Eight rough drafts of a petition to the Fatimid Caliph al-Mustanṣir from the followers of Shelomo b. Yehuda, probably the end of 1041 (according to Gil's estimate). Six drafts are in Judaeo-Arabic; one abortive draft is in Arabic script in the same hand as the Judaeo-Arabic drafts; the final draft is in Arabic script in a chancery hand. Join: S. M. Stern. The Rabbanite Jews write to al-Mustanṣir regarding a conflict that arose in the community because of two leaderships (riyāsatayn), this conflict was earlier addressed by the Caliph by appointing Dāwūd b. Isḥaq but he didn't do anything. The situation worsened to an extent that one schism of the community barred the other from entering their synagogue until the other faction forced themselves inside leading to violence between the two. The Jews urge the Caliph to resolve this issue by sending his royal command "al-ʾamr al-ʿālī".

Document in Arabic script, perhaps a state petition or decree, beginning with "wa l-mamlūk yasʾal l-tawfīq" and mentions a wall "ṣūr"; reused for poetry in Judaeo-Arabic (see separate entry). Needs further examination.

Petition to the Fatimid ruler Sitt al-Mulk from an official of a congregational mosque, perhaps the chief khaṭīb. This is probably the final copy of the petition. It has to do with delayed payments to the deputy khaṭīb Mūsā b. Azhar, since the tenants of the pious foundation (ḥabs) of the mosque have fallen in arrears and owe about ten dinars for the period ending Rajab 415 AH (September 1024). He requests that a decree (manshūr, line 11: literally, an open letter, a decree without a seal) be issued to the governor (ʿāmil) and administrator (mutawallī) of the district that housed the mosque asking them to help the deputy, Mūsā b. Azhar by supporting his efforts to extract payment from the tenants; by sending him money directly; and by generally enforcing the terms of the trust. On verso is a series of Hebrew biblical verses (Zach. 3:5–4:9) with the Aramaic translation (targum) added after each verse; the scribe has glued together these two petitions to form a single rotulus, suggesting that the Arabic documents may have survived together in an archive. The Arabic-script side of the fragment is missing a triangle of paper at the top that has remained attached to ENA 3974.3. Information from Marina Rustow's analysis and edition. A note on images: The FGP image of the Arabic side acquired from the Bodleian has cut off a few lines of the Arabic text and needs to be replaced. The image in Rustow, BSOAS 2010, is complete, but in black and white. The fragment was later rephotographed in color for Rustow, "The Fatimid Petition," Jewish History 2019. The FGP photo of the Hebrew-script side is complete. Note that the main Arabic-script documents on ENA 3974.3 and Bodl. MS heb. b. 18/23 do not join with each other.

Petition to a Fatimid caliph. Fragmentary. Possibly offering congratulations/prayers on the occasion of a new caliph coming to power (... fī ḥulūl mulk mawlānā amīr al-muʾminīn...).

Fragment of a petition or report probably to the vizier (ḥaḍrat al-wizāra... al-wazīr al-ajall... ). From the upper left corner; the ends of 9 lines are preserved. In Arabic script, in a chancery hand. Blessing the power of the ruler (sulṭānhu, but possibly meaning caliph, so not clear whether Fatimid or Ayyubid). Using the "yunhī" clause typical of state petitions and reports. Reused on recto for seliḥot. MR. ASE.

Fiscal document, top and bottom missing. Refers to kharāj payments for the year 437 kharājī (about five lines up from the bottom of the page); 437AH is 1046 CE, but the kharājī year might be off by two or three from the hijrī year. In addition to numbers, there is also the name Masīḥ(?) b. ʿAbdallāh. Needs further examination. Reused on both recto and verso for Hebrew-script documents.

State document, probably a letter of official correspondence, in Arabic script. Addressed to or sent by an official with the title ʿĀzim al-Dawla. An order from al-Ḥaḍra al-Majīdiyya (probably al-Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbd al-Majīd) granted the sender an exemption (?) from customs tax (maks) for the goods arriving on a royal vessel "al-ʿUshārī al-Malik" on government business (shāʾn al-dawāwīn). The addressee didn't honor the order and hence the sender rebukes him the rebuke of friends "fʿātab ʿatab al-aṣdiqā". The last two lines are difficult to contextualize but an attempted interpretation could be - with the command of the overseer of his business/accounts, someone wrote from the dīwān regarding what is obligatory on the different types of taxes. Reused for Arabo-Hebrew jottings of the Hebrew Psalms, the Ezra (1:9) more specifically. (For more on transcribing Hebrew Bible into Arabic script, see Geoffrey Khan, Karaite Bible Manuscripts from the Cairo Genizah: Cambridge University Press, 1990). YU. Verso: text in Hebrew with (Masoretic?) "traditions and mnemonics" (מוסרות וסימנות) written by Shemuel b. Sahl the teacher for Saʿadya b. Shelomo. Multiple different hands (likely of both teacher and student).

Document in Arabic script. State document? Mentions a payment of 9 dirhams a day for the month Ramaḍān al-muʿaẓẓam, for a total of 270 dirhams. Reused on recto for Hebrew literary text.

Fiscal account or receipt dated Muḥarram 437H (July–August 1045). Closing five lines. (MR)

Decree. 6 lines of a chancery document chopped into pieces and then reused to form quires. One line on recto of Bodl. MS heb. d 81/19, with part of another visible above. The central line has been outlined/copied in places and is surrounded by Arabic annotations that may be drafts of formulae. There is also one red line of Hebrew script on recto, the beginning of a ketubba; Hebrew script (literary?) text on verso.

Petition in Arabic script. Fragment (the beginnings of 4 lines from the bottom). Requesting the addressee's help to "stop the harm from him" (kaff al-ḍarar ʿanhu). More specifics might be preserved. Reused in the lower margin and on the back for a mystical text in Hebrew, with instructions about numerology and (angelic?) princes.

Undertext: Halves of two lines of a chancery document. Overtext: Hebrew liturgical poem (seliḥa?)

Memorandum or other internal state communication. In Arabic script, with wide line spacing, fragmented baselines, and frequent diacritics. Four lines preserved, the fourth an interlinear note or registration mark in a different hand. Mentions al-Majlis المجلس twice. On recto there are 21 lines of Hebrew script (piyyuṭ). Some of the text reads as follows: كتب الله سلامته... بقدومه... فوعد(؟) المجلس اليه بالضي ليلقيه. It seems to be dealing with travel plans, someone's arrival, and greeting that person upon his arrival.

Chancery or fiscal document, presumably Mamluk period. There are two lines preserved, consisting of a date (the month Rajab is visible) and the ḥamdala. The text was folded down the middle to form a bifolio and reused for notes on the Jewish calendar, a roster for the years starting with 1275/6 until the mid-fourteenth century. But the roster contains errors, such as parts of the sequence that are repeated. There are also jottings, including a biblical quotation. (Marina Rustow, with information on the calendar roster from Sacha Stern)

Bottom part of a decree of a Fatimid Amīr titled Surūr al-Malikī to a provincial governor or fiscal official, dated 2 Jumâda II, no year. Concerns collection of the kharāj on the refining of sugarcane (qaṣab) and taro (qulqās) in the village of Jawjar, where there was a press. The men of a high official (amīr muntakhab) titled Dhukhr al-Mulk wa-Sadīduhā (Treasure and Bulwark of the Realm) should be allowed to collect tax as the latter sees fit, while allowing the iqṭāʿ holders their income. Glued at top to a Judaeo-Arabic letter (see separate entry).

Petition to the Fatimid vizier concerning an allowance. Dating: First half of the 12th century. The verso contains a Judaeo-Arabic text concerning the Jewish calendar. Part of this text is written also on the recto between lines 6 and 8 of the Arabic document.

Complete letter/report in Arabic script written on a long, vertical strip of paper. Looks like a report to a high official or the draft of the body of a petition in an ~11th-century chancery hand, but written on a long, thin strip (30cm x 5-6cm). Discusses extensively government service (khidma). Mentions al-Qāḍī al-Rashīd Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk (probably the father of the famous poet) on v15–16, who rebukes somebody who caused trouble (fitna). The document may also discuss an appointment to the office of capitation taxes (jawālī) (r12). Al-Shaykh al-Sadīd was terrified at the prospect of being put in charge of government funds; the sender offers an excuse for him (perhaps that he doesn’t even know accounting? lā yaqtadir ʿalā istirfāʿ ḥisāb). Needs further examination. ASE

Petition to al-Mustanṣir in Arabic, preliminary draft (possibly also in the hand of Efrayim b. Shemarya), complaining about the closure of the Palestinian synagogue in Fusṭāṭ, c. 1040 CE. Mentions Natan b. Avraham, who ‘arrived from the West, claiming the position of the head of our Academy, and who has been head of this Academy for 16 years’, the amir Munjiz al-Dawla, and the ‘slave of our master, Daʾūd b. Ishaq’. The situation concerns the leadership dispute between Shelomo b. Yehuda and Natan b. Avraham over the leadership of the Palestinian Academy. The congregation of the closed Palestinian synagogue had apparently been loyal to Shelomo b. Yehuda, and Natan b. Avraham had used his contacts in the government to have the synagogue closed. (Information from CUDL) This Arabic hand definitely belongs to Efrayim b. Shemarya (Marina Rustow).

Petition to the caliph, draft in the Arabic handwriting of Efrayim b. Shemarya. Dating: January 1039. Concerns the closing of a synagogue in Fustat, following the requests of Natan b. Avraham and his family members.

Recto: Petition to a Fatimid dignitary regarding a theft of money. In Arabic script. The archer Manṣūr b. Zakī al-Dawla (or: Rukn al-Dawla?) complains that Badr, one of the horseman of the amir Tāj al-Maʿālī with whom he was travelling, left the camp and took with him two dinars of wages that belonged to the petitioner. A tarsīm regarding these facts has already been issued. (Information from CUDL.)