Geniza Lab

Decree, possibly of al-Malik al-Ashraf. Partially transcribed by S. M. Stern.

Document in Arabic script. Possibly a fiscal state document, recording amounts of money associated with the operations of al-maṭābikh al-maʿmūra (the kitchens or dyeing workshops?). The name Khalaf b. ʿAlī appears at the upper left. On verso there is an ownership note for a book ("this daftar belongs to Yiṣḥaq b. Avraham"). Needs further examination.

Three words of a decree probably: fa-lammā intahā ilayhi. Reused for copious jottings in Arabic script and Hebrew script, including elaborate designs with micrography, including a wheel with spokes (the text in the wheel is also found in T-S H5.95 according to Maagarim: במוסף בהוסיפי תחן תמור נתח גם כי בער אנכי ולא כמפותח.... One of the jottings says "Yedutun ha-Levi" (a cantor active in Fustat 1190s–1230s), but this does not appear to be his handwriting.

See T-S NS 110.14 for description.

Recto: Petition, probably. In Arabic script. 8 lines from the middle of the document, wide space between the lines. Written on a long, narrow sheet. The sender asks for a favor from the graces of the addressee ('al-makārim al-mawlawiyya) in eloquent language. Needs further examination. On verso there is a letter of condolence in Hebrew.

Report from Tyre to the chancery of al-Malik al-Afḍal concerning military and administrative affairs on the coast of Palestine, dating probably to 1108 CE. Same scribe (and possibly same document as) T-S AS 129.149 + T-S Ar.39.280 + T-S AS 116.11 + T-S NS 137.20 + T-S NS 207.44 + AIU I.C.73 + T-S NS 238.99 + T-S NS 244.84. This segment describes how an unidentified enemy gained control of (iḥtawat ʿalā) ʿAsqalān and had ambitions to conquer ʿAkkā. However, the king and his cavalry were victorious over them. Someone believed that "the sultan of Egypt has no power" but this was mere envy. Reused for Hebrew dirges on verso (different scribe and Hebrew content than the other report from Tyre). ASE

Two lines of a state document probably, based on format. But might also something poetical, referring to love: ḥālī yattaṣilhā l-hawā wa-l-maḥabba wa-ʿindahumā tasquṭ al-munāẓara.... Reused on verso for Hebrew literary text.

Official letter in Arabic script. The ends of 6 lines are preserved. Mentions jihād, possibly in the context of the Crusades, since the scribe who reused verso for Hebrew poetry was active around 1100 CE (compare T-S NS 111.140 and all the matches on Joins Suggestions).

Recto: Fragments of two lines of a state document in a chancery hand. Mentions the phrase "yataḍamman mablagh" and possibly "the village known as Ṭur Sīnā." Verso: The page is filled with mirror-image Arabic script. It seems to be the imprint of a deed of sale. Needs further examination.

Small fragment of a state document, or draft of one. Three different hands. Pious phrases and an ʿalāma, but the upper right text might be something different.

Decree of the caliph al-Ḥākim to the Qaraite community in Fusṭāṭ and elsewhere, granting them administrative independence from the Rabbanites, on the basis of the differences between the two communities regarding law and ritually kosher food. Dating: ca. 386–411 AH, which is 996–1021 CE. (Information from CUDL)

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 warehouse keeper has paid the sum of six and an eighth (dirham?) 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 l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, and the accountant Abū l-Sarī Theodor b. Yuḥannis. Dated: 3 Dhū l-Ḥijja 403 AH, which is June 1013 CE. (Information from CUDL)

Unidentified state document in Arabic script. There is some fiscal accounting (mentioning wheat & barley) and a discrete block of text, 11 lines, perhaps a report submitted that relates to the accounting. Reused for Hebrew literary text. Needs examination.

State document or petition in a chancery hand and large Arabic script. Words that are readily legible include al-Qāhira, al-Ḥāfiẓiyya, al-majlis al-sāmī al-mālikī al-sayyidī al-ajallī al-Afḍalī, al-marsūm. Reused for jottings in Hebrew and Arabic script. On verso there are piyyutim. Needs examination.

State document(s). In Arabic script. On the left, there is the remnant of a petition. The beginnings of the last 7 lines are preserved. On the right, possibly its rescript? Mentions Saʿd al-Mulk in l. 3. This fragment may have been turned into a book binding, based on the mottled splotches and brushstrokes on it. Needs further examination.

Two lines from an official letter, maybe a petition. In Arabic script. Wide space between the lines. Mentions al-aʿmāl al-gharbiyya (the districts of al-Gharbiyya) and likely flattery and blessings for the addressee. Reused on both sides for Hebrew text (in multiple hands).

Probably a document, but could be a religious text such as a prayer. In Arabic script, in a very large (chancery?) hand. Full of fancy words and phrases like "al-kamāl al-mutaʾalliqa al-anwār." Someone cut it into horizontal strips and jumbled it and glued the strips on top of each other, some at 180 degrees to their original orientation. Reused on verso for Hebrew piyyuṭ.

Petition opening to a vizier of al-Ḥāfiẓ. Dating: 531–33 AH, which is 1137–39 CE. On verso there is a Hebrew liturgical text. (Information from Khan.)

Document in Arabic script. Unusual format, with text mostly in one column on the right side of the page. Moderately wide spice between the lines. Difficult hand. The word khizāna = treasure or storehouse may be mentioned. Reused for piyyuṭ on verso. Needs examination.

State document, probably a report or decree. Portions of three lines are preserved, wide space between the lines. Mentions a sum of 100 dinars in the first line and the number 50 in the next.