Geniza Lab

State document, small fragment. Written in enormous script, which seems most suited to a decree except that two of the words are ʿalā mamlūkihi. Reused for Hebrew literary work.

A few words from an official document in Arabic script. Mentions "muʿāmalat al-Shām." At least two different sizes of writing. Reused for Hebrew piyyut.

A Judaeo Arabic literary text is written in between the lines of an Arabic official document - needs examination.

Report or petition in Arabic script. ~7 lines preserved, wide space between the lines. Striking handwriting; the tail of the فی (or perhaps فيه) goes up and all the way around and comes down on the left. Mentions: "their mingling with the people of. . . . what is reported from them. . . Mawhūb b. Manṣūr the governor (? al-ʿāmil) from it. . . service (khidma) in their problem. . . ." On verso there is piyyut.

One line from a decree in Arabic script, apparently appointing a supervisor over something: بكتب هذا السجل لك باستخدامك في مشارفة الم؟؟؟؟. Join: Amir Ashur.

Small fragment from an official document (a decree?): "al-iqtāʿ in shāʾa llāh." There is smaller writing above and below this, and on verso there is piyyut.

Official letter/report. The ends of 6 lines are preserved. Difficult to make out any of the content. Reused on the other side for Hebrew piyyuṭ. Likely a join with T-S NS 209.25 and potentially related to the cluster T-S H11.90 + T-S NS 274.22 + T-S NS 114.79.

Decree? Three lines preserved, wide space between them: واحضار . . . ال . . . من جزيرة بني [عمـ؟]ـر فالذي اعتمده في ذلك(؟) . . . مستوقف فاستخرج . . . المذكورين الى . . . Reused on verso for piyyut. Needs examination.

Verso: Official correspondence in Arabic script. The beginnings of 4 lines are preserved. Mentions: "...ʿan al-mulaṭṭaf al-karīm..."

Petition, probably. In Arabic script. ~4 lines preserved. Refers to al-dīwān al-Mustanṣirī. On verso there is piyyut. Likely related to the cluster T-S H11.90 + T-S NS 274.22 + T-S NS 114.79.

Fiscal accounts, probably. The year is given (5[..] AH?) but is difficult to read. Folded into a bifolio and reused for poetry in Hebrew.

Official letter: report or petition. Approximately 7 lines are preserved. The sender expresses his gratitude to the addressee, who may be referred to as al-mawlā al-shihāb(ī). Reused for piyyut on verso. Needs further examination.

State document. Response to endorsement of a petition written by Yuḥannā b. Abī l-Layth (a Christian), who referred the case to the office of al-Afḍal. Dated: 504 AH (1115 CE). There are three hands on this fragment; the bottom four lines are presumably in the hand of Yuḥannā himself. On verso there is vocalized Hebrew piyyuṭ (Yehuda ibn Balʿam בזכרי משכבי). There are many joins for the Hebrew with different Arabic texts on recto; all should be looked at together. Geoffrey Khan's edition and discussion (ALAD, doc. 105) cites copious sources on Abū l-Barakāt Yuḥannā b. Abī l-Layth, the head of the Diwān al-Taḥqīq (aka Dīwān al-Majlis), 501–27 AH: "Al-Afḍal established an office known as dīwān al-taḥqīq in the year 501 AH and appointed as its head the Christian Abu al-Barakāt Yuḥannā b. Abī l-Layth. Yuḥannā remained in this appointment until he was removed in 527 AH and was killed in 528 AH (Ibn Muyassar, Akhbār Miṣr, 77, 108, al-Nuwayri, Nihāyat al-'arab XXVI, 81; al-Maqrīzī, ltti'āẓ al-ḥunafāʾ III, 39, 43, 75, 126, 148, Khiṭaṭ I 441, 488 [= Ibn al-Maʾmūn, Akhbār Miṣr, 21, 11]). The dīwān al-taḥqīq regulated the activities of the other government offices. According to Ibn al-Maʾmūn the office that was instituted in 501 AH and headed by Yuḥannā b. Abī l-Layth was the dīwān al-majlis (aI-MaqrlzI, Khiṭaț I, 401; Ibn aI-Ma'mūn, Akhbār Miṣr, 9). This appears to be the same office. Some sources, in fact, refer to the office as dīwān al-taḥqīq wa-l-majlis, e.g. aI-Shayyāl, Majmūʿat al-wathāʾiq al-Fāṭimiyya, 325:14. Elsewhere Ibn aI-Maʾmūn refers to Yuḥannā as mutawallī dīwān al-majlis wa-l-khaṣṣ (aI-Maqrlzi, Khiṭaṭ I, 412:3-4, Ibn aI-Ma'mūn, Akhbār Miṣr, 53:1)."

Remnants from an Arabic official document. Official letter(s) or petition(s) to the caliph al-Mustanṣir. Needs examination.

Fiscal document concerning wheat. Dated: middle of Muḥarram 564(?) AH. Reused for piyyut on verso. Needs examination.

End of an official letter in Arabic script. "...fīmā yaḥtāj ilayh..." then a ḥamdala and ṣalwala. Reused for Hebrew piyyuṭ probably by the same scribe who reused T-S NS 111.63 and others (see Joins Suggestions).

Remnants of an Arabic official document on top of Hebrew piyyut - needs examination.

On verso remnants from an official Arabic document - needs examination.

Petition, or a regular letter resembling a petition. In Arabic script. Tarjama in the right margin, but the sender's name is not clear (ʿIzār? ʿIdāl? ʿImrān?). Seven lines of the text are preserved. Dating: Likely Ayyubid or Mamluk based on the layout and formulae used. Needs examination. On verso there is piyyut.

Administrative document(s). Dated: 52[6?] AH. Mentions al-Dīwān al-Khāṣṣ. May mention waterwheels (sawāqī). Some of the same language appears in the entries on both recto and verso. Reused for Hebrew piyyut. Needs examination.