Geniza Lab

Original use: Verses from Leviticus. Secondary use: The margins are entirely filled with Arabic-script text from documents, mostly or entirely petitions or official-sounding letters. The text in the upper margin on both recto and verso addresses "sayyidnā al-qāḍī al-ajall al-rashīd ʿImād(?)...." Recto, right margin: mentions 'the auspicious seat/council' (al-majlis al-saʿīd) and 'the aforementioned service' (al-khidma al-muqaddama dhikruhā). Recto, lower margin: standard formulae for offering to carry out a service for the addressee, dated 24 Jumādā II 50[1?] AH. ان كانت لحضرتها حاجة عند عبدها فليشرفه بقضاها منعما متفضلا ان شالله وكتب الرابع والعشرين من جمادى اخر سنة [احدى؟] وخمسمائة. Recto, left margin: similar to the upper margins, but addressing "sayyidnā al-rayyis" instead of "sayyidnā al-qāḍī": عبد حضرة سيدنا الريس الاجل اطال الله بقاها وادام ولاها(؟) Verso, upper margin, upside down: the name al-shaykh Abū ʿImrān b. Khallūf. Verso, right margin: refers to al-shaykh Abū Sulaymān Dāʾūd al-Isrāʾīlī al-Mushrif. Verso, lower margin: requesting a disbursement from the revenue(?) of the “dīwān al-abwāb al-mufrad” under the supervision of the amir [...] al-Juyūshī al-Afḍalī: ليطلق ليطلق ذلك من ارتفاع(؟) مال ديوان الابواب المفرد لشهور سنة احدى وخمسمائة بعد مشارفة الامير. . . . . . . الجيوشي الافضلي ان شا الله Verso, left margin: mentions dīwān al-jawālī and the supervision of a qāḍī (the same ʿImād? or Ibn ʿAmmār? or even Ibn al-Zaʿfarānī?): ليذكر ما يدل عليه ويشهد به ديوان الجوالي بمشارفة القاضي . . . .

Fragment of a petition, two wide lines. The first line reads 'wa-ʿabd mawlānā,' then '[...] al-shāmil.'

Nine lines in two different hands; one hand seems to be a chancery hand and the other one is not as elegant. The document starts with a basmala and then becomes relatively difficult to read. The first line reads '..Lawlā l-ḥāl fī l-ḥad li-l-ḥukm'. Contains "innā" as well as "lām" multiple times, possibly "mālik" and "mamluk". Towards the end, the writer also mentions that he doesn't grieve upon something, 'lam yaḥzun ʿalā'.

Report probably on military matters. In Arabic script. 6 lines preserved. Mentions a wall (al-ṣūr), the dispatching of a warship (ʿushārī), someone named Ibn al-Qaṣʿ(?), arrival in Jabla, arrival in al-Dānūr (or al-Dāmūr?) between Beirut and Sidon and perhaps a battle. Needs further examination. Reused on recto for the beginning of a Judaeo-Arabic treatise on divining the future using a table of 89 letters which are referred to as "the chess houses" (al-buyūt al-shaṭranjiyya). Further down, mentions the city of Alexandria in an unclear context.

State document in Arabic script. Damaged/faded. About 8 lines are preserved. Surrounded by Hebrew literary text (on recto) and a Hebrew poem (on verso, in a different hand). Needs examination.

Document in Arabic script. List containing numbers or ciphers. Possibly a fiscal document, based on handwriting and layout. On verso there is Hebrew piyyut. Needs examination.

Official correspondence (petition or report). Refers to the Dīwān of Syria (cf. T-S AS 111.37). The beginnings of two lines are preserved: "al-mutaqaddim(?) min jihat mawlāy... ilā dīwān al-shām...." Reused for Hebrew piyyuṭ.

State or private petition in Arabic script. Fragmentary. Uses the terms murā`ī and mamālīk.

The end of one line from a state document in Arabic script (decree vs. petition vs. report). Quite faded. Reused for Hebrew piyyuṭ.

Petition from Naṣir b. Bū l-Faraj, who converted to Islam (ihtadā) under (ʿalā yad) Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn(?) (but perhaps different from the actual Saladin?) in the district of al-Gharbiyya. The addressee is probably Saladin himself (al-maqām al-ʿālī al-malikī al-nāṣirī al-ṣalāḥī, [may God extend] his reign). The other known petitions to Saladin in the Geniza are T-S K2.96 and BL OR 5566B.12. This one has many fewer titles than the others and refers to him only as 'malik' and not 'sulṭān,' so it may date to his period as Fatimid vizier (1169–74). The petitioner introduces himself as having converted, apparently on 19 Ramaḍān 55[.] AH (corresponding to the range 1155–64 CE). The remainder of the petition is lost. Maybe he is seeking to register his exemption from the capitation tax. ASE

One line from a state document: وليستيقظ... وىخدمه...

Capitation tax receipt for Bū l-Faḍl b. Manṣūr, a Jewish trader, in Fustat. Dated: 17 Muḥarram 525 AH.

Fragment from the top of a petition in Arabic script. The sender is introduced as "the basest slave" (adhall al-mamālīk) and then "al-burhāniyya"(?). Reused for Hebrew literary text.

State document, fragment, in a chancery hand, mentions the dīwān al-amwāl. The duality of the noun "aʿdāʾhuma" (line 3) suggests that it is addressed to two people, the first name ends with[..] al-Dawla, and the second is referred to as al-Shaykh al-Jalīl. Hebrew script on verso.

Recto: Bottom seven lines of an official letter in Arabic script. It seems like few details are preserved. Reused for a Judaeo-Arabic letter (see separate record). Needs further examination.

State document, four fragmented lines in a chancery hand, later reused for Hebrew text. Starts with a basmala followed by a Quranic verse 'Naṣrun min Allah wa fatḥun qarīb (61:13) and a ḥasbala. Verso features heavy smudges in ink in what appears to be pen trials both in Arabic and Hebrew.

State document, possibly. In Arabic script. Chancery hand with wide space in between lines. Only the beginnings of 4 lines are preserved (reused for jottings in between and around them).

State document; Fatimid? Seems like a peace treaty/gifts (hudna/hadiyya?) addressed towards the city of Baghdad, possibly, - 'li-l-hudna/hadiyya ilā madīnat al-Salām'. Sums of money, min l-waraq (silver), aʿin (gold), dawāb (cattle), and khadam (slaves) are mentioned, which could be the reparations sent for ensuring a peace treaty or gifts to engender diplomatic relations. The persons mentioned are Abu Bakr and ʿĪsā, who is referred to as Ṣāḥib al-Ḍawāb (Man of cattle). The document is dated Wednesday 15th of a month unknown. Reused for a literary text-oriented at 180 degrees citing Talmudic rabbis and written in a combination of Hebrew and Arabic script (rather than Judaeo-Arabic) — common among Qaraites but more unusual among Rabbanites.

Small fragment with Arabic script in a chancery hand with wide spacing. Possibly a state document. A few words from the two fragmentary lines read - "bimā tashraḥ min ḥālihim", "jamāl al-Dawla".

Decree, probably. Small fragment. On verso there is a Purim-related text in the hand of Efrayim b. Shemarya.