List or table: ENA 2727.22

Description

Contributions to a collection of loaves of bread for the poor, ranging from 100 pounds (a qintar) down to 1/2 pound. Instead of bread, one person gives three dirhams. Most of the contributors of larger amounts are introduced with the title 'my lord the elder,' while most of those giving small ones are simply called by name, such as: Yaʿaqov-1/2, Ibrahim Ibn al-Mawazini (maker of scales)-1, the oil-makers-1, the Karaite-1/2. No consistency, however, was observed in this distinction. The donors of the third and fourth largest amounts (25 and 10 pounds, respectively) receive no title, while others giving only two pounds do. The handwriting of this much-effaced document is of the calligraphic type used in books, which is extremely difficult to locate and date. Reason: The list is headed by Abu Zikri (taking him as son of Eliyyahu the dayyan, who was a prominent physician in Alexandria), while R. Yeshu'a is second, even though he donated only 4 pounds 'The haver' is also listEd. All three are conspicuous in T-S 10J16.6, the complaint of the administrator of the quppa in Alexandria, who was threatened with death when he retained certain quantities of wheat in order to meet emergencies in time of scarcity. The Nagid might have asked that all the relevant lists connected with the breadbasket of the community be submitted to him, one of which (the present list) would have finally made its way into the Geniza. If the above reasoning is correct, the document should be dated ca. 1230. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, 491-492, App. C 53 and from Cohen)