The Cairo Geniza as a Source for the History of Muslim Civilisation

Abstract

Geniza, as is well known, denotes the lumber-room of a synagogue or any other place in which papers covered with Hebrew letters were buried. For according to Jewish belief, which has its parallels in Muslim and Coptic customs, no paper on which the name of God may be found should be destroyed. So far, only the Genizas of a synagogue in Fustat (Old-Cairo) and of the nearby cemetery of al-Basatin have been found. These two are called, by a common designation, ((the Cairo Geniza ). I have, however, little doubt that the many flourishing Jewish communities which, during the Middle Ages, were spread all over Egypt, from Qius and the Fayyum down to practically all provincial towns of the delta, have also left us Genizas, and I use this opportunity to draw the attention of future excavators and buyers of antiquities to this possibility. The amount of material brought to light from the Cairo Geniza is very considerable. The late Solomon Schechter estimated that he alone had brought to the University Library in Cambridge over a hundred thousand leaves, and I am inclined to believe that this is an under-estimate (1). Of these, according