Taylor-Schechter Cairo Genizah Collection
Item
Country
GB
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
eng
Contact information: postal address
West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DR
Contact information: phone number
0044 (0) 1223 333000
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
library@lib.cam.ac.uk
Reference number
T-S
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (official language of the state)
Taylor-Schechter Cairo Genizah Collection
Language of title
eng
Creator / accumulator
Solomon Schechter
Date note
5th century/19th century
Language(s)
heb
lad
lat
Extent
21,270 storage units
Type of material
Textual Material
Physical condition
Poor
Scope and content
The Taylor-Schechter Cairo Genizah Collection at Cambridge University Library is one of the largest and most important collections of medieval Jewish manuscripts. Among its extensive holdings, it is possible to find numerous fragments of documents and writings (particularly poetry) produced in Medieval Iberia, such as the following:
T-S 13J25.10: Letter from Joseph b. Isaac ibn Abitur, in Spain (either Merida or Cordoba), probably to Šemarya b. Elḥanan, in Fustat. Greetings are sent on behalf of the writer’s sons Isaac and Mordechai, seeking the support of the recipient. Spain, late 10th or early 11th century.
T-S NS 233.52: Poem "A Plea" composed by and in the hand of the Spanish poet Joseph Ibn Abitur. Spain, late 10th or early 11th century.
T-S 13J27.17: Letter dated Nisan 1448 of the Seleucid Era (= 1137 CE), probably from Spain, concerning business matters of goods sent between Andalusia and Egypt and naval warfare.
T-S NS 99.55 and Or.1080 1.88: fragments of a partnership agreement in Judaeo-Arabic, written in Almería (Spain) probably in 1139. This is the oldest document from Almería known to date. The fragment contains the end of the deed, parts of the seven signatures and the signed (with three signatures each) subsequent verifications of the deed in Alexandria and Fustat (Old Cairo). The partners were the traders Ḥalfon b. Nethanel, an Egyptian Jew, and Ibn al-Naghira, from North Africa. See the edition of these fragments in Akiva Friedman (2016).
T-S 8J18.2: Letter by Ḥalfon b. Nathaniel to Joseph (known as Ibn al-Ḵāzin) in Almería concerning the forwarding of a consignment sent by Elʿazar Ibn al-Qasbī in Egypt to his brother in Lucena. 12th century. Other Judeo-Arabic letters from Almeria in T-S 13J14.21 and T-S 8J18.1.
T-S 8.268 and T-S 8.269: Parts of a ketubah dated 48[..] (=1040-1140 CE) in Valencia, Spain.
T-S 8.53: Letter of introduction, addressing a community and urging them to show charity to the poor. The text appears to have been erased where the name of the subject appears. Spain, undated.
T-S 16.100: Letter requesting help for a woman originally from Narbonne, sent from Muñó in northern Spain and signed by a number of people (the names have been largely lost). Undated.
T-S NS 232.17, 231.1, 132.2G, 242.1a, 299.34, 299.133, 325.67, 325.208a, 326.8, 326.10, 108.21, 325.179, 108.70, 149.152, and 194.7: Fragments of poems by Yshaq ben Gayat from Lucena, Spain. Published in Sáenz-Badillos Pérez (1981; 1982).
T-S AS 132.33 and T-S NS 194.43B: Fragments of the poem "Yonim Yaronnu" by Yehudah ha-Levi. Published in Sáenz-Badillos Pérez (1983).
Digital copies of some items are available online.
T-S 13J25.10: Letter from Joseph b. Isaac ibn Abitur, in Spain (either Merida or Cordoba), probably to Šemarya b. Elḥanan, in Fustat. Greetings are sent on behalf of the writer’s sons Isaac and Mordechai, seeking the support of the recipient. Spain, late 10th or early 11th century.
T-S NS 233.52: Poem "A Plea" composed by and in the hand of the Spanish poet Joseph Ibn Abitur. Spain, late 10th or early 11th century.
T-S 13J27.17: Letter dated Nisan 1448 of the Seleucid Era (= 1137 CE), probably from Spain, concerning business matters of goods sent between Andalusia and Egypt and naval warfare.
T-S NS 99.55 and Or.1080 1.88: fragments of a partnership agreement in Judaeo-Arabic, written in Almería (Spain) probably in 1139. This is the oldest document from Almería known to date. The fragment contains the end of the deed, parts of the seven signatures and the signed (with three signatures each) subsequent verifications of the deed in Alexandria and Fustat (Old Cairo). The partners were the traders Ḥalfon b. Nethanel, an Egyptian Jew, and Ibn al-Naghira, from North Africa. See the edition of these fragments in Akiva Friedman (2016).
T-S 8J18.2: Letter by Ḥalfon b. Nathaniel to Joseph (known as Ibn al-Ḵāzin) in Almería concerning the forwarding of a consignment sent by Elʿazar Ibn al-Qasbī in Egypt to his brother in Lucena. 12th century. Other Judeo-Arabic letters from Almeria in T-S 13J14.21 and T-S 8J18.1.
T-S 8.268 and T-S 8.269: Parts of a ketubah dated 48[..] (=1040-1140 CE) in Valencia, Spain.
T-S 8.53: Letter of introduction, addressing a community and urging them to show charity to the poor. The text appears to have been erased where the name of the subject appears. Spain, undated.
T-S 16.100: Letter requesting help for a woman originally from Narbonne, sent from Muñó in northern Spain and signed by a number of people (the names have been largely lost). Undated.
T-S NS 232.17, 231.1, 132.2G, 242.1a, 299.34, 299.133, 325.67, 325.208a, 326.8, 326.10, 108.21, 325.179, 108.70, 149.152, and 194.7: Fragments of poems by Yshaq ben Gayat from Lucena, Spain. Published in Sáenz-Badillos Pérez (1981; 1982).
T-S AS 132.33 and T-S NS 194.43B: Fragments of the poem "Yonim Yaronnu" by Yehudah ha-Levi. Published in Sáenz-Badillos Pérez (1983).
Digital copies of some items are available online.
Archival history
For a thousand years, the Jewish community of Fustat (Old Cairo), placed their worn-out books and other writings in a storeroom (genizah) of the Ben Ezra Synagogue. In 1896-97, the Cambridge scholar, Dr Solomon Schechter (1847-1915), with financial help from the Master of St John’s College, Charles Taylor (1840-1908), arrived to examine it. Schechter received permission from the Jewish community of Egypt to take away what he liked, and he brought 193,000 manuscripts to Cambridge, where they form the Taylor-Schechter Cairo Genizah Collection.
The storeroom where the manuscripts were stored by the community of Fustat was a genizah, a sacred storeroom. According to rabbinic law, once a holy book can no longer be used (because it is too old, or because its text is no longer relevant) it cannot be destroyed or casually discarded: texts containing the name of God should be buried or, if burial is not possible, placed in a genizah. At least from the early 11th century, the Jews of Fustat reverently placed their old texts in the Genizah. Remarkably, however, they placed not only the expected religious works, such as Bibles, prayer books and compendia of Jewish law, but also what we would regard as secular works and everyday documents: shopping lists, marriage contracts, divorce deeds, pages from Arabic fables, works of Sufi and Shi'ite philosophy, medical books, magical amulets, business letters and accounts, and hundreds of letters. Examples of practically every kind of written text produced by the Jewish communities of the Near East can now be found in the Genizah Collection, and it presents an unparalleled insight into the medieval Jewish world.
The storeroom where the manuscripts were stored by the community of Fustat was a genizah, a sacred storeroom. According to rabbinic law, once a holy book can no longer be used (because it is too old, or because its text is no longer relevant) it cannot be destroyed or casually discarded: texts containing the name of God should be buried or, if burial is not possible, placed in a genizah. At least from the early 11th century, the Jews of Fustat reverently placed their old texts in the Genizah. Remarkably, however, they placed not only the expected religious works, such as Bibles, prayer books and compendia of Jewish law, but also what we would regard as secular works and everyday documents: shopping lists, marriage contracts, divorce deeds, pages from Arabic fables, works of Sufi and Shi'ite philosophy, medical books, magical amulets, business letters and accounts, and hundreds of letters. Examples of practically every kind of written text produced by the Jewish communities of the Near East can now be found in the Genizah Collection, and it presents an unparalleled insight into the medieval Jewish world.
Administrative / Biographical history
Solomon Schechter (1847-1915) was an outstanding authority on the Talmud and the responsible for the discovery of the Cairo Genizah. He studied the Talmud in Vienna, Berlin and London and became a lecturer in Talmudic studies at the University of Cambridge in 1890. During a voyage to Egypt in 1896-97, Schechter found hidden within the genizah of the old synagogue at Cairo a priceless collection of ancient manuscripts, which he brought to Cambridge.
In 1902, Schechter went to New York to serve as president of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He developed that institution into a major centre for research in Judaica and for the training of rabbis in Conservative Judaism. In 1913, he founded the United Synagogue of America.
In 1902, Schechter went to New York to serve as president of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He developed that institution into a major centre for research in Judaica and for the training of rabbis in Conservative Judaism. In 1913, he founded the United Synagogue of America.
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Digital copies of the documents are available online at:
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Joana Rodrigues and Carla Vieira, 2022
Published primary sources
Linked resources
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