Cairo Geniza, Medieval manuscript collection in Old Cairo, Egypt.
The Cairo Geniza contains approximately 400,000 Jewish manuscript fragments dating from the 6th to 19th centuries, written in Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic on materials including vellum, paper, papyrus, and cloth.
Discovered in the late 19th century by scholars including Solomon Schechter, the collection was stored in the Ben Ezra Synagogue's sacred storeroom for over a millennium before being cataloged and distributed to major libraries worldwide.
The manuscripts reflect the multicultural environment of medieval Cairo, documenting Jewish interactions with Muslim and Christian neighbors through trade documents, personal correspondence, and community records spanning multiple regions including North Africa and Andalusia.
Today, fragments are housed in institutions including Cambridge University Library, the British Library, and the Jewish Theological Seminary, with digital initiatives and citizen-science programs facilitating ongoing research and transcription efforts.
The collection includes original handwritten works by authors themselves alongside copies, preserving everything from religious texts and business accounts to school exercises and medical treatises, offering unparalleled insight into daily medieval Jewish life.
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