Accounting fragments stored in the Old Cairo Genizah

The object of this paper is to draw attention to the existence of a vast collection of eleventh- and twelfth-century fragments which reveal elements of bookkeeping systems used by Jewish bankers and merchants in Old Cairo. The author examines two selected fragments or sheets found at the end of the nineteenth century in a storeroom (genizah) of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo. The first fragment which is in the form of a journal is dated c. 1080. The second fragment recorded in 1134 is a four-page account listing both debits and credits. The author shows and analyses the form of the fragments and seeks evidence of the use of systems that were precursors of more advanced ones used by bankers and merchants in countries which were trading partners of Egypt.