GIENZAH. - A Hebrew term derived from gânaz, of Persian origin, meaning: “(deposit of the) treasure,” “storeroom.” Sacred scrolls of the Pentateuch, individual pages of the Bible and prayer books, and unusable sacred vessels were deposited there; over time these items were buried in cemeteries.
Originally g. denoted the act of burying the above-mentioned objects and likewise the writings of heretics. According to Talmudic accounts, the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Hebrew Ecclesiasticus were in danger of being consigned to a g. An unusable scroll of the Torah was sometimes buried in a clay jar together with the corpse of a scholar.
The g. at al-Fustāṭ near Cairo attained notable importance because of the well-preserved historical material found there. Among other precious documents, the Hebrew text of Sirach (v. ECCLESIASTICO) and those concerning the sect of Damascus were discovered there.