Geniza Lab

Verso: Hebrew formulary of an acknowledgment of a debt. Dated to the 11th century. (Information from Goitein's index cards) Recto: Ketubba portion for Jawhara the widow bat Salma and Isaac b. Hosea dated Thursday 13th Marḥešvan 1[..]2 in Fustat. Names of witnesses not preserved. Ca. 11th century. (Information from CUDL)

Elazar b. Yefet sells to Shelomo b. Sadaqa his female slave named Ṭā'ūs ('Peacock') and her 10 year old son, named Mubārak ('The Blessed') for 40 dinars. Dated Elul 1552/ August-September 1241. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 138, 434) On verso is a draft halakhic text on the laws of levirate marriage, in the same hand as the document on recto. (Information from CUDL)

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

A physician Shemuel grants a loan of four hundred cut-up dirhams to Abu al-Faraj, a simsar (broker) in Misr (Fustat) and Cairo, to be paid back at the end of Tishri 1537/end Ramadan-beginning of Shawwal 622/October 1225. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, 385) Unfortunately for Shemuel, cut up dirhams would be taken out of circulation one month after the loan was due to be repaid. The deed also states that Shemuel had previously sold Abu l-Faraj sugar and sugar molasses. Signed by ʿAmram b. Ḥalfon ha-Levi and Shelomo b. Natan ha-Levi. Possibly in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. (Information from CUDL)

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Legal document. Court record. Dated: 1083-1084. Location: Fustat. Abū al-‘Alā ‘Ūlla ha-Levi b. Joseph al-Dimashqī and Abū Zikrī Yaḥyā ha-Levi b. Joseph ha-Levi dispute the details of a partnership. The verso records ‘Ūlla’s testimony that Yaḥyā would receive one-third of the profits after expenses, following the commenda model, while Yaḥyā argued that profits were to be split evenly, and the expenses were to come out of the proceeds of the sale. Goitein points out that in addition to the partnership funds trusted to Yaḥyā, ‘Ūlla entrusted a consignment of scammony (a medicinal plant) which was “on commission”, suggesting that “business in general was largely conducted on the basis of mutual trust and friendship”. On the other hand, the dispute at hand concerns specific details of the partnership, including a dispute concerning the possible markets to which Yaḥyā was empowered to travel (Damietta, Alexandria, and the Maghreb); the partnership is terminated prior to Yaḥyā’s journey to the Maghreb. This document may have been a draft, given the many strikeouts, and blank space in the document has been used for some Arabic material whis seems to be unrelated. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 146)

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Fragment from the right part of a ketubah. The groom's name is Nethan'el. Small part of the dowry list is preserved. AA

Fragment of a marriage contract from Fustat, written in the same hand as T-S 13J12.18. Dated ca 1337. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 386, 387)

Verso: Six lines of accounts of debts on clothing, written by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dated Kislev 1431/ November-December 1119. (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 375, and from Goitein's index cards)

Recto: Court record dealing with inheritance. In the hand of the scribe Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi. Dated: 1118/19 CE. Abū l-Barakāt b. Natan al-Jaʿfarī had received a power of attorney to claim a debt from ‘al-rayyis al-jalīl al-ʿajamī’ […] b. Simḥa ha-Levi. When the men left the city they deposited the deed of attorney with a man (Abū l-Makārim), and now his widow, Sitt al-Sāda bt. Evaytar ha-Kohen Gaʾon (mentioned in numerous other documents in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe) brings the document to the court and asks for assurances that she will not be liable for any claims made. (Information from CUDL.)

Two government officials named Abu al-Makarim the scribe and Abu al-Bishr make a loan of 54 dinars belonging to them in equal shares to Yosef b. Mevasser from Damascus, to be returned in monthly payments of 2 dinars, 1 to each. Dated Kislev 566 A.H./ November 1170. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 255)

Marriage contract, small fragment, signed by Shemuel b. Ishaq and Avraham ha-Levi b. Yiṣḥaq (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 117, and from Goitein's index cards)

List of donors to charity on the back of piece of vellum (fragment of an ancient marriage contract), headed by Avraham 'The Cherished,' al-sagul. This is an abbreviation, used also on letter CUL Or.1080 J265, ll. 6, 16. of the unique title 'The most cherished and esteemed of the People of Fustat,' borne by the notable Avraham b. Mevasser (dated docs. 1028-1-45), see Mann, Jews, II. pp. 98-100). Avraham al-Tahirti could stand for any of 4 cousins (usually called Barhun) from Qayrawan, all of whom frequented Egypt. Avraham Tahtahi is probably from Ifrīqiya, since tahtaha = 'open space,' probably a place name, is Ifrīqiyan. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 475, App. C 9)

Legal document. Partnership agreement. Dating: 1140. The partners (Abū al-Barakāt and Abū al-Faraj) split losses evenly but grant the active partner (Abū al-Faraj) thirteen twenty-fourths of the profit. In fact, the document specifies two twenty-fourths of the profit allocated to Abū al-Faraj, the amount by which his share exceeded Abū al-Barakāt's, as "remuneration [for his trouble and work]". Per Maimonides, the share of profits allocated to the active partner must be at equal to or greater than the share of losses. This suggests that in this case only 1/24 of the thirteen twenty-fourths of the profit allocated to Abū al-Faraj is the “additional amount” corresponding to payment for his work. The document is explicit that profits are split "evenly" (each partner receives eleven twenty-fourths), and an "additional amount" of two twenty-fourths is to be allocated to Abū al-Faraj. Abū al-Faraj is to have free disposal of the partnership capital, part of which is considered a loan, without any recourse to Abū al-Barakāt. Abū al-Barakāt also declares that his partner’s testimony would be trusted, even though both partners are supposed to perform an accounting. A copy of the partnership agreement is written for each of the parties' records. Should the partnership be terminated by either party before the end of the fixed period (which is not evident in the document, possibly due to deterioration), the terminating partner would be required to pay the other 50 dinars as an outright gift. If Abū al-Barakāt were to terminate the partnership prematurely, he would lose the entire amount putatively loaned to Abū al-Faraj, which was likely half his capital. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 119-120)

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Marriage contract (ketubba), Palestinian-style, for the bride Dallāl bet Yefet and (the groom's name is lost), written in Tinnīs, Egypt, probably 1085 or 985.

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.