Geniza Lab

Magical text in Hebrew and Arabic script.

Decree from the Fatimid chancery, small fragment, reused by Efrayim b. Shemarya. No image available on FGP. See also PGPID 35336 and PGPID 30851.

Legal document. Dated: Thursday, 22 Tamuz 14[60] Seleucid, which is 1149 CE, under the reshut of Shemuel b. Ḥananya (1140–59 CE). Hiba the weaver (al-Ḥāyik) known as Ibn Nuʿmān accepts the obligation to appear in court on Monday 26 Tamuz together with the agent of the qodesh Sālim/Shelomo b. Natan ha-Parnas in order to pay the 120 dirhams he owes for rent. ASE

A general prenuptial agreement in the hand of Natan ha-Kohen b. Shelomo. Goitein suggests that this document was written before 1134, the year that Ṣedaqa al-Ramli, the grandfather of the bride, passed away (Med. Soc. 3:154). The agreement was held between the groom and the father of the bride and there is no mention that she appointed her father as her representative or any expression of her consent. In addition, the time of marriage is not set and it is possible that this matter has been decided earlier or was subject to later negotiations. In addition, the deed is without dates or signatures, which are usually found in deeds of betrothal or engagement. Perhaps this is a general agreement appended to another agreement or it might be a draft. Translated to English in Goitein, 3:154. Med. Soc.

Recto: betrothal deed between R. Efrayim ha-Talmid b. Meshullam and Yeshuʿa ha-Levi b. Ṣedaqa al-Ramlī for his daughter Sitt al-Fakhr. The advanced gift is 15 dinars, the delayed gift 50 dinars (though 60 is written above the line). Verso: part of an Arabic document, probably from the Fatimid chancery. (Information from CUDL)

Official letter in a Fatimid chancery hand, mentioning Abī l-Bayān Mūsā, may God sustain him, and Abū ʿAlāʾ (?).

Legal document, שטר פצוי (indemnity), in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. The principals are Shemuʾel and Elʿazar. (Information from CUDL)

Thin strip from a court record. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document involving Abū l-Faḍl al-Parnas, Abū Saʿd, and payments in installments. The margins and verso are filled with Arabic text.

Legal document issued by Natan b. Avraham's court, in connection with trade between Egypt, North Africa and Sicily. Fustat, February-March 1040.

A protocol of a case heard at the court of Natan b. Avraham, head of the yeshiva in Palestine ca. 1040 (in rivalry with Shelomo b. Yehuda). Records a series of transactions between merchants from the Maghreb and Sicily for the selling of indigo (nil) and oil. Some of the names mentioned in the document are: Khalaf b. Musa al-Barqi and Sahlan b. Yehoshua al-Tarabulusi. This document was written in Iyyar 1351/ February-March 1040 (Ben-Sasson). (Information from Goitein, Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 68-69; Ben-Sasson 363)

Legal testimony. In Judaeo-Arabic. Two business partners who had gotten into legal fights (mushājarāt kathīra) state that they are reconciling with each other in accordance with the counsel of 'the righteous elders' (ziqne yosher). There are no signatures, and the names of the parties do not appear to be preserved. Written on a long horizontal slip.

Legal document, fragment. Only the ending is preserved. One of the parties is named Abū ʿImrān al-Kohen.

Legal fragment in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Location: Fustat. Involves Abū l-Faḍl b. Abū Kathīr b. ʿImrān. There is a dead man, a will, and details of court procedure (examining prior documents, comparing them, and checking the witnesses—one of whom is Avraham b. Shemaʿya he-Ḥaver). Several phrases are crossed out or corrected.

Declaration about a money related issue, perhaps related to a partnership. The person making the declaration makes a statement concerning his own money and money of a third person and a profit he made which the third person has perhaps taken from him.

Deed of release (שטר אביזאר). The handwriting may be known. Involves [...] b. Shelomo known as Abū Saʿd and Sahl b. Ḥasan b. Salāma.

Deathbed declaration of a man who had sold his daughter, Sitt al-Sada, and her son two-thirds of two shops with the apartment located above theirs. (Information from Goitein, Mediterranean Society, IV, pp. 58, 363)

Recto: draft of a will for Abū l-Surūr Peraḥya b. ʿAdiya, mentioning Ibn Maṭrūḥ. Verso: jottings in Arabic and Hebrew script. (Information from CUDL)

Will of a dyer, before going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Location: Fustat. Dated: Monday, 12 Iyyar, 4975 AM = 1526 Seleucid, which is April 13, 1215 CE. Information from Goitein's notes.

Legal document dealing with Abu al-'Izz b. 'Amram who undertakes to pay 80 dinars to David Abu al-Fadl b. Yosef for wine. The latter had to wait six months for this payment, after selling wine to Abu al-'Izz. Dated 1531/ 1219-1220 (Goitein), Fustat. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 198, and Goitein's index cards.) There are addenda on verso, not edited here.