Geniza Lab

Bill of divorce (get). Location: Fustat. Dated: Monday, 25 Sivan 1459 Seleucid, which is 1148 CE. Husband: Yosef b. ʿAbdallāh. Wife: Kala bt. Abū Saʿīd. Witnesses: Natan b. Shemuel ha-Ḥaver; Nadiv b. Yeshuʿa. On verso there is an addendum attesting that she received the get, signed Nadiv b. Yeshuʿa and Seʿadya b. Mevorakh.

Hebrew poetry. Many or all verses end with הנשמה לך.

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 12th century. The handwriting may be known. Deals with trade in pepper, brazilwood, saffron (zarnaba), dragon's blood (qāṭir), a flask of sorrel (baṭṭa l-ḥummāḍ), and other items. Also mentions the zakāt (here: customs?), someone who died in Beirut, someone who works as a goldsmith in the citadel of the sultan, the purchase of a female slave ('to be imported from [...]'), various amirs, the Qāḍi Jaʿfar, and someone referred to merely as "the accursed one (al-arur)." Underneath the letter on verso, there are several additional lines in Judaeo-Arabic, in a different hand, probably business accounts added later (בקית אלחסאב אלדי ענדכם פי אלאוראק...). And there are the remnants of a few words in Arabic script, probably from the address of the letter. Merits further examination.

Letter or letter draft from Muʿammar ha-Kohen ("the teacher of Qalyūb") to ʿAmram ha-Kohen, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Recto consists entirely of pleasantries and flattery and mentions that the when the addressee had departed from the writer's location, he had invited the writer to stay with him in Fustat, however the writer had no way of coming to Fustat and furthermore did not wish to burden the addressee. On verso there purpose of the letter emerges: the writer is destitute and needs help with the capitation tax and is staying in the synagogue (in Fustat?). He previously stayed for two months in Qalyūb and received only the mūna/mu'na (living stipend?) and 10 fulūs. Regards to Abū ʿAlī.

Letter from Petaḥya (aka Futūḥ) b. Shelomo to Seʿadya ha-Levi ('segan ha-leviim'). In Judaeo-Arabic. The purpose of the letter is not clear. There seems to be a request concerning merchandise or possessions (raḥl) couched in very respectful terms.

Letter fragment sent to Fustat. In Hebrew. Only the opening lines and the upper marginal text are preserved, in two unusually-oriented diagonal blocks. On verso there is the remnant of an address: من محبه لا عدمته.

Aramaic text. Vocalized. Yemeni hand. Resembles Targum Onqelos on the making of the Menora (Exodus 25 and 37), but there are also significant variations.

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Three fragments from the lower part of the document. Dated: Ṭevet 1435 Seleucid, which is December 1123–January 1124 CE. Involves: A deceased Sar Shalom; Abū l-Faraj Yeshuʿa b. Menashshe ha-Levi Rosh ha-Qahal known as al-Jubaylī; Natan/Hiba ha-Levi; and Abū l-Riḍā. Abū l-Faraj agrees to deposit with Abū l-Riḍā a debt contract worth 75(?) dinars which are owed to him by Natan; the debt contract is dated the first decade of Dhū l-Qiʿda 517 AH, corresponding to Ṭevet 1435 Seleucid; its witnesses are Ibn al-Fāʾiqī and Ibn al-Amadī. Abū l-Faraj relinquishes his right to sue Natan for the total unless the government appropriates (yaʿtariḍ) from Abū l-Faraj anything pertaining to the estate of Sar Shalom, specifically the money that he (Abū l-Faraj?) transferred to his (Abū l-Faraj's? or Sar Shalom's?) son Zikrī. If the government does interfere, Abū l-Faraj has the right to retrieve the document from Abū l-Riḍā with the authorization of the court (i.e., after they have validated the claim that the government took the money), and Natan will have to pay. The witnesses testify that the debt contract has been deposited with Abū l-Riḍā. Two copies of the present document were drawn up, one for Abū l-Faraj and one for Natan ha-Levi. The witness signatures are not preserved on these fragments, though the top of one signature might be barely visible on T-S 8.153. Joins: Alan Elbaum. ASE

Legal document. Location: Damietta (אי כפתור). Dated: Thursday, 4 [...]n 1442 Seleucid, which is 1130/31 CE. Under the reshut of Maṣliaḥ Gaon. Involves a woman named Sitt al-Milāḥ whose husband committed "obscenities" (fawāḥish) against her. She is represented by her brother in her suit against her husband. Information in part from Zinger, "Women, Gender, and Law," p. 58. This document has apparently been edited by Yeḥezqel David (הגירושין בקרב היהודים על פי תעודות הגניזה ומקורות אחרים, pp. 260–62). Transcription awaiting digitization.

Legal document in Arabic script. Late. Needs examination.

Legal document in Arabic script. Needs examination.

Legal document in Arabic script. Needs examination.

Legal document in Arabic script. Needs examination.

Letter from al-Ḥājj Aḥmad [...] to his son al-Ḥājj Abū Zikrī. In Arabic script. Dating: Probably late (Mamluk or Ottoman-era). Reports that 'we arrived safely in [...]' (recto, l. 4). Mentions copper and mercury (verso, l. 2). Needs further examination.

Letter from a certain Yūsuf, en route from Damascus to Cairo, to the amīr Sanbāy, in Cairo (Ṣalība street). In Arabic script. Dating: Mamluk-era. The letter opens with greetings to Burhān, [...], al-Ḥājj Badr, the people of the Ṭashtkhāna (طشتخانة, apparently the place where the royal textiles were kept, washed, and prepared), the Mahtār al-Khayl (also a Mamluk title, taken from a Persian word, meaning something like groom/keeper of the horses), al-muʿallim Aḥmad, [...], al-Ḥājj ʿAlī, Muḥammad al-ʿIfrīt, Badr al-Dīn al-Mukārī, and the people (=women?) of the house. The sender's party has been delayed on account of the mules and the 'house,' but they hope to arrive soon. The amir ʿAlī Bey greets the addressee. Burhān is asked to get the house ready, for the women are going to arrive soon. The sender conveyed a memorandum/document (mutālaʿa) with orders for Abū Bakr al-Maghzī, but Abū Bakr disobeyed him. Also, no one extended hospitality to him in Damascus, even though he conveyed the muṭālaʿāt for Muḥammad (the addressee's brother-in-law?). "He did not attend to me or even break a loaf of bread in my face." ASE

Letter from al-Ḥājj Muḥammad [...] to his son. In Arabic script. Dating: Perhaps Mamluk-era. Needs examination.

Legal document in Arabic script. Late. Needs examination. There are also a few words in monumental script.

State(?) document in Arabic script, calligraphic, with diacritics and vowels. Late. "We have looked into these matters. . ." Needs examination.

Legal document in Arabic script. Late. Needs examination.

Legal document in Arabic script. Late. Needs examination.