Geniza Lab

Letter to the community of Damsis from Avraham Hakohen, recommending a ertain person. Letter from the Nasi is mentioned and also mentioned Abu Ishaq

Court record. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 1140s CE, under the reshut of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya. Abū l-Faḍl al-Kutnānī b. Hiba al-Iskandarānī claims that he is owed 7 1/3 dinars by Abū l-Surūr b. Ibrāhīm al-Iskandarānī known as Ibn al-Jamīla. Abū l-Surūr denies this. The court asks them both to take a vow. The document is incomplete and unsigned.

Ketubba written by Yefet b. David

Legal document. Record of release. Dating: March 1097. Written in the hand of Hillel b. Eli. This fragment seems to be the continuation a document, the beginning of which is TS 16.87 (PGPID 4094). In the section preserved here, Abū al-Faraj Nathaniel b. Moses and his brother Abū al-Barakāt Aaron release Abū al-Baqā Samuel b. Nathan the Ḥaver from obligations in a long-distance trading partnership which had taken their father, apparently the active partner, to Tripoli or Lebanon. The release clauses absolve Samuel from any further obligation in either “a partnership (shirka)” or “a commenda (muḍāraba)”. Although this fragment cannot be seamlessly joined to TS 16.87, that both documents are concerned with the partnership suggests that they go together. This evidence is strengthened by the fact that TS 16.87 is dated to the twenty-first of Adar in the year 1097, which was a Sunday; this could have been three days before the "Wednesday the twenty-fourth" mentioned in line 23 of this document as the delayed date of execution. While most of the bulk of the document is written by Hillel b. Eli (also a signatory), the notarization is written in different handwriting and attests to the fact that the undersigned witnesses recognized the signatures of the initial witnesses. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 81-82)

Quittance. Unfinished. Sumr bt. ʿEli releases any debt owed to her by Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm b. Abū l-Bishr Shelomo al-Bazzāz or by his brother Abū l-Faḍl. The case involves an inheritance somehow.

Letter from Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tahirtī, in Trapani, Sicily (Gil prefers to read אטראבנש in line 2 over Goitein's and Ben-Sasson's אטראבלש), to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Ca. 1053 CE. The top line of the recto is partially torn away, as is the writing on more than three quarters of the text of the top margin. The writer spent the winter and the summer in Tripoli (Libya) and and in Sicily. Some of the family members are in the Maghrib, and they are caught up in a mess of an unclear nature. Mentions the textile trade with Sicily; the procurement of flax in Egypt; and other business matters.

Detailed deathbed declaration made by Abu al-Tahir Mevorakh b. Shela al-murid (government supplier), written by the scribe Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. The testator declares his second wife, Sitt al-Dar b. Yosef, responsible retroactively to the time of their marriage, as well as for the future, with the exception of the 'principals', by which he meant immovable property and merchandise, namely, pepper, lead, jewelry of silver and pearls. Concerning these, those of his children from this second marriage could request an account from her upon reaching maturity. If needed for the household, or 'cases of illness, school fees, clothing or unforeseen expenses,' she was allowed to sell some of the 'principals,' but only with the permission of a relative named in the document or two witnesses appointed by the court. The wife was allowed to spend the money thus obtained however she saw fit. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 255-256, 483). (Written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi [Date: 1100-1138]. AA)

Quittance, draft in the hand of Efrayim b. Shemarya in which a mother obliges herself to release her son from any lawsuit filed by herself or her daughter from a previous marriage. Dating: ca. 1038 CE. (Information from Bareket)

Letter of complaint to the caliph in Arabic script concerning the tax that the Tiberias Jews need to pay. It seems like the second request. The Jews are complaining about the intention to increase their capitation tax (jizya). In the past, some have paid 5 dirhams, some have paid 10, and some have been exempt as Khaybarī Jews. The speaker of the Jews is Sibāʿ b. Faraj (maybe this is Hillel b. Yeshuʿa). This document is the middle part of three sheets that were attached. Dating: ca. 1030 CE. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 2 p. 453–54, #249). VMR

Reuse: Several legal documents, either drafts or court records. In Judaeo-Arabic. The entries on recto are very faded. The one that begins at the bottom of recto contains a statement by Yosef b. Shelomo that he will not take a second wife (or else he will be punished). Location: Probably Fustat. Dated: 1390 Seleucid, which is 1078/79 CE. The second entry on verso concerns various deposits or pledges. Mentions the wife of Sulaymān, a judge (al-shofeṭ), the house or wife of Abū l-Surūr. Also mentions a mill (ṭāḥūna) and maybe someone named Shāhīn. The bottom entry on verso is a detailed list of the items pertaining to the Dār al-Ṣarf that were sold in the presence of the court (Yefet b. Zarʿa(?), Meshullam b. Moshe, and Avraham b. [...]).

Recto: Arabic state document, reused (see separate entry for reuse), 4 lines, wide spacing, mentions the movement of a group of people to the Levant. Some phrases:"ʿalā l-mʾāthir wa nashr al-qalb kalima al-ṣidq bi āʿlā l-mʾāthir wa ṣarafat", "wa aṭafat ahwāhā ḥatta ṣārū ilā Bilād al-Shām".

Court record from 1029

Ketubba from 1091-1110 written by Hillel b. Eli. The groom is Ayyash b. Berakhot

Legal settlement of 1113 between husband and wife written by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe Halevi. Not much preserved. Sigend by Nathan c. Shelomo the cantor b. Yair and [...] b. Yosef

Letter drafts from Ḥalfon b. Netanel ha-Levi, in Alexandria. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 1139 CE. This fragment contains three different drafts of letters. The first draft is partial and appears to be an incomplete version of the second draft. This is a letter addressed to an unnamed Jewish courtier in Fustat. The third draft is likely addressed to the Head of the Jews, probably the new Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya. In this letter, Ḥalfon apologizes for not having presented himself in person or having written earlier. He blames this on his wretched condition in the wake of his illnesses (v16–18) and the tribulations of his four-year journey to the Maghrib and to al-Andalus. In particular, he has been shaken by the deaths of his brother and the death of 'our diadem and crown and master and head' (v19–21); Goitein concludes that the references are to Ḥalfon's brother ʿEli and to the head of the Yeshiva, Maṣliah Gaon. Presumably, Ḥalfon wrote these drafts during the period he spent in Alexandria upon his return from the West to Egypt in April 1139 CE. "God knows how I wrote this, with a downcast heart and trembling fingers." Description based on India Book 4, #58. ASE.

Letter sent by Yiṣḥaq b. Barhun to Ismail b. Farah. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, p. 518 and from Goitein's index cards)

Court record

Letter from Yehuda ha-Levi, in Alexandria, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: After the middle of September 1140 CE. In Judaeo-Arabic. He mentions the exaggerated honors that the Jews of Alexandria honored him with, especially Aharon Ibn al-ʿAmmānī. He felt the need to show outwardly (“טאהר”) that he received them kindly, but that they embarrassed him because he did not leave Spain on his way to Israel, but wanted, in his hidden intention ('באטן') to be alone, and he saw death before his eyes. The poet asked Ḥalfon to write a letter of thanks to the judge, whose sending would prove how much the guest appreciated the efforts of his benefactor. In the continuation, he responds to Ḥalfon’s "depression and sadness of heart," mentioned in IV, 92. Yehuda ha-Levi explains that this is a natural response to Ḥalfon's grief for the death of his brother ʿEli. (Information from Goitein and Friedman, India Book IV)

Fragment of a ketubba of the groom Yefet b. Avraham from Alexandria signed by Avraham b. Yaʿaqov. Dated ca. 1100. (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 399)

Letter from Labrāṭ b. Moshe b. Sughmār, in Sūsa, to his younger brother Abū Zekharya Yehuda b. Moshe, in Fustat. Dating: August 1056 (Gil). This long letter alludes to dire events that took place in North Africa and Sicily, including the invasion of the Bedouins, the destruction of Qayrawān and the siege of Sūsa. The letter also conveys family news about the Banū Sughmār. Labrāṭ opens saying that death is now preferable to life (r3–6). Their mother had recently died (r9–10); Labrāṭ sends a rebuke to a certain Avraham for failing to send him a letter of condolence (v1–2). "I am at this time exhausted (or muddled, multāth), confused and doubtful. By my father, I don't know what I'm writing because my mind is preoccupied. May the end be good, God willing" (r15–16). Labrāṭ congratulates on his brother on his marriage to a woman from a notable family in Fustat. He asks his brother to convey congratulations to Abū l-Khayr, the new brother-in-law, "because I have no heart and no mind," i.e., Labrāṭ is too depressed to write himself (r30–36). He uses the same excuse for his failure to maintain his correspondence with "al-rav al-ajall," the most exalted teacher (v5). "I write these lines overcome by tears" due to his separation from his brother and lack of close confidants in Sūsa (r36–37). Labrāṭ plans to travel soon, whether to east or to west. If the addressee wishes to travel, he should come to al-Mahdiyya or alternatively go to the Rīf and acquire goods for the two of them. "But in this time I have no sure opinion (ra'y)—the decision is yours" (v15–17). The other parts of the letter consist of business affairs and greetings to people in Egypt. Among the business affairs are reports on shipping, including the following: "You mentioned that you loaded three (loads of freight) onto the qārib of Mufarrij and one onto the qārib of Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ," and the former reached Tripoli (r17–18); later in the letter, he adds: "Just now a letter arrived from my lord Abī l-Faḍl Yūsuf b. Khalfa mentioning that the small (laṭīf) ship of Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ has also reached Tripoli" (v20–21). (Information in part from Gil.) ASE and MR