Geniza Lab

Legal document. Tiny fragment.

Marriage document. Minute fragment. On recto only a few letters have survived, but they are clearly from the top of a ketubah. On verso few words in Judeo-Arabic, in a different hand, probably from a legal document connected to the same couple. We find such legal documents, written after a marital dispute or divorce, on the verso of some ketubahs (e.g TS 24.15 + TS 20.62, which contains two legal documents on the verso) Hebrew, Aramaic, Judeo-Arabic. AA

Marriage document. A torn and damaged ketubah. Contains few lines from the dowry list, the monogamy clause, the trustworthiness clause and the stipulation regarding the bride's ritual bath after menstruation, enacted by Maimonides in 1176 (see M.A Friedman, "Social Realities in Egypt and Maimonides' Rulings on Family Law” Maimonides as Codifier of Jewish Law [N. Rakover ed., Jerusalem 1987], p. 230). On verso remnants of colored decoration. Hebrew, Aramaic, Judeo-Arabic. AA Dating: after 1176

Business letter, fragment, from Yaʿaqov Levi to an unknown addressee. In Hebrew. Goods mentioned include: alkali (הקלי) in line 6, and coral in line 8. The writer mentions his trip to Friuli (NE Italy) in line 9. Currencies: peraḥim. Uses the title "Agha." Dating: 16th century? Information from Avraham David via FGP.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Deals entirely with business matters. Mentions counterfeit promissory notes (wa-l-ḥujaj allatī taẓharu kulluhā zūr). Mentions certain villages and a man named ʿAlī b. Shādān. Mentions a judge. Almost certainly part of a join with the next shelfmark, but it is unclear how the two fit together.

See join (ENA 3817.5)

Letter fragment. In Hebrew. Asking the addressees to help the Jews and the Conversos (הן ליהודים הן לאנוסים). Dating: Presumably dated to after the Spanish expulsion in 1492. Signed by R. Shelomo Saporta (ר׳ שלמה ספורטה) and [Yaʿaqov b.?] Ḥayyim Astori (אסטורי), whose name has an ornate latin "L" next to it. ASE.

Account (draft) of the Qodesh ca. 1222-23. Record of an accounting in which mainly expenditures are preserved. Listed are expenditures made by the beadle Abu'l-Tahir, both on building operations and on oil for the synagogue. There are a few revenues from rent listed as well. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp.429 #128)

Letter in Arabic script addressed to al-Mawqif al-Ashraf and ʿIzz al-Dawla. Maybe Fatimid official correspondence. Mentions the amīrs Shujāʿ al-Dawla, Majd al-Dawla, and the city of Tripoli. The writer mentions sending a delegate/appointee to the amīr Shujāʿ al-Dawla, but the latter refused to accept him and sent the delegate back claiming that he hadn't received an amr (order) from al-Haḍra al-Muṭahhara (=Fatimid Caliph). The writer then sent the delegate/appointee back to the amīr Shujāʿ al-Dawla with a copy of the Noble Letter which was sent in this regard. He also mentions the case of the amīr Majd al-Dawla and explains that Ibn Dardār or someone else hadn't messed up but rather the cause was what he had mentioned in the previous letter. Deserves further historical inquiry into the names of the officials and especially for the light it may shed on administrative practices e.g., نسخت الفصل من الملطف الكريم الوارد في معناه. Al-Maqrīzī attests that the al-Mulaṭṭaf was a royal letter issued by the Caliph (al-Iṭṭiʿāẓ, vol.2, pg. 153). Reused for Hebrew literary text.

Letter in Hebrew. Mainly complaining about the conduct of a group of wicked people. Dating: Probably late. On verso there is a piyyut (in beautiful handwriting and vocalized).

Accounts of a bookseller. In Judaeo-Arabic. A note in the margin mentions Avraham ha-Ḥaver ha-Meʿulle ba-Ḥavura and "I, Yefet b. Netanel."

Qaraite-Rabbanite polemic

Recto: Accounts with the header "What was sold before the death of Abu Ishaq b. Abu Sahl known as Ibn al-Ahuv, in the presence of al-Mawla al-Ratzuy and Abu 'Ali his brother-in-law." There follows a short list of goods, and "that was in Cairo in the presence of the Judge [...]." Another list of goods is headed with "And in Fustat, in the presence of al-Mawla al-Ratzuy and [...]." The chidren of Abu 'Ali b. Dawud are mentioned, as is Hibah b. Dawud. Abu l-'Ala al-Sabbagh bought a chest. Verso: "What Abu 'Ali expended for the deceased in his lifetime and after his death" including payments to various officials and for food and pullets (presumably for his final sickness). ASE.

State document, possibly a decree. Suggests orders conferred upon an authority 'hayʾat (?) l-muṭālaʿa wa-l-āʿmāl bihā'. There is Arabic script in another not-so-elegant hand and a few words in Hebrew script towards the end. Needs further examination.

Legal query in Judaeo-Arabic. Concerning a man who had a debt to the heqdesh. He pawned his wife's property against her well, promising her that he would redeem it within a few days. He had property of his own (a chest of jewels and gold, perhaps in partnership with his father), but he wished to pay the debt out of his wife's property. The querier, apparently a local judge, emphasizes that the agent of the heqdesh must not accept the payment from the wife's property, but rather only from the property of the husband. Cites Ketubbot 101b, Mishna Bava Batra 10:7, Bava Batra 174a, and Ketubbot 81b. Information from Amir Ashur via FGP.

Arabic text in a scribal hand. Late. Written in the margins of a Hebrew/Aramaic literary text. الله تعالى . . . شرف الدين شرف العلامة مفتي(؟) الامام...

Recto: Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions the police (shurṭa). Needs examination. Verso: Bill of divorce dated 1423 Seleucid, which is 1111/12 CE. Location: Fustat. There are two addenda, at least one of which certifies that the wife received the get. The document is quite damaged.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Probably a business letter. Very little substance remains. The hand is lovely and distinctive.

Fragment of a letter or petition. In Arabic script. Six lines, fragmentary, difficult to read. Some words read as lil-haṣr(?), thaman(?), ʿadlhā wa-ṣadaqāthā (appealing to the addressee's justice and charity). Reused on verso for an unidentified Hebrew text (something halakhic or liturgical? mentioning the high priest and Rosh ha-Shana).

Fragment written by Yosef b. Ya'aqov Rosh Haseder, containing various materials written on different palces on the page. We can find a list of books that he himself planed to write, Bible and Talmud commentaries. AA