Geniza Lab

Account, large and late.

Recto: Deed of sale. Rabbanite. In Hebrew. Dated: Tuesday, 14 Elul 5321 AM, which is 1561 CE. A woman named Qamr, the wife of Yosef al-Aḥdīb(?), sells to Doña Esther, the widow of Avraham Tortos (טורטוש), her small qāʿa, the ʿaliyya, and the quwayʿa that serves as a kitchen, all of them located in the Qaraite neighborhood, at the head of the alley facing the well where the saqāʾiyyīn draw their water. The price is 20 gold Venetian ducats. Qamr has received payment in full except for 4 medins. In the continuation, we learn that this is actually a sort of mortgage. Qamr will remain in the house for a period of 12 months for a monthly rent of 12 medins. If she can come up with 20 ducats during that year, Esther will sell her back the house. All this was decided with the consent of Qamr's husband Yosef. There is then a confusing clause which says that it was also decided with the consent of the "aforementioned" Yaʿaqov b. Yosef (no such person was aforementioned) and his wife Esther bt. Doña Qamr (the buyer? the daughter of the seller? both?). Written and signed by Eliyya b. David Ḥabariyya, who also signed T-S AS 145.85, BL OR 5544.11, BL OR 10590.1, and T-S 13J4.17. Probably also in his hand: T-S AS 146.25, BL OR 5561B.13, and T-S 8J8.13. This document was also signed by Natan b. Yiṣḥaq Damūkh(?). This document was edited by Avraham David, but his identification and transcription were mistakenly attached to ENA 2562.1 in FGP. Verso: Another legal document. In Hebrew. Perhaps a draft of a partnership agreement between Seʿadya Lubi(?) b. Ḥalfon and Yiṣḥaq b. Nissim. MCD. ASE.

Letter from Elazar Ha-Levi b. Yosef to Eli Ha-Kohen Ha-Ḥaver Ha-Me'ulle, Baniyas, beginning of the twelfth century.

Responsa collection.

List of Jewish and Muslim names in Hebrew script followed by what are likely alphanumerical figures connected to accounts. The dating for this fragment is likely from the 16th-18th centuries. On the recto, the names include: Mūsa Maḥmūd[?], Moshe Mafir, Mūsa 'Ali. On the verso the names include: Yiṣḥaq Yari, Avraham Foy, Yiṣḥaq Sason, Mūsa Qasab. MCD.

List of Jewish and Muslim names in Hebrew script followed by what are likely alphanumerical figures connected to accounts. The dating for this fragment is likely from the 16th-18th centuries. On the recto, the names include: Aharon Naqash, Shemuel Morgani, Yosef Simḥa Yekbin[?]. On the verso, the names include: Mordechai Shihab, Shemuel Naqash, Suleiman Sa'adi. Date: 16th c, 17th c, 18th c.MCD.

Responsa of the geonim regarding sale. מקביל לתשובת הגאונים שע"צ, ח"ד, שער ו, סימן יא # הרכבי, סימן שפח

Letter reporting the sinking of a ship in the Red Sea, dating probably from the 14th century or later based on the mention of the port city of al-Tur, which rose to prominence after the decline of al-Quṣayr. AA

Piyyut, very faded.

Piyyut, very faded.

Magical symbols and Arabic script writing, traces only.

Folio from a late treatise containing alchemical recipes in Judaeo-Arabic, including for "water of lead" that will dissolve anything. ASE

Table of contents for a responsa collection in a late hand. arranged according to subjects.

Sheet folded so as to form a booklet of 4 pages. But only one page, headed by the superscription 'In your name' (which indicates the list started there), contains writing. List of 20 notables, solicited for a special drive, eight already having made their pledges, ranging from five dinars, contributed by a jahbadh (money-changer, tax cashier, or possibly a banker), to one dinar each from two glassmakers and a convert to Judaism named Abū l-Khayr (Goitein: "Mr. Good the Proselyte"). Among the others: Tiban; Shemuel b. Nahum, the father-in-law of Yequtiel b. Moshe, known as al-Hakim. Ca. 1090. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 504, App. C 124)

List in large, beautiful Arabic script (perhaps of the judge Shemuel b. Saadya ha-Levi?), containing about 55 names, followed by a column in Hebrew characters with about 23 names, some identical. Abu al-Barakat al-Murid, the purveyor of gold and silver to the mint (see Mediterranean Society, I, p.267). Only three contributions are indicated. Ca. 1180. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 504-505, App. C 126)

Account of Marduk b. Musa listing a large number of commercial transactions with many names - some of known merchants. Also contains instructions.

Fragment of a letter from Isma’il b. Barhun al-Tahirti from Mahdiyya, to Yosef b. Ya’aqov b. Awkal from Fustat. Mentions some information about the Sultan interfering in trade matters. Mentions Yosef b. Berekhya and the Nagid Avraham b. Ata. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #119) VMR

Accounting for five months, ca. 1230. Two leaves, the first of which has writing on both sides. The first part is an estimate of the expected monthly revenue from rent. A comparison of the sum expected for five months with the actual revenue follows. Then there are three columns of details concerning the sums paid and owed by different tenants. The order in which the columns are to be read is not the usual one. The estimated budget is divided into six main sections, according to the location of the apartments: The lane of the synagogue, the funduq, its vicinity, the "great bazaar," the Khabisa lane, and the Tujib quarter. There are 36 tenants in all. The arrearss come to baout 11.5% of the panned revenue (162 as against 1337 dir.). (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 444-445 #134)

List of names and sums, some are related to different houses. See also ENA 2591.14–15 (PGPID 662).

Letter from Egypt, late, to Moshe Franko in Jerusalem, written in beautiful Hebrew. The writer mentions that he had left Saloniki. The recipient's wife, Dona Blanca, is pregnant. Published by Avraham David in Cathedra 56 (1991).