Geniza Lab

Legal document with testimony of Farah b. Yusuf Banuqa regarding shipments to Qayrawan, which were received by Barhun b. Moshe Tahirti.

Legal record, or outline for drawing up a deed of sale. Dated: Sunday, 26 Ṭevet 1537 Seleucid, which is 28 December 1225 CE. Bū Manṣūr and Abū l-Ḥasan the sons of Hillel al-Mūrid sold to Yosef and ʿAfīf the sons of Futūḥ Ibn al-[...] an entire house belonging to them in Cairo on Darb al-Mugharbilīn ("the street of the sifters"). 2/3 of the house had belonged to Abū Manṣūr and 1/3 to Abū l-Ḥasan. The price was 120 dinars. At the bottom of recto and on verso there are (older) accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. (Information in part from Goitein's index card)

Sale of a house, 1254.

Recto: The upper part of a legal testimony. Aharon ha-Zaqen b. Yosef ha-Mumḥeh reports that Abū l-Munā b. Ṣadaqah al-Jūjarī was renting a drug store (or a portion of the building?) from Aharon, but was unable to pay rent, and in fact was thrown in prison because of this. Later, Abu l-Munā fled from al-Maḥallah. Aharon has been pursuing him to try to force him to pay his debts. Verso: Appears to be a literary work in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic.

Prenuptial agreement in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi. Join by Amir Ashur. Fragment A (CUL Or.1081 J34) contains 18 lines and fragment B (ENA 4011.14) contains 9 lines; fragment B connects with fragment A in line 17. The man is named Menashshe. The woman is named Banāt bt. Shelomo, aka Sitt al-ʿItra—maybe identical with the widow in ENA 2558.4. Ashur posits that the deed was written before 1127, the year Masliah ha-Kohen entered office and the word reshut begun to appear in such deeds. Lines 11-12 set a date for the marriage, meaning the deed was written prior to the wedding day. The agreement is presented in the first person reducing the probability that it is a betrothal agreement. The fact that the document refers to the bride as 'mamlukatuhu' (his betrothed or his fiancee; fiancee is more probable) shows that the agreement was made after the engagement took place. It is possible that during the engagement no agreement was written or that the agreement was not comprehensive and therefore this agreement was written. Despite the fact that the manuscript is incomplete it is probable that the bride represented herself, despite the fact that her father was alive: the groom testifies that he handed over to the bride the money directly. Moreover, there is no mention of a representative of the bride. The document has not been published or mentioned elsewhere.

Legal document. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Fragment (upper left corner). Dating: Early 12th century. Kali bt. Yisrael (קאלי בת ישראל) of Crete (her name means "beautiful" in Greek) gives a power of attorney to her husband Moshe to sell a building belonging to her deceased brother Shemuel for 30 dinars. The building is located on "Milk Street" (Zuqāq al-Laban) running between the Palestinian and Iraqi synagogues in Fustat. (Information from Goitein’s index card.)

Partnership contract. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dating: Mentions 1428 Seleucid, which is 1116/17 CE (but this is not necessarily the date of the document). Fragment of agreement between three individuals, in which the agent is allowed to do business in the Egyptian Rīf (countryside), in Damietta, in Tinnīs, and in Alexandria—but nowhere else. The agent is Shela ha-Levi, and the investors are Netanel and Shelomo. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

The first line of a legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. "That which that took place before us, we the two permanent judges in Fustat Miṣrayim, and those who are undersigned, that it was when the Creator appointed for Seʿadyah. . . ."

Account of the Qodesh: personal account of a parnas, ca. 1040. Small fragment, the right part of a leaf, in which Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya listed his current pecuniary operations, on the 24th day of Tammuz. Revenues and expenditures were listed together as they developed. (Informtion from Gil, Documents, pp. 189 #19)

Prescription in Judaeo-Arabic for Abū Yaḥyā, including instructions for both medicine and diet. The name of the recipient at the beginning and the phrase "effective if God wills" at the end are written in Arabic script. Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 583.

Letter in which a father writes to the teacher of his boys complaining about insufficient attainments and explaining their being late.

Verso: Legal record that Abū l-Surūr b. Ghanya(?) remarried his divorced wife Maʿānī bt. Karīm al-Aqraʿ ha-Levi. Dated: Wednesday night, 29 Tishrei 1541 Seleucid, which is 18 September 1229 CE. There is documentation of the payments returned to her as originally set down in her ketubba. Witnessed by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. On the margin a notation: the remarriage took place without immersion (ṭevila) for menstrual purity. Goitein speculates that she might have been post-menopausal. Moss. VII,56 is her bill of divorce from 8 months earlier. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Recto: Letter in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to Abū l-Faraj al-Shaykh al-Makīn. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (upper part only). He orders myrtle for Sukkot.

Note from Ḥananel. "If the master is able and free, [could he] trouble himself to meet with the slave in the shop of Abū l-Munā near the slaughterhouse. I am waiting there because I have gone to work on something for all of us. . . another person with us. I cannot come to serve you. And peace. Your slave Ḥananel."

Recto: Note from Rashīd inviting a physician to come urgently to Rashīd's home, and to bring a friend. Verso: The physician responds that if he is being invited to a drinking party, he cannot come today because the Christians prevent him (? li-ajli moqesh al-'arelim). If he is being summoned to treat (mudāwā) somebody, probably al-Sadīd, it can be postponed to another day. Rashīd should tell al-Sadīd that the writer already came looking for him several times but could not find him. He was worried on his account ("the first was in my heart"), and he wondered if perhaps al-Sadīd no longer needed his services. Changing the topic, he concludes, "As for the the [Ar?]abic letter, I have it with me. I will make a copy of it and return it." Information in part from Goitein's index cards. ASE.

An exceptionally angry letter, complaining that the artisan, instead of returning the finished product, began to haggle about the price. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 86)

Verso: Order of payment by Abū Zikrī Kohen. Abū l-Ḥasan al-Hod should give the bearer 3 ounces of lemon-rose syrup and an ounce of chewy candy (ʿaqīd).

Recto: Official-looking document. In Arabic script. Dated: 19 Shawwāl 517 AH, which is December 1123 CE. Documenting the receipt of 350 irdabbs of wheat from ʿAlī b. Saʿīd from al-Gharbiyya for something. Needs further examination.

Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic.

Accounts in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Late. One side: "What I received from Yaʿaqov b. Khalīfa," then sums in sultanis, cedids, קורון, and ibrahimis. The other side: "What I paid R. Moshe."