Geniza Lab

Bill of divorce for Bayān b. Abu l-[...] and [...] bt. Sedaqah. Dating: 1088–1188 CE (14xx Seleucid), but this could be drastically narrowed based on the periods of the witnesses: Natan b. Shemuel ha-Ḥaver and Mevorakh b. Natan ha-Melammed. The names of the witnesses are repeated on verso.

The opening two lines of a testimony involving the widow of Yefet ha-Kohen.

Legal fragment perhaps involving an engagement. Several names appear in it: Shemuel ha-Nagid Saadya... Saadya b. Mazhir... Ya'aqov... [Natan?] b. Shemuel ha-Ḥaver... Yehuda.

Just a few calligraphic words with elaborate fleurs-de-lis, presumably from the poetic header of a ketubba, very similar to BL OR 10653.9 (identified by Gaster as a medieval Yemeni ketubba).

Legal fragment involving property and sums of money, perhaps the sale of a sixth of an apartment (see line 4). People involved: [...] b. Yaʿaqov ha-Zaqen; [...] b. Yehuda ha-Zaqen; Yeshuʿa; Shemuel ha-Zaqen; Abū l-Faḍl al-Zajjāj; Abū l-Faḍl b. Yefet ha-Zaqen.

Legal fragment. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Settlement of a conflict between a husband, Moshe ha-Sar ha-Adir, and his first wife, Sitt al-Kamāl, who nearly got divorced. The husband was spending 2/3 of his funds on his second wife (the 'ḍarra' of Sitt al-Kamāl) instead of treating them equally. He presumably promises to shape up, and she promises not to think or say bad things any more about the second wife or her kin.

State decree. Three fragmentary lines from the end of a chancery decree, probably addressed to a provincial official, mentions majlis al-naẓar (refer al-Qalqashandī, Ṣubḥ al-Āʿshā VIII, 331). The text that remains is from the beginning of the closing section, containing the admonitions and the dating clause (which, as usual, hasn't been preserved). Reused for the commentary of Rabbenu Ḥannanel on Bava Kamma 98, 101.

Official-looking document. In Arabic script. Dating: late, 18th or 19th century.

Note or account. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 18th or 19th century. The name Yaʿaqov Yuʿbaṣ appears at bottom.

Official-looking document. In Arabic script. Dated (on verso): 1235 AH, which is 1819/20 CE.

Accounts in Hebrew script and western Arabic numerals. Dating: late, 18th or 19th century.

Legal query with responsum. Concerning tefillin. Late. Striking signatures.

Legal document. Location: Fustat. Dated: 20 Adar I 5559 AM, which is 1799 CE. Eliyyahu b. צבי חפאך(?) acknowledges an investment of 2000 medins from Me'ir b. Naʿim.

Sums/account. In Arabic script and eastern Arabic numerals. Dating: late, 18th or 19th century.

Legal document from Egypt, dated Sivan 1795 CE (5555) involving Meir b. Nissim receiving 100 reals from Yizhaq Zamoro. ASE.

List of names with numbers. In Judaeo-Arabic or Hebrew. Dating: Late, perhaps 18th or 19th century. Surnames include Romano and Bialobos.

Late writing exercises and sums, with a note on verso mentioning the neighborhood of the Karaites (Ḥārat al-Qara'iyyīn). Compare 12369.21, 22, 37, 38, 39.

Interesting letter with a conspiratorial tone, apparently from a father to a son. The writer reports that he has heard that Barakat the son of the Rayyis (Shelomo b. Eliyyahu?) has asked for the hand of the daughter of Abū Saʿd. It appears that the recipient is also interested in the daughter of Abū Saʿd, since the writer tells him to pluck up his courage and come quickly so that they can confer with his mother and visit Abū Saʿd in the night and speak to him before they miss their chance. The remainder of the letter (r15-v11) is more faded and less cloak and dagger, mentioning various small items and notebooks and sums of money. The writer reports that he has already paid the money he previously received from the recipient to the landlord. The postscript (v12-20) may resume the marriage plot: the writer tells the recipient to go to "the man" (Abū Saʿd?) and see what is in his heart before the writer and recipient go to him together. ASE.

Engagement (shiddukhin) contract. Dated: Tishrei [5]566 AM, which is 1805 CE. Groom: Moshe Ẓvi. Bride: Simḥa bt. Barukh. Verso is a list of items and their values apparently relevant to the engagement (a dowry list?). A handful of the terms are in Ladino. The word "contante" (cash?) appears a few times. Mentioned in Ilana Tahan, "Judeo-Spanish Manuscripts in the British Library's Hebrew Collection," p. 152 (no. 37)

Scattered notes in Judaeo-Arabic, including dates and names, of unclear significance.