Geniza Lab

Recto: remnants of two lines of an Arabic-script chancery document. In between, at ninety degrees, is an Arabic list (of names?), most of which are crossed out. Verso: Hebrew poetry.

Fragment of a query to Avraham Maimonides (1205-1237) regarding the relationship between a single man and a female slave.

A query seeking a responsum, addressed to Avraham Maimonides regarding an unmarried man living with a female slave. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, p. 486 and from Goitein's index cards)

Ketubba dated the 9th of Tammuz, 1880 CE (2191 Seleucid) for Yos[ef] b. Sulayman b. Avraham al-Sabari and Ghina bt. Y[.]ya b. Yahya [...] al-Sabari, a widow. Merits futher examination. The names and place names are likely fully decipherable. Possibly Yemeni? Bears at least a superficial resemblance to Mosseri VII.19 (an 1899 Yemeni ketubba), see edition by Amir Ashur and Ben Outhwaite, "A Jewish marriage deed from nineteenth-century Yemen." ASE.

Modern letter in Hebrew and Yiddish. Probably from Gaster's personal archive.

Modern note in Hebrew and Yiddish, signed "J. Las[.]", labeled "10 Montefiori Coll."

Recto: Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions Meshullam... "two witnesses regarding the agent (? muwakkila) of Ṭahor who is his sister (?)"... whether a certain sum is a deposit (wadīʿa) or collateral (rahn)... 10 dirhams. Verso: good wishes for a groom and a bride, but mostly many lines of honorifics for the Nasi Daniel (b. ʿAzarya?).

Bill of divorce (get) dated the 15th of Sivan 1865 CE (2176 Seleucid). Place: al-Malhah. Parties: Da'ūd b. Da'ūd and Ḥabība bt. Yaḥyā. Signed: Yūsuf b. Mūsā, ʿIwāḍ b. Avraham.

Fragment of a ketubba (?). Mentions 10 dinars of gold.

Legal fragment. ʿAllūn b. Dā'ūd (?) and Mulūk (?) bt. Avraham are named.

Formulary for a marriage-related legal document.

Legal fragment, preserving the name of the father of one of the witnesses (Ḥārith?). There are wide spaces between the lines.

Legal fragment containing the dates 1408 and 1409 Seleucid (1096/7 and 1097/8 CE)..

Legal fragment preserving the names Yehuda and Sitt al-Ḥusn in the body, signed by [...] b. ha-Ḥazzān and Yisrael b. Shelom[o].

Recto: the poetic introduction to a ketubba (nearly identical to that in 10653.1) in a good scribal hand but without any additional content. Verso: Judaeo-Arabic prognostictation about what it means if there is a lunar eclipse in Elul (of 5570?). The four additional lines at the bottom are difficult to decipher.

Legal fragment preserving the name [...] b. Ḥalfon.

Marriage contract. Location: Cairo. Dated: Friday, 29 Adar II 5556 AM, which is 1796 CE. Groom: Yehuda Mercado. Bride: Sara bt. Yiṣḥaq Sukkarī. There is a colorful frame.

Recto: Fragmentary document in Hebrew and Aramaic written in large, ornate letters, with a reference to the exilarch in the header. There are symmetric rows of perforation at the top and the bottom. Perhaps from a masṭara used for the verso (which is 90 degrees to recto)? Verso: remnants from a few lines, not clear what language.

Ketubba dated 18 March 1866 (5626) from Bucharest. Presumably entered Gaster's collection directly from Romania rather than via the Geniza.

The left half of a trousseau list (?) for Sitt al [...]. The name ha-Sar Rav Netanel appears at the bottom.