Geniza Lab

Letter. In Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew. Written in purple ink. Late, probably 18th or 19th century.

Legal document. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dated: A Monday in the last decade of Tammuz 1[4]34 Seleucid, which is 1123 CE. In which Elʿazar/Manṣūr b. Yefet/Ḥasan ha-Kohen transfers property rights for half of a well-known house in al-Qālūs to his wife Sitthum aka Sitt al-Jamīʿ bt. ʿOvadya. The full names of the couple may be found in T-S NS 323.19 (probably the beginning of this document, but not a continuous join) and T-S 12.82 + T-S 12.553 (probably a distinct document). Joins: Alan Elbaum. (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE

Legal document, draft?, written on a page that had already been used for writing exercises in enormous Arabic script. People named are Abū l-Walīd and Avraham b. Simḥa and most of the document has to do with describing the geographical location of a certain apartment.

Legal fragment, either a will or something to do with the disposition of the property of a certain Ibn al-Raqyan (?) who is now deceased. Signed by Eli ha-Kohen b. [...]. Verso also preserves a few lines, "testament of Abū Naṣr the in-law of [...]."

Lower right corner of a get (bill of divorce), signed by Menashshe ha-Kohen b. Yaʿaqov and Ḥalfon b. Menashshe.

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.