Geniza Lab

Communal letter from the Iraqi Gaʾon Shemuel b. ʿEli (active last third of the 12th century). In the hand of Yosef b. Yaʿaqov Rosh ha-Seder? (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.)

Beginning fragment of letter from Yeshu'a Gaon to communities in Fustat ca. 1010.

Legal document. Dated: Monday, 2 Iyyar 1398 Seleucid, which is 1087 CE. Location: Fustat. Moshe b. Elḥanan comes before the court and declares that he has appointed Abū Saʿīd Ḥalfon b. Shelomo ha-Levi ("known as Ibn Levi") as his agent for his affairs while he is Yemen. The agent is to look after his compound (rabʿ) in Fustat in Sūq al-Baṭṭāṭin, which consists of two houses. There are a few words in Arabic script on verso referring to a deposit (wadīʿa). (Information from Goitein's attached notes.)

Will of Yaʿaqov b. Dunash b. Yehuda Resh Sidra, dealing mainly with expenses for his burial in Jerusalem. He appoints his brother-in-law Natan b. Shelomo the executor, and leaves 5 dinars to Shalom b. Natan, the son of his sister and brother-in-law. Dated 9 Adar II 1064 CE (4824), Fustat. See Med Soc III, IX A 2, n. 64.

Legal document. Deed of compensation / bill of release. Dated: 1337 Seleucid (1025–26) CE. Location: Fustat. Written in the hand of Avraham, son of the Gaon. From a woman named Turayk ("Little Turk") to the wakīl al-tujjār Muḥsin b. Ḥusayn and a number of his family members: three sons, three daughters (Sarwa, Fāʾiza, and Nabīla) and his wife, Fahda. Turayk had lived in Muḥsin's house for more than 10 years, so her heirs might have been able to argue that she should have given part of it to the female members of the household, who had meanwhile come of age. (Information from Med. Soc. 3:45)

Form letter from the community of Safed, for the shaliaḥ Yaʿaqov b. Avraham to carry with him in his fundraising. Bewails the destruction of synagogues and Torah scrolls. Dating: Late, probably 18th or 19th century.

Note to Seʿadya the cantor. Dating: Probably 12th or 13th century. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Asking him to list the contributors to a collection (pesiqa) made the day before and to cash in the sums promised. (Information from Goitein’s index card.)

Letter from Ismaʿīl b. Faraḥ (Alexandria) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat), 9 September 1056. Confirms the arrival of goods and letters and sends information about the arrival of ships from Palermo and about some terrifying events in the Maghreb, especially in Susa (see details in Goitein notes linked below). Includes orders for goods that are expected in Alexandria, where many foreign traders are present, as well as details of money transfers. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 628.)

Engagement (shiddukhin) agreeement. Fiance: Yosef b. Yehuda Menaḥem. Fiancee: Esteta (?) bt. David (?) ha-Kohen. Currency: Venetian ducats (פרחים זהב בנאדקה). Location: Fustat/Cairo. Dated: 12 Ḥeshvan [5]330 AM (יקיר), which is October 1569 CE.

Ketubba for Yosef b. Yaʿaqov Saragosi and Sara bt. Nissim Messina (?). Currency: medin. Dated 6 February 1792 (13 Shvat 5552), Cairo. ASE.

Ketubba for Yiṣḥaq b. Moshe ha-Levi known as ʿŪraybī and Sammūḥ bt. Yehuda Ḥaddād. Currency: medin. Dated: 7 October 1805 (14 Tishrei 5566), Cairo. See BL OR 5543.5 for the engagement agreement of Yiṣḥaq's sister ~8 years earlier. ASE

Ketubba for Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi b. Shemuel and Sara bt. Aharon Ḥedef (חידיף). Currency: esedi guruş. Dated 23 May 1831 (11 Sivan 5591), Cairo. ASE.

Engagement (shiddukhin) agreeement between Efrayim b. Shemuel and כואנדה bt. Eliyyahu Sūsī, in a beautifully illuminated frame. Currency: medin. Dated 1720 CE (1 Elul 5480), Fustat. Goitein notes and index card linked below belong to a different shelfmark. ASE.

Engagement (shiddukhin) agreement between Nissim Zeraḥya and Miryam bt. Shelomo ha-Levi. Dated 1749 CE (21 Heshvan 5510), Rashid. Currency: the gold zeri maḥbūb coin (זהובים מחבובים), apparently first minted by Maḥmud I 'the hunchabck' in 1740. Goitein notes and index card linked below belong to a different shelfmark. ASE.

Ketubba for Yosef ha-Levi b. ʿOvadya and Bayda (?) bt. [...] Bibas. Currency: real. Dated 1790 CE (16 Sivan 5550), Cairo. ASE.

Engagement (shiddukhin) agreeement between Avraham b. Yosef Mammon and Bayda (?) bt. Moshe ha-Levi known as ʿŪraybī. Currency: real. Dated 4 January 1797 (6 Tevet 5557), Fustat. See BL OR 5543.11 for the ketubba of Bayda's brother ~8 years later. ASE.

Ketubba for David Farāshī known as Kawuqji (?) b. Avraham and Esther bt. Yaʿaqov Medina (?). Currency: medin. Dated 2 April 1802 (29 Adar II 5562), Cairo. ASE.

Engagement (shiddukhin) agreeement between Eliyyahu b. Moshe de Man (?) of Manṣūra and Raḥel known as Kuḥla bt. Ḥassūn. Currency: real. Dated September 1803 CE (Tishrei 5564), Fustat. ASE.

Legal document dated April 1822 (beginning of Iyyar 5582), Fustat. Probably a partnership agreement between David Dayyan and Moshe אלפרון.

Ketubba for Yosef b. Aharon Shunina and Esther bt. Avraham Shunina. Currency: medin. Dated 22 May 1716 (1 Sivan 5476); the place is Damīr (identical with Damīra?). ASE.