Geniza Lab

Magical spells and prayers to angels in Hebrew.

Draft of a court record from the court in Fustat. 1042. In the handwriting of Yefet b. David Shekhanya. Regarding the claim by Ya’aqov b. Avraham b. Alan against Yahya b. Moshe al-majani. Two years after Yahya described his disagreement with Ya’aqov, his opponent’s claims come before the court. The complainant is in Fustat and the claimant is in Qayrawan, therefor the court needs to send its conclusion to Hananel b. Hushiel and the Nagid Ya’aqov b. Amram from the court in Qayrawan. The record contains details about the goods and their prices. Yahya’s father ordered these goods before he passed away around June 1039. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #632) VMR

Copy of a letter from Menaḥem b. Eliyyahu, in an unspecified location near Salonica and Constantinople. In Hebrew, with occasional phrases in Judaeo-Arabic. Probably composed during the period of the first crusade, as it refers to the arrival of German armies. Relates messianic events that occurred in Salonica (including the healing of a blind man and various apocalyptic visions and the reduction of taxes) and asks the addressees to share any messianic rumors that they have heard. Contains several noteworthy names of people (including a reference to Evyatar ha-Kohen, gaon in Jerusalem c.1083–1105, who had sent them a letter from Tripoli, Lebanon) and geographical areas (Romania, Thebes, the land of the Khazars). There is a full translation and detailed analysis in Sharf, "An Unknown Messiah of 1096 and the Emperor Alexius." ASE

Large letter from "the two congregations" of Alexandria to the Palestinian community of Fustat, and particularly to Efrayim b. Shemarya, regarding fundraising for the ransom of captives. They convey gratitude for 200.5 dinars that had already been sent. The tale is rather convoluted, but they are clearly in need of money again. In particular, "one of the Arabs" named Yubqī (or Yabqā?) b. Abī Razīn recently arrived with a new set of seven Jewish prisoners from Byzantium (מארץ אנטאליה), four Rabbanite and three Qaraite, demanding 33 1/3 dinars per captive. The head of the Alexandrian community, Netanel b. Elazar ha-Kohen redeemed one of them and suggested writing to all the communities of Egypt to raise the remaining total. Thus they have sent letters to both Rabbanite congregations and the Qaraite congregation of Fustat, to the elders in general, and to the Rabbanite and Qaraite congregations of Tinnīs and Damietta and Ṣahrajt. Some of the sermon included in the remainder of the letter seems intended for public reading in the synagogue (an insight from Frenkel, ha-Ohavim ve-ha-Nedivim, p. 190). There are ~17 signatures in addition to that of the scribe, Yeshuʿa ha-Kohen b. Yosef ha-Shofeṭ, and that of the head of the community, Netanel ha-Kohen b. Elazar. ASE

Detailed but incomplete letter to an army doctor, possibly from his son-in-law, end of the 11th century. Contains many details about accounts, selling of books, the health of the family, misfortunes of acquaintances, and public affairs. The family had houses in Cairo and Fustat and also agriculture land where they kept sheep, certainly for the production of cheese. (Information from Goitein index card and notes linked below.)

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya, approximately 1028.

Marriage contract written by Eliyyahu Gaon, Ramla, probably 1064.

See T-S 12.715.

Upper end of a large deed in Arabic letters in which a Christian sells 1 and 2/3 out of 24 shares of a house in the Rāya quarter of Fustat to a foreign Jew who already owned 4 shares in it. (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below.)

Deposition in the Jewish Court of Tyre, ca. 1028. The rent of a compound in Aleppo has been dedicated by its owner, Hilla b. Joseph, to the Great Synagogue in that city; the sons of Hilla, Mevorakh and Mufarrij, now live in Tyre. They declare before the court that the allegations of a certain man from Aleppo, who claims that the house was sold to him by their father, are vain and unfounded. The brothers insist twice upon the fact that it is the rent that was dedicated. They also insist on the fact that the man cannot prove the purchase, since he holds no deeds of purchase. The intention of the brothers to sell that house is apparent enough, though the relevant passage in this matter has unfortunately been damaged. They seem to be insisting that the dedication of the rent was on condition that it lapses if the heirs decide to sell it. Had the house itself been dedicated, the heirs would not have had a word to say about deeds of purchase nor would the case have been discussed in court at all. As we have it, the story behing the document seems to be that the late Hilla actually received money from the purchaser, but died before the deed of sale had been concluded. The heirs now strive to prevent the man from collecting the rent of the house, in order not to create a legal precedent, and keep the right to sell it at a convenient opportunity. The community of Aleppo probably claimed that the house itself had been dedicated. As to the claimant, he seems to have taken some steps to gain possession of the house, perhaps with the aid of a Muslim court. We have the therefore three parties involved in the case, with conflicting interests. The deposition of the brothers, as recorded by the court in Tyre, is preceded by a lenghty verified introduction, in a very flowery style, which forms the first half of the letter. The first part of the introduction is a eulogy, alphabetically arranged, to the learned people of Aleppo and their leader, the head of the court, R. Yaʿaqov b. Joseph. The letter is written in the hand of Shemuel b. Moshe. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 127-128 #2)

Marriage contract (ketubba). Location: Fustat. Dated: Wednesday, 5 Shevaṭ 1378 Seleucid, which is 1067 CE. Written and signed by Hillel b. ʿEli. Groom: Wuḥaysh b. ʿAllūn. Bride: Rayyisa bt. ʿAmram, not a virgin. Marriage payments: 5 + 15 = 20 dinars. Witnesses include: the Spanish cantor Yaʿaqov b. Yosef; ʿAmram b. Peraḥya; Netanel b. Yefet. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card)

Marriage contract for a marriage between Yefet b. Saʿadya and Ṣiʾa b. Yehuda Mevorakh b. ʿElī (Fustat, Thursday, 14th of Adar, ca. 1020). The marriage gift amounted to 50 dinars, and the dowry to 240 dinars (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below and from Goitein, MedSoc, Vol. 3, p. 403.)

Karaite ketubba (marriage contract), Ramla. Ca. 1030.

Verso: Legal document, on the back of the ketubba. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dated: Last third of Ṭevet 1443 Seleucid, which is 1131/32 CE. In which ʿAmāʾim receives control over her dowry (nidūnya) (except for three precious items (aʿlāq), namely, the lamp and cushion and pail) and frees her husband of all obligations except the me'uḥar. He promises not to beat her and to treat her well, but no fine is fixed for contravention. There is also someone named Faḍā'il b. Abū Saʿīd b. Yakhin ha-Ḥazzan somehow involved (representing her? "al-muʿarrif lanā bihā"). Witnesses: Natan b. Shelomo ha-Kohen; Meshullam b. Menashshe; Natan b. Shemuel. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card)

Recto: Marriage contract (ketubba), complete. Dated: Monday, 27 Sivan 1439 Seleucid, which is 27 May 1128 CE, under the reshut of Maṣliaḥ Gaon. Written and signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Groom: Shelomo b. ʿOvadya ha-Kohen. Bride: ʿAmāʾim bt. Berakhot/Barakāt, virgin. Marriage payments: 5 + 25 dinars. Total (with the dowry): 76 dinars + 25 silver zuzim (dirhams?). Other witnesses: ʿEli b. Yeḥezqel ha-Kohen; Moshe ha-Melammed b. Yehuda; Yeḥezqel b. Natan; Yosef b. Ḥalfon ha-Kohen; Ḥalfon b. Ghālib; and Natan b. Shemuel.

Ketubba dated 15 September 1847 (5 Tishrei 5608) from Tangier for Ḥayyim Neḥemias b. Avraham b. Moshe b. Yiṣḥaq and Ordueña bt. Menaḥem b. Aharon. The currency used is אותייות. Scribed and witnessed by Masʿūd ha-Kohen. The groom also seems to have placed his name underneath. ASE.

Karaite marriage contract from Fustat.

Marriage contract (ketubba). Location: Fustat. Dated: Thursday, 25 Ḥeshvan 1371 Seleucid, which is November 1059 CE. Groom: Yosef b. Shelomo ha-Kohen. Bride; Milāḥ bt. Yosef, a virgin. Marriage payments: 15 + 50 = 65 dinars. Dowry: 535 dinars. See Mediterranean Society, Vol. 3, App. II, 148; and Med Soc IV, IX, A, 4, note 9. The document was subsequently reused (recto and verso) for a densely written literary text. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.)

Betrothal (erusin) contract, Karaite. Fragment (upper right corner). Groom: Yehuda b. Khalaf(?). Bride: Miriam bt. Shelomo, a widow. Although she is a widow, she has a paqid (representative), Faraj b. Shelomo. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Marriage contract for a marriage between Ḥasan b. Yefet and ... bat Mevasser (Fustat, Monday, 25 1345 Seleucid (1034)). The marriage gift amounted to 18 dinars and the dowry to 32 dinars. (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below and from Goitein, MedSoc, Vol. 3, p. 415.)