Geniza Lab

Legal document. Record of release; partnership renewal. Written in the hand of Hillel b. ʿEli. These two fragments are part of single document, which contained a partnership release (T-S 16.23) and renewal (lines 23-39 of T-S 16.23; and T-S 10J5.2). Amat al-Qādir, widow of Shela, and her son Yefet (likely a minor), release ʿArūs b. Yosef from a partnership he had with Shela. Shela’s investment of three hundred dinars is to remain on account with ʿArūs. Amat al-Qādir seems to be acting as trustee for her son, but also seems to have a financial interest in the partnership; since she would not have ordinarily inherited from her husband, her equity in the partnership may represent payment of her ketubba. The widow and son are to receive two thirds of the profits from the investment, and ʿArūs is to receive the balance "as a claim for his service". Following the commenda model, ʿArūs assumes no responsibility for loss. Yefet is to travel between Fusṭāṭ and Yemen with the funds and has discretion in choosing the commodities he trades; he promises that he will work "with caution ... as if [he] were working with [his] own assets." (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 122)

Large fragmentary list of ca. 70 men; possibly people who are unable to pay the capitation tax. Many individuals are mentioned together with their brothers and sons. One individual is listed together with his workmen. Names include Mufaḍḍal b. Hillel, Mufaḍḍal al-Naqūsh, Saʿīd b. Shemuel and his son, Manṣūr b. Hiba, Muḥāssan al-Tabāk, Būnṣar Ibn al-Ḥūsh, Sūlīm b. Yosef, [..]m b. Sanīṭ, Yaʿaqov al-Maghribī and Surūr al-Khurasānī. (Information from CUDL; see also Goitein's index card.)

Letter in which a Naib of Alexandria in the days of Saladin reports to the Nagid of Alexandria of two cases he took care of. The first a case of a Jew who publicly offended the religion and was punished by the Muslim authorities. After deliberating whether to bring the case to the qadi or the wali, the writer sent a secret message to the muhtasib (to whom he was not personally known) asking that the offender be lightly punished. The muhtasib then had the offender brought before the wali, who ruled that the man should be publicly flogged. He was then dragged around Qamra, a Jewish quarter of Alexandria, while the wali's messengers announced his crimes against religion to the public.The second the matter of two brothers who pressured, through threats and blackmail, the previous fiance of one of them not to engage to someone else. The letter reflects the organization of authority and management in the city. (Information from Frenkel and CUDL)

Partly preserved calligraphic letter, reporting about the recipient's sheep, colocasia and other products. (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 440)

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Fragment (long vertical strip from the middle of the document). Dating: ca. 1135 CE, according to CUDL. Settlement about the cost of medical treatment for a young wife. Names mentioned: Abū l-Riḍā M[...], Abū l-Faraj Netanel, and Abū Saʿīd (the husband). Involves a ketubba payment of 100 dinars and a dowry of 50 dinars; possibly the husband agrees to pay for the treatment and in return the ketubba payment will be reduced by half. But many key details are missing. (Information in part from CUDL and Goitein's index card.)

Last few lines of a legal document, containing an attestation from the Bet Din. Date and location are not preserved, but the witnesses are Yaʿaqov b. Abraham, Nathan b. Shemuʾel he-Ḥaver, and Moses b. Shelomo, placing it in Fusṭāṭ in the second quarter of the 12th century. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Yehuda ha-Kohen b. Yosef to the fifth in the Yeshiva, probably 1064. The writer strongly advises against travel to a distant land (possibly Germany) that would take 3 years to reach, and warns that the Jewish scholars in that place were no better than local scholars. Moreover, they speak a barbaric language and have rude manners. The local Jewish community also limited traveling businessmen to a stay of no more than one month (ḥerem ha-yishuv). (Information from CUDL)

Fragment of a Karaite marriage contract of the groom Mevorakh b. Yahya and the bride Mubaraka, containing the trousseau. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Incomplete calligraphic letter. The writer expresses grief over the death of his brother, Abu al-Faraj b. Yosef, who was perhaps an employee of the addressee's father, and requests details about the deathbed declaration. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Middle fragment of a legal document, written by judge Meir b. Hillel b. Sadoq Av. A widow, Sitt A'da'ha daughter of Hillel ha-Kohen, releases a debtor of her late husband, after having received from him 31 dinars. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 336, 502)

Notes recording debts in Judaeo-Arabic. (Information from Goitein's index cards and CUDL)

Marriage contract, fragmentary and damaged, in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe, in the later period of his activity as scribe (dated documents: 1100-1138), in which an Indian female slave worth 20 dinars formed part of a dowry. (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, pp. 325, 326, 456)

Left side of a Hebrew release for an Avraham b. Yaʿaqov. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Shela b. Mevasser to the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saadya. Shela mentions complaints and rumors spread about him. He asks the Nagid to act against two silk dyers who have been troubling his brothers, Shealtiel and Yosef. Written after the year 1094. (Information from Frenkel. See additional information in Cohen, Self-Government, 150, 250, 256 and 268. Cohen: Letter from Shela b. Mevasser (Alexandria) to Mevorakh b. Saadya reporting on local affairs. The local community was happy to hear that the Nagid and his son would be joining the Fustat elders on the upcoming holidays, and the writer led the community in prayer thanking God for this. The writer bemoans the fact that he has been maligned by someone. He reports about his two brothers, Shealtiel and Yosef, silk dyers, who for years have been favored by the authorities on account of the Nagid and who bear some communal responsibilities; for the past three years they have been vexed by two Shamiyyun.

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Letter addressed to a jurisconsult, containing six questions with the answers on the reverse side. One of the questions deals with a father who died after having fulfilled his paternal obligations toward his daughter and firstborn, but before he was able to provide similarly for his 3 younger children. Another question is whether a man, vowing a gift 'to the poor in general' has fulfilled his pledge by distributing gifts to a number of indigent individuals. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 244, 479)

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Legal document written by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe dealing with an oath. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 601, and from Goitein's index cards)

Letter by Hibat Allah b. Khalaf al-Hamawi to Barakāt b. Khulayf, complaining that he couldn't sell the resin and mentioning a transport by the ship of al-Harbi, apparently a Christian from a Christian land. Dated May 1037. (Information from M. Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 118)

Marriage contract, fragment. Location: Fustat. Dated: Tuesday, 13 Nisan 1326 Seleucid, which is 1015 CE. Groom: Ghulayb. Bride: Mu'ammala, virgin.