Geniza Lab

Legal document. Sitt al-Fakhr bt. Peraḥya, the widow of Yeshuʿa b. Ḥalfon the cantor, confirms to have received from Nadiv b. Meshullam ha-Levi payments of 30 dirhams per month and various clothing and household goods for Khalaf and Sitt al-Ahl, the orphans of Yeshuʿa, and claims others. May specify the period 1167–69 CE. Dated: 1170 CE. Verso: Four barely legible entries of other actions in this matter. Location: Sammanūd. Dated: 1176 CE. Yiṣḥaq b. Sason signs the validation on recto and Yehuda b. Ṭoviyyahu ha-Meʿulle the entries on verso (which are also at least partially in his hand). (Information from Goitein's index card and CUDL.)

Family letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Addressed to numerous family members: ʿAbd al-Ghaffār, Shuqra, the physician Ṣafiyy(?); Qamr; the sender's sister ʿAzīza and her husband Sulaymān, and others. Mentions Istanbul (v15) and the currency ashrafī (r20) which was first coined in 1425 CE. Many greetings to relatives. (Information in part from Goitein's index card and CUDL.) Needs examination.

Petition addressed to Yaḥyā ha-Sar. In Judaeo-Arabic with some Hebrew. The handwriting may be known from other documents. Dating: Possibly ca. 1100 CE, based on the similarity to CUL Or.1080 J40 and the mention of Ṣārim al-Dawla in l. 8 (a relatively unusual title which was held by a Fatimid ruler in Ashqelon under Badr al-Jamālī and his son al-Afḍal ca. 1090s and 1100s CE). Same addressee as CUL Or.1080 J40 (also a Yaḥyā ha-Sar with some of the same titles: שר בית ישראל זקן התפארה הוד השררה). According to CUDL the sender of this petition is a woman, maybe because of the ברת in the address—but this might be a different word, since the words around this appear to yield the name "Shela b. Mevasser." This appears to be a letter of recommendation for charity/assistance on behalf of a druggist/perfumer from Sammanūd named Hiba (ll. 4–5). May refer to accusations of witchcraft: אלכשוף(?) קד(?) אתהם בהא (l. 5). Mentions Ṣārim al-Dawla and something which the governor of the town said (...fa-qāla wālī al-balad...). Someone is under intimidation (...taḥta takhwīf...).The addressee is asked to obtain a document from the deputy (nāʾib) of al-Muʾayyad addressed to Asad al-Dawla, the son of al-Muaʾayyad. The issue involves a sum of 3 dinars and a period of 5 months. The main text of the letter ends with the motto עתרת שלום ואמת. May mention someone who is 'stricken' (hādha al-maʾūf) in the postscript. Needs further examination, ideally with multispectral imaging. ASE

Two repeated testimonies regarding a commercial dispute which took place in Alexandria. The dispute was first brought before the local court of Shela b. Mevasser. After he was unable to reach a decision, the case was forwarded to Fustat. The court record is written in the hand of Avraham b. Natan, the President of the Court of All Israel (Heb. Av beit Din shel kol Israel) and is dated around the year 1100. (Information from Frenkel)

Letter from Ḥayyim b. Amar Madini, from Palermo, probably to Yosef b. Musa al-Tahirti. Around 1055. The letter contains details about damage to goods (flax and indigo) that were sent from Egypt to the island. The merchants are facing problems of taxes and bribes. The judge Masliah b. Eliyahu is active in the trading matters. In addition, mentions details about goods that are being sent from the island: silk, leather, oil, and lead. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #651) VMR

Letter. Possibly from Naṣr or Nuṣayr (v19) to some dignitary (sayyidnā, Mordekhai ha-Zeman). In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment. Dating: Late 12th century, based on the mention of Abū Zikrī b. ʿAṭiyya who also appears in 1182 CE in JRL Series B 3858. The subject of the letter is hard to discern since so much is missing. However, it is mostly about legal thickets involving an orphan girl, an untrustworthy Muslim named ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd, a dead person, his niece, and several ambiguous other people, how the writer is seen as meddlesome and knows more than he's supposed to know, and how he wants the addressee to intervene, including by making sure the case is brought to court in Alexandria. ASE.

Lower part of a marriage contract (ketubba). Written and signed by Avraham b. Shabbetay. Groom: Yefet b. Nissim. Bride: Sitt al-Dār bt. Yiṣḥaq. Location: Fustat. Dated: Sunday, 21 Adar 1374 Seleucid, which is 1063 CE. On verso of Halper 339, there is Hebrew poetry (written after the document was torn up). (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 47, 532.)

One of three draft versions of a document concerning the leadership of the community of al-Maḥalla during the administration of Mevorakh b. Seʿadya (active 1079–1111). In the handwriting of Hillel b. ʿEli (active 1066–1108). The spiritual leader of al-Maḥalla had left them two years ago. On Sabbaths and holidays, people sat under the sycamores in the streets instead of attending synagogues and lectures. The Nagid Mevorakh decided to send the spiritual leader back after having warned him to make himself acceptable. Cf. T-S 12.9. (Information from CUDL and Goitein's index card.)

Deed of sale given in Jerusalem and executed in Fustat, March 1066. Sittuna bat Yefet sells of a quarter of two shops (probably in Ramla) to Avraham b. Natan. (Information from CUDL)

Letter sent from al-Mahdiyya (Gil)/ Sicily (Ben-Sasson) by Ismail b. Yaʿaqov al-Andalusi to his nephew, Yeshua b. Natan in Fustat, dealing with goods sent to the Maghreb and other business matters. (Information from M. Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 891 and from M. Ben-Sasson, Yehudei Sitzilya, p. 245)

Letter from Isma’il b. Ya’aqov al-andalusi, probably from Mahdiyya, to Yoshe’a b. Natan al-andalusi, Fustat. Around 1050. Regarding goods that are being sent to the Maghreb, especially linen. Mentions severe events in the Maghreb (in the Mahadiy’s area) that happened in the winter before this letter. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #573) VMR

Letter to Shelomo ha-Nasi concerning destruction of houses and oppression of his mother's brother in Mosul (May 16, 1237). Context is likely the Mongol invasion. Cf. Bodl. MS Heb. a 3/24 (PGPID 502).

Power of attorney. Efrayim appoints Abbūn as his agent (wakīl) for his affairs in Egypt (diyār Miṣr). Witnessed by Barukh b. Yaʿaqov and Palṭiyya b. Avraham. First validation by Yosef b. Yisraʾel and Moshe b. Labrāṭ (in al-Mahdiyya). Second validation by Shela b. Mevasser, Ayyūb b. David ha-Levi and Merayot b. Yosef ha-Kohen Av (comprising the court of Mevorakh b. Seʿadya in Alexandria). Dated: 4861 AM, which is 1100/01 CE. (Information from CUDL and Goitein's index card.)

Ketubba for Muʿazaza bat Mevorakh, a divorcee, and Meʾir. Written under the jurisdiction of Sar Shalom ha-Levi (1171–1195 CE) and witnessed by Levi ha-Levi b. Abraham. Dated the 4th of the month, in Fusṭāṭ. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Madmun b. Ḥasan to Avraham Ibn Yiju. Aden, 1133.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 13th century. Addressed to a certain Yeshuʿa. From a man who had ordered for a young boy (likely his son) a handsome copy of the Pentateuch for 45 dirhams, but who has returned it to Abū l-Waḥsh, as it is too small and the letters too minute for the boy to read. (Information from CUDL and Goitein's index card.)

Marriage contract (ketubba), fragment.

Letter sent from Alexandria, in which the writer, Avraham b. Elazar the doctor, reports about the arrival of a ship from Marseilles, containing queries from a distant country to Maimonides, and complains about a new imposition by the Sultan and the general poverty of the local community. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 301 and from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Abū l-Faraj, in Alexandria, to his son-in-law Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Early 13th century. Abū l-Faraj admonishes Shelomo to treat his wife Sitt Ghazāl well, and informs him that Shelomo's aunt (who is also his mother-in-law) is not coming to check that her daughter is well but rather coming to arrange a marriage between her son and Shelomo's niece, because she is the owner of 9/24ths of a house belonging to the family. He opens the letter with his preoccupation for Shelomo's illness and his happiness upon learning of Shelomo's recovery (r6–10). He also wishes a speedy recovery to Shelomo's mother (Sitt Rayḥān). (Information in part from CUDL.)

Panegyric (madīḥ) for a Nagid. Including the line "Be patient with me and do not scorn my verse; I am sick and my thoughts are anunim(?)." There is more Hebrew poetry on verso.