Geniza Lab

Recto: Letter from a Karaite in Alexandria to the Karaite Nasi David b. Hasdai, concerning support for the Nasi from the Karaite communities in the Maghreb. Dating: 12th century. The letter opens with many very deferent phrases and congratulations on the addressee's recovery from illness. Verso: Draft of a rhymed Hebrew opening to a letter. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Barhūn b. Yiṣḥaq to Nahray b. Nissim, January 27, 1047

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya. Dating: ca. 1030. In Hebrew, with the address in Arabic.

Power of attorney. Location: Zawīlat al-Mahdiyya, Tunisia. Monday, 1 Av [4]833 AM, which is July 1073 CE. In which the Qaraite Abū Saʿd Isḥāq b. Khalaf b. ʿAllūn al-Kātib al-Miṣrī gives to Ḥassūn b. Abū l-Faraj Mahdawī the right to act on his behalf and recover a long list of household utensils, which Abū Saʿd had left with Sittūna bt. Sulaymān b. Hiba known as Sirāj Ummihi ("Lamp of His Mother"), the wife of Mūsā b. Khalaf. Signed by the parnas Mevorah b. Avraham, the scribe ʿAyyāsh b. Yehuda, and Moshe b. David. The validation of the document is then signed by Yehuda b. Seʿadya, Moshe b. Shela ha-Levi, and Yosef b. Faraḥ. One of the legal records on T-S 28.6 may be related to the same case or a version of the same document (Goitein). (Information from Goitein's notes and from CUDL.)

Letter from the community of Rabbanite Jews, in Ramla, to the community of Rabbanite Jews in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1050 CE. In a mixture of Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. Discusses the following matters: (1) praises for the congregation of Fustat (r1–12); (2) greetings (r12–17); (3) acknowledging the letter received from the Fustat congregation (r17–20); (4) apologies for the brevity of this letter (which is at least 50 lines and half a meter long), as the community is being persecuted and the Av Bet Din is wanted by the government (r21–24); (5) reporting that when Daniel b. ʿAzarya passed through Ramla en route to Egypt, they honored him, but they hadn't realized that Daniel had previously gone to Jerusalem, where the Gaon Shelomo b. Yehuda and his son Avraham ha-Reviʿi prayed for him and declared him the heir-apparent to the gaonate (r25–30); (6) when Daniel arrived in Ramla, he "took control" of the marketplace and appointed a Maghribī as deputy; there was a dispute over kosher slaughter, and the community of Ramla decided to boycott meat (r30–36); (7) a new kashrut supervisor was appointed, which was even worse; Daniel b. ʿAzarya gained further power (r37–47); when the conflict worsened, Daniel asked Ibn ʿAllūn, an influential Jew in Ashqelon, to intervene with the amīr to have Yosef Av Bet Din fired and banished. The amīr wanted the approval of the gaon before doing this, so Daniel wrote to the gaon (l. 50), who granted approval. The amir then required further approval from... (the fragment ends here) (r47–54). One of the important new pieces of information contained in this letter is that when Daniel b. ʿAzarya assumed the gaonate in 1051 CE, this was exactly as planned by Shelomo b. Yehuda and his followers. (Information from Goitein's published edition, index card, Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 442, and CUDL.)

Ketubba, Qaraite. he date and location are not preserved but the town is next to a ‘salty sea’ (possibly the Mediterranean or the Dead Sea). Dating: ca. early 11th century. Groom: Mevorakh b. Shemuel. Bride: Sitt al-Ahl. Part of the dowry list is preserved. The bride’s representative is ʿEli b. Shelomo, and Maymūn b. Fuḍayl and his son Shelomo b. Maymūn witnessed his appointment. Signed by: Mubārak b. Ḥusayn; Shilo/Shela b. Mevasser ha-Kohen; Mevorakh b. Yefet; Mevasser b. Avraham; and Shelomo b. Yosef. (Information from CUDL and Goitein's index card.)

Legal document. Record of release. Dating: April 1076. Location: Fustat. Ṣedaqa b. Muvḥar and Shemuel b. Aharon ha-Kohen al-Ṣayrafī ("the money-changer") are released from a partnership between Ṣedaqa’s father and Aaron, apparently at the death of Ṣedaqa’s father. Unlike trading partnerships, which often include allusions to consignments in general or traded commodities in specific in their release clauses, this release includes mention of both bills of exchange (suftaja) and vouchers (khaṭṭ). Apparently the partnership had encountered some difficulties (a "streak of ill fortune" is mentioned). The signatory Yefet b. Avraham b. Yaʾir the Judge is identified in other documents as a money-changer as well; perhaps the court contained expert witnesses who could testify to the probity of the parties in their line of work. Other signatories include Yaʾir b. Elʿazar and Ghālib b. Ḥalfōn al-Zayyāt (the olive-oil dealer), both known from other contemporary documents, and Yaḥyā b. Avraham ha-Levi he-Ḥaver. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 149)

Bill of release. Dated: First decade of Ḥeshvan 1459 Seleucid, which is 1148 CE. in which Yeshuʿa ha-Levi releases Netanʾel and Menashshe b. Ḥalfon. Signed by Shelomo b. Araḥ and Shelomo b. Ḥalfon. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Bill of release. Dated: 10 Nisan 1360 of the Seleucid Era (= 1049 CE). Location: Fusṭāṭ. In which Avraham b. Ṣedaqa b. Eliyya b. Yehoshuaʿ ha-Kohen releases his uncles Ḥalfon b. Eliyya and Seʿadya b. Ekliyya, and their mother Miryam bt. Maymūn, from claims concerning the inheritance from his father or of the latter from his grandfather. Witnessed by Surūr b. Ḥayyim b. Sikkīr, Yeshuʿa b. Avraham ha-Levi, Naḥum b. Yehoshuaʿ ha-Kohen, the parnas Yaʿīsh b. Avraham ha-Kohen, Muʿammar b. Yosef b. Muʿammar the judge, Maṣliaḥ b. Shemuel, and attested by the Bet Din. (Information from CUDL; see also Goitein's index card and Med Soc. section IX, C, 4, note 52.)

Verso: List of beneficiaries of donations, similar to ENA 2713.26; T-S 20.112; T-S 24.76, on vellum, the majority of the names legible belonging to community officials and women. The recto contains a legal document (a release) dated 1049. It seems, however, that the list is older than the document. The beadles of three synagogues and at least two cantors are listed here. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 439-440, App. B 3, dated 1020-1040)

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Prayer written by Ibn Yiju on fabric in India.

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Letter by the Palestinian cantor, Yefet b. ʿAmram Ibn al-Jāzfīnī/Ghāzfīnī, praising his host Hillel, the elder son of prince Yosef b. Yaʿaqov Ibn ʿAwkal, and asking Hillel to come to his rescue after he had traveled to Alexandria, where he hoped to make money with his vocal art, but incurred debts and pawned some of his indispensable belongings. Dating: ca. 1040 CE. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, p. 35)

Legal document: a deed of gift, ca. 1117. A woman, whose name is not preserved, bequeaths a house partly owned by her, to another woman, Sitt al-Dar, probably her daughter. This is a will made "by a healthy person," and therefore irrevocable. As appears from the deed, another part of the duwayra (small compound) was owned by al-'aniyim, i.e. by the qodesh. To prevent any loss to the qodesh, the recipient of the estate was forbidden to sell it to non-Jews or to build an additional floor over it. In case she sold it (to a Jew, of course) the same restrictions would have to be applied to the purchaser. The deed is written in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe; its upper part is missing. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 232 #41) Alternative description: Two legal documents: The first is a deed, dated 1117 CE, in which an unnamed woman gifts part of a house to her housekeeper Sitt al-Dār bt. Shaʾul, and the second is a bill of release. The rest of the compound was owned by the Heqdesh, and to keep the property in Jewish hands, Sitt al-Dār is forbidden to sell her inheritance to non-Jews, and future buyers of the property are instructed to continue this policy. It is also stated that Sitt al-Dār will serve and care for the her benefactor, until her benefactor's death. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Bill of release. Dating: 1094–1111 CE, as it was written during the period in which Mevorakh b. Seʿadya was known as Sar ha-Sarim (this is found in the margin, and in the related document T-S 12.94). (CUDL dates the document to 1066 CE, but this cannot be correct, since Meshullam b. Hiba Ibn al-Shuwaykiyya was still alive in 1091 CE per ENA 4020.47.) In which Shemuel b. Aharon reaches a settlement (ṣulḥ) and releases Nissim b. Meshullam and his brother Ṣedaqa b. Meshullam, along with their mother Bahiyya bt. Ḥalfon, from any debts incurred by their deceased father Abū l-ʿAlā Meshullam b. Hiba known as Ibn Shuwaykiyya ("the little artichoke"). Shemuel b. Aharon’s agent is Yosef b. Ṣedaqa. The document and its drafts are possibly in the hand of the parnas ʿEli b. Hayyim/Yaʿīsh ha-Kohen. There are at least three related fragments: T-S 12.94, T-S 10J5.13, and T-S 13J37.9, which may be a draft of the same document or of (an)other document(s) related to the same case. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Verso: Unidentified text in Arabic script. May be literary. Might be a prayer with an apostrophe to Muḥammad (yā Mūḥammad...). Probably not a state document as catalogued on CUDL. Underneath there is a qaṣīda of praise for God that begins تبارك من انشا من الطين وركب فيه الروح والهوا

Complicated settlement in which a debtor named Saadya b. Yeshua promises to pay 40 out of 101 dinars on the forthcoming Passover holiday, which fell a week after the signature of the document. The balance of 61 dinars was to be paid in 48 monthly installments by 'Ulla b. Yosef, and in case he moved to another city, by another notable. Dated spring 1092. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 260)

Verso: Legal document written by ʿEli b. ʿAmram. Dated: Thursday, 20 Av 1368 Seleucid, which is 1057 CE. A release for Bahiyya, wife of Mevorakh b. Efrayim, of a debt paid by her husband. Signed by Yeshuʿa b. Avraham ha-Levi, ʿEli b. Ḥayyim/Yaʿīsh ha-Kohen and Yefet b. Ṭoviyya ha-Levi. (Information in part from E. Bareket, Shafrir Misrayim, p. 271) For recto, see separate entry.