Geniza Lab

Letter from Jalila b. Avraham b. Khalfa b. al-Rashidi, whose inheritance from her late husband was unjustly taken by the local judge and her late husband's creditors. In the letter, the widow appeals to the Nagid, Mevorakh b. Saadya asking for his help. According to the date and the name of the son of the local judge, Nissim, the local Judge was Shela b. Mevasser. (Information from Frenkel; Goitein mentions that the partners bribed a Muslim qadi to rule in their favor. The widow mentions this and adds that she also made an appeal to the same Muslim qadi. See Goitein, Med. Soc. 3:257-8).

Deed of release, in which Shelomo b. Moses b. Shelomo declares that he has no claims against Manṣūr ha-Levi b. Israel or against Yaʿīsh ha-Kohen b. Abraham b. Yaʿīsh. Witnessed by Yaʿaqov b. Joseph, Hiba b. Aaron, Faraḥ b. Muʾammal, Joseph b. Benjamin, Moses ha-Kohen b. Isaac and Shelomo b. ʿAllūn. Dated Thursday, 23rd of the month, 1329 (= 1018 CE), in Fusṭāṭ. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Ḥalfon and Bundār b. Maḍmūn, in Aden, to Sulaymān b. Abū Zikrī Kohen, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1150 CE. Maḍmūn's two sons write from Aden to express their sympathy on the death of Abū Zikrī Kohen to his son Sulaymān, Fustat ([A] 27 lines). They discuss unfinished business of the dead merchant ([B] 30 lines) and report briefly about the grave illness of their own father ("Do not ask how he (my father) is suffering from the strain of illnesses and constant pain," v1) and the well-being of the widow of Sulaymān's maternal unde, the shipowner Maḥrūz b. Yaʿaqov, and his children [C]. Information from India Traders (attached).

Formulary of legal documents, with פֿבֿפֿ written in place of the names. The types of document are given above the text of each, and they include a הלואה (‘loan’), two examples of a גט חליצה (‘levirate marriage deed’), and גט חירות (‘deed of manumission’). Parts of a שטר צוואה (‘will’) and שותפות (‘partnership’) are also preserved. (Information from CUDL)

India Book I, 14: Letter from Yosef Lebdi to Ḥasan b. Bundar, 'the representative of the merchants' in Aden, written in the hand of Hillel b. Eli. There are several indications that the letter was composed in an early stage of the court case between Yosef Lebdi, the India trader, and Yequtiʾel b. Moshe, 'the representative of merchants' in Fustat. An important piece of information in the letter is that on his way back from India, Yosef Lebdi stopped at Mirbat, on the southern coast of Arabia, and from there continued straight to Dahlak, on the western shore of the Red Sea, thereby by-passing Aden (and Ḥasan b. Bundar) completely. Lebdi made arrangements with Bundar that he would forward the money that Lebdi and Yequtiʾel were owed. The fact that Lebdi did not settle his affairs in Aden contributed much to his current conflict with Yequtiʾel. At the time of writing of this letter, the fact that the large shipment of pepper, bought by Lebdi in India, had sunk on the way was unknown to Lebdi and Yequtiʾel in Fustat.

Recto: copy of a letter from Sharira Gaon to Fustat, around 970. The writer asks to renew the community’s support for the Yeshiva. The letter was written soon after Sharira became the Gaon. Verso: an answer for a question about the rules when traveling in a ship during Passover and Shabbat. (Information from Gil, Kingdom. Vol. 2, #24) VMR

Responsa, on the subject of death of either party to a ketubba, false testimony and forged documents. (Information from CUDL)

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Legal document. Record of release. Abū Sa‘d Abraham ha-Kohen b. Daniel releases ʿAbdallāh ʿOvadya b. Meshullam al-Ṣūrī from their partnership in weaving. The terms of the dissolution require Abraham to pay Obadiah 10 dinars. Following the dissolution, each partner is allowed to work on his own in the same industry, both individually and with other partners. Presumably each of the partners committed all his efforts and production to the partnership, to the exclusion of other business transactions, prior to the dissolution. The agreement between Abraham and Obadiah may have forbidden the investment of cash or goods in a commenda. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 157) Goitein gives the date as 23 Tammuz 1390. (Information from Goitein, index card #8555)

Legal document. Court record, Fusṭāṭ. Dated 3 Tammuz 1390. A complaint by the judge Yaʾir b. Avraham b. Yaʾir against Shelomo b. Avraham. Together they jointly owned precious stones, flax, and other agricultural products grown in Dammūh. Shelomo went against their established agreement and brought Yaʾir before a Muslim court, ultimately resulting in Yaʾir taking losses. (Information from Goitein's index card) Written on a single rotulus containing several legal documents in the handwriting of a single scribe: a trousseau document (1079 CE), documents in settlement of business matters, and a power of attorney (1074 CE).

An appointment deed (power of attorney) from Alexandria from the Year 1074/5: A woman appoints a representative who would help her collect her property from her mother and sister. The woman had moved from Alexandria to the Maghreb and left some of her property with her mother and sister. Among those who signed the deed: Shela b. Mevasser, (Information from Frenkel). Written on a single rotulus containing several legal documents in the handwriting of a single scribe, including a trousseau document (1079 CE) and documents in settlement of a business partnership.

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Recto: two petitions to a Fatimid judge. The first concerns the incarceration of the family breadwinner, a certain Ḥabīb. An endorsement fixed to the end of the petition orders his release. The second petition is incomplete (c. 12th century). These seem to be unrelated documents glued together to create a large enough piece of paper for verso (for which see separate record). (Information from Khan and CUDL.)

Verso: Formularies of Judaeo-Arabic letters, including several letters of condolence (one possibly for the death of a female slave) and a letter of friendship (ikhwāniyya), containing many common expressions of affection found in Geniza letters. and Goitein's index card.)

Letter from a certain Elishaʿ probably to Moshe Maimonides (here titled Av Bet Din). In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Maimonides' letter arrived concerning the Sicilian scholar Avraham b. Yosef. The matter somehow involves the Nagid, a group of people from Damascus, and a promise of a sum of money. The sender reports that none of the promised money has been received. He mentions a power of attorney and begs Maimonides to "exert [himself] to liberate the money of these poor people." The last few lines of the letter are mostly torn away. (Information in part from Goitein's index card and CUDL.)

Part of a deed of indemnity. Location: Fustat. Dated: Thursday, 26 Kislev 1338 Seleucid, which is 1026 CE. In which Thābit b. ʿEli b. Yeshuʿa acknowledges that he has received, on behalf of both himself and his brother Yiṣḥaq, the estate of his father from Yefet b. Ṭoviyya ha-Levi the Babylonian. Witnessed by the cantor Yefet b. David, ʿEli b. Yefet, Shelomo b. Ḥakīm, and Ṣedaqa b. Yaḥyā. Validated by ʿEli b. Yefet ha-Kohen, Solomon b. Ḥakīm, Ṣedaqa b. Yaḥyā, Efrayim b. Shemarya, Zekharya b. Yosef, and Binyamin b. Yaʿaqov. (Information from CUDL.)

Recto: liturgy for the concluding Neʿila service on Yom Kippur (צלוה נעילה), consisting of seliḥot by ʿEli b. Amram, in his own handwriting (according to Beeri 2003: 315). Verso: part of (end missing) a beautifully written and fully vocalised poem of praise in honour of ʿAdaya b. Menashshe (son of Abū Sahl Menashshe b. Ibrāhīm Ibn al-Qazzāz), a leading Qaraite courtier, who was kātib al-jaysh in Syria-Palestine for the Fatimids, c. 1020s. Between the lines and in the right-hand margin, ʿEli b. Amram has adapted the existing poem (using its metrics and rhyme, and borrowing the odd phrase here and there) to create a new panegyric (of 45 lines) in praise of Peraḥya, who Beeri (2003: 215) identifies as the son-in-law of the Nagid Yehuda b. Seʿadya. ʿEli’s reworked poem must date to after 1064, when Yehuda became Nagid. (Information from CUDL.)

Letter from Abū l-Bayān either to his father or to a distinguished elder. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. The father is titled "rayyis" (in the address). The rayyis Abū l-Bayān is mentioned in ll.6-7 and may be identical with the sender, which would mean that a scribe is writing on his behalf. The letter is very long and mentions numerous family and business matters. Sitt Ihtimām is still in the same state as when the addressee departed: one week sick, the next week healthy. Another woman ('sittnā') had a brief case of colic (qawlanj). Abū l-Riḍā is still "in the same state" (presumably sick). A woman called ṣāḥibat al-dār sent him 30 dirhams for 2 weeks, and some olive oil, then paid for another 2 weeks (this sentence is not clear). Abū l-Mufaḍḍal is doing something (mutaṣarrif fī nafsih) in the same way that he used to do. The people of Damietta and Tinnīs were apparently clamoring for the addressee's presence—the sender tries to dissuade him by asking if it is right for him to exhaust himself on the nights of holidays and sabbaths just to satisfy others and sicken himself. But Abū l-Mʿālī Ibn al-Qasqās came and reported that the addressee's arrival in Tinnīs and Damietta was a great success. There are repeated references to the addressee's factotum and slave (ʿabd, khādim) Abū l-Ḥusayn. When the addressee's letter arrived about obtaining a (tax?) receipt (wuṣūl), Abū l-Ḥusayn went to the son of the Ṣāḥib al-Dīwān, gave him the ruqʿa, and obtained the receipt, "and later, we will give it to the ḍāmin of the quarter." The sender paid 8 2/3 dinars to Abū Naṣr al-Kohen on that day. There follow detailed and lengthy reports on business transactions. People mentioned: Abū l-Riḍā, al-Ḥayawānī, Ismāʿīl, Kātib Ibn al-Saqīl(?), the sister of Abū Manṣūr, Abū l-Mufaḍḍal, Abū l-Munā, the brother of the craftsman (al-ṣāniʿ), Masʿūd, the wife of Saʿd al-Rakkābī(?), Abū Saʿd al-Ṣāʾigh, Ibn Futūḥ, Benaya, Dhakhīrat al-Mulk, and Sharaf al-Dawla. Some of the commodities (there are also many more which are difficult to read): household furnishings, sugar, clothing, honey, raisins, something which was locked up with an iron lock, something that needs to be weighed properly, maybe hemp, sheep (khirāf), and a packsaddle (bardhaʿa). Then he conveys regards from various people ("in both households"), Abū Isḥāq b. Pinḥas, Abū Ṭāhir, and the slave Abū l-Ḥusayn. There follows a report involving Dhakhīrat al-Mulk and Sharaf al-Dawla, at least in part about a Jewish baker from Jerusalem and his son, working in the market of Ḥabs Bunān in Fustat, who were cheating their customers with bad weights (arṭāl), and who were discovered and arrested. It seems that Abū l-Ḥusayn the addressee's slave interceded with Sharaf al-Dawla and used the addressee's influence to have them freed—but now the Jews are worried that this will tarnish their reputation among the gentiles. The sender reports that Abū l-Bayān has not ridden the mules; that he has purchased a new saddle for his donkey; and refers to the arrival of 'al-Shams.' There are three more postscripts in the upper margin, discussing further business matters, mentioning Cairo and Ibn al-Qāḍī, and saying that the khādim Abū l-Ḥasan has gone to Tinnīs with a power of attorney. ASE.