Geniza Lab

Legal document concerning inheritance issues of Jamīla, mother of Abraham and Elijah Levi, who converted to Islam and married Ḥasan al-Sharqāwī. C. 18th century. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Letter, written on red paper by Daniel b. Azarya's assistant (According to Goitein). Verso: Draft of poetry, with a citation from Psalms 33:11. VMR

Account for Nisan and Iyyar 1494 sel. ca. 1183. The revenue from only eleven apartments and compounds of the qodesh for two months is listed in the first part of this document. The total is 352.5 dirhams. For some reason, Abu'l-Bayan collected the rent from only half of the usual number of houses. There follows a list of expenditures, including the usual items, which total 125.75 dirhams. There is also a list of payments received by the qodesh from Abu'l-Bayan (some of them through the beadle, Makhfuz). (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 337-338 #84). The scribe is Shmuel b. Sa'adya Halevi (Date: 1163-1204)

Contract of debt in which Mufaḍḍal b. [...] ha-Kohen acknowledges that he owes a sum of money to someone. (Dating: 13th century. Probably written by Halfon b. El'azar. AA) Previous description on PGP, which refers to an unknown shelfmark: Document to collect the ketubba (marriage contract or payment after divorce) belonging to Sitt al-Bayt, bt. Aharon al-Tājir; 1565 CE. (Shimon Shtuber, Sefer Divrei Yosef, 404.) VMR

Court record concerning financial matters between Munajjā and Abū l-Surūr. Dated 49[..] of the Era of Creation and [..]25 Era of documents. so it is 1214 CE. AA Information from CUDL. (Previous description, referring to an unknown shelfmark: Verso: draft of poetry, with a citation from Psalms 33:11. VMR)

Account for Elul 1494 and Tishri 1495 sel. ca. 1183. This document contains the last part of the expenditures for Elul. Then additional revenue from rent for the month of Tishri is listed. Here we have 24 items, totaling 174.5 dirhams. Afterwards, we find the usual additional expenditures for the same month, among them some sums paid in advance for the following one, Marheshwan. The accounting contains relatively high sums spent for making travel arrangements for the widow of the Nasi. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 347 #88). (Written by Shmuel b. Sa'adya Halevi. AA)

Deposition in court by a woman that had sold her book to her former husband for thirty dinars and that her two sons had no right on them. The sale was confirmed by her second husband, a Kohen. VMR (Written by Shmuel b. Sa'adya Halevi [Date: 1163-1204]. AA)

Account for Nisan and Iyyar 1493 sel. ca. 1182. This account deals with another part of the qodesh estates and the names of the 12 apartments and compounds in it differ from the ones in the previous accounts. The total revenue from these apartments, for two months, is 372.25 dirhams. There are two different categories of expenditures; a) the usual items whose purpose is specified, and b) major sums deposited with the parnas himself, and a certain Abu'l-Makhasin, apparently the beadle of the Synagogue of the Babylonians. Whereas the revenue total accords with the sum of the items listed, there is no way to check the total of the expenditures; apparently only some of the operations are noted on this sheet. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 332 #82). Written by Shmuel b. Sa'adya Halevi (Date: 1163-1204). AA

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card. See also separate entries (with Gil's editions).

Recto: Deed of sale of a house bought by Mufaddal. The house had been split into two apartments by the buyer. The description of the boundaries of the house is inserted in Judaeo-Arabic (it appears the writer left space for it). (Goitein estimation: handwriting by Imanuel b. Yehiel, around 1250) VMR Verso: Jottings in Arabic and Hebrew script. (Information from CUDL)

Statement about money due of a Parnas, ca. 1151. The parnas Abu Sa'd b. Hatim was in charge of the collection of rent from the "Estate of the Jerusalemites." The monthly sum was 118 dir. He also was in charge of the collection from another place, whose name is lost, the monthly sum there being 110 dir. The document seems to be a hawala from this parnas to Abu'l-Khayr al-parnas, (known as al-Sayrafi, the banker); three members of the court signed it, apparently after the sum was cashed in. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 264 #51)

Statement about the debt of a Parnas, ca. 1151. Written on the verso of the previous statement, apparently as part of a current recording of the pecuniary rights and obligations of the same parnas as regards the qodesh, this statement confirms a debt owed to him by the latter. The upper part is a confirmation of 209.75 dir. due him for repairs in the Estate of the Jerusalemites, and 230 dir. for a banker's note which he presented. The other part is a declaraion by another elder, Yosef, testifying that the sum mentioned as having been spent for repairs is correct, except for 13 dir. that were spent on removal of garbage. Both parts are duly signed by members of the court. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 265 #52)

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Deed of manumission of a female slave. Location: New Cairo. Dated: Wednesday, 18 Sivan 1421 Seleucid, which is 1110 CE. The owner's name is Ṭoviyya b. Yefet the physician. The slave's name is Thabāt, from the land of Greece (מארץ יון). The document is written, signed and witnessed by Avraham b. Natan Av Bet Din and Avraham b. Ḥalfon b. Avraham at the foot of recto and again on verso (attesting that the bill was given to her). (Information in part from CUDL.) VMR. ASE.

Deed of emancipation. Avraham b. Aharon frees his slave Nasiyya ('Youth') on Friday, October 8, 1176, Cairo. VMR Written by Mevotakh b. Natan. AA

Deed of manumission in which three daughters emancipate a female slave, Wafa, from Jan. 20, 1181. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:436; 2:449) EMS. Written by Mevorakh b. Natan. AA

Recto: Deed of manumission for a slave. Fragment, with a note in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic underneath.. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:436) EMS Verso: Short note in Judaeo-Arabic concerning a book. Two individuals, Yeshu'a and Rabbi Yosef, are mentioned. (Information from CUDL)

Letter on the topic of friendship between two educated young men. In Judaeo-Arabic, possibly with influence from Judaeo-Persian in the iḍāfa constructions, as ציק אלצדר is spelled ציק יצדר and גמיע אלצביאן is spelled גמיע יצביאן. Goitein's translation: "I do not enjoy life without you. By God! Have compassion with my loneliness, weakness, and constrained heart, and, by God, satiate me with looks at you before I die. So, do not absent yourself longer than you have done. For things between you and me have not been like this before. Of all the young men who have been with you, not one of them has mentioned a word you might have said about me, which saddened my heart. So, as soon as you have read this letter, send me one, telling me how you are. And Peace." It is also entirely possible that this is a parent writing to a son. The tone is more admonitory than Goitein's discussion implies. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 5:285, 586, and CUDL) EMS. ASE.

Verso: list of household expenses in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals, mentioning types of oil, soap, camphor, and green lemon; payments to a laborer; and a visit to the bathhouse. For other lists of this type see Med. Soc IV, pp. 230–34.

Polite but firm note to a scholar to send two dirhams, which he owes for the price of a book. (Information from Goitein's index cards) EMS