Geniza Lab

Fol. 1r: Legal record (deed of release). In the hand of the cantor Yefet b. David. Dated: Monday, 25 Shevaṭ 1338 Seleucid, which is 1028 CE. In which Abū l-Ḥasan Yosef b. Yiṣḥaq b. Yoshiyya releases Aharon b. Moshe Rosh ha-Qahal (aka Hārūn b. Abū Naṣr b. Saʿdān) from any claims with regard to books (maṣāḥif wa-ghayrhā) from the estate of his brother Yaḥyā b. Yiṣḥaq b. Yoshiyya. Witnessed and signed by Yefet b. David, Shemuel b. Ṭalyon ha-Kohen, Yaʿaqov(?) b. Mevasser, and Efrayim b. Shemarya. (Information from CUDL and Goitein's index card.)

Fol. 1v: Legal record (deed of release). In the hand of the cantor Yefet b. David. Dated: Monday, 6 Adar I 1339 Seleucid, which is 1028 CE. Abū l-Khayr Yeshuʿa came before the court in the Palestinian synagogue in Fustat and sued ʿOvadya for 7 dinars. ʿOvadya denied owing any money, and Yeshuʿa admitted that he didn't have any evidence. The court declared a "ban in general terms" (ḥerem setam). Yeshuʿa then escalated his demand to 24 dinars, ʿOvadya again denied owing any money, and Yeshuʿa again admitted that he didn't have any witnesses or evidence. He then had to take a rider oath (gilgul shevuʿa) on top of the ban. They came back a week later and Yeshuʿa had to fulfill (istawfā) the oath, releasing ʿOvadya from his claims. Signed by Avraham b. Mevasser and Yefet b. David. (Information in part from Goitein's index card and CUDL.) VMR. EMS. ASE.

Fol. 2r: F. 2r: Legal record (deed of release). In the hand of Yefet b. David. in which Sulaymān b. Yehuda (his name is somehow connected to the name Moshe al-ʿAjamī) claims 1.25 dinars from Daniel b. Yefet but admits that he has no evidence. He relinquishes his claim, and it seems that he is released from the obligation of taking an oath and the ban in general terms (ḥerem setam). Signed by Yefet b. David and David b. Ḥayyim. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Legal document in which Simeon ha-Levi agrees to rent his wife a place to keep her belongings separate from his; Simeon also takes over her dowry without permission. Signed by Ghalib ha-Kohen b. Moshe, 'Eli ha-Kohen b. Ya'is and 'Eli ha-haver b. 'Amram. Dated 8 Tishri 1369 of the Seleucid Era (= 1057 CE). (Information from Goitein's index cards; and Oded Zinger, Women, Gender, and Law, 178). Verso: legal document in Arabic about an agreement and permissions granted of a store to Abu Sa‘id. EMS

Court record concerning the release of payment in installments between Yeshu’a b. Avraham and Yaqub b. David. (Information from Goitein's index cards) EMS

Only the left side of this guarantee for a debt is preserved.

Court record in the hand of Hillel b. ʿEli (ca. 1066–1108). Dated: Tammuz 1387 Seleucid, which is 1076 CE. Location: Fustat. Record of a partnership concerning half a qintar of opium. The participating parties are Avraham b. Elʿazar ha-Levi and Abū l-ʿAlāʾ ʿUlla b. Yosef ha-Levi. (Information in part from Goitein's index cards; Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 262, 582; EMS.) Join: Oded Zinger.

Legal document. Court record (draft). This document concerns the settlement of an account between Abū al-Mufaḍḍal Netanel b. Yefet and Abū al-Ḥasan Ṭoviyya b. Avraham ha-Levi. Netanel brought a court-validated document specifying that Ṭoviyya owed him 65 dinars. Ṭoviyya claimed that he sent the amount via the agent Abū al-Faraj to be sold in Tunisia. It is unclear whether the 65 dinars is a partnership account or a debt owed Netanel by Ṭoviyya. However, that the commodities were sent to be sold in Tunisia suggests that Ṭoviyya has a financial interest in the sale. For the full details of this court record and the content of its final form, see T-S 8J4.14, PGPID 2098. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 177).

Legal deed concerning the payment in monthly installments of the remaining five dinars minus one sixth of a debt of a total of seven dinars. 1099.

Legal document concerning the claims of Abu al-Husayn al-Halabi, who says there are five dinars remaining from the twenty-four dinars paid for a purchase of amber by Abu al-Ḥasan b. Tiban. Abu al-Ḥasan states that he does not owe a thing. Dated Av 1410 of the Seleucid Era (= 1099 CE). (Information from Goitein's index cards) EMS

Letter of appointment of Eli b. Yiṣḥaq Ha-Kohen Ghazal for a position of a beadle synagogue of the Babylonians in Fustat in the year 1099.

Letter from Makhlūf b. Mūsā to Abū ʿAlī Yeḥezqel b. Netanel Dimyāṭī. Accusing him and Abū Naṣr b. Elishaʿ of conspiring to cheat him out of money. (Information from CUDL.) See also Goitein's index card.

Letter from Barhun b. Musa, in Alexandria, to his father in Fustat. Dated ca. 1055.

Letter from Mūsā b. Yaʿqūb, in an unknown location, to Abū l-Surūr Isḥāq b. Barhūn, it seems in Alexandria, mentioning the arrival of the recipient (or another 'shaykh') and a 'young man' (slave, freedman or employee). Much of the letter has to do with instructions for when the ghulām arrives, and urging someone named Hilāl to assist him. There is a mention of wheat in the context of food that belongs to the government. The writer is preoccupied on behalf of Abū Ibrāhīm who encountered difficulties while traveling to Rashīd. Ismāʿīl is mentioned several times. The writer has enclosed another important letter, to a certain family (al-Faṭṭūma?), from their agent ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, and he asks the recipient to ensure that it reaches its target. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.) Join: Alan Elbaum.

Long fragment of a letter mentioning dignitaries and members of the Yeshiva.

Fragment of a letter referring to a transaction involving a house, mentioning a Christian and commenting on the situation of an acquaintance.

Fragmentary letter from the office of Yehoshua Maimonides to a certain Avraham, concerning the affairs of a man, his wife, and a young boy, and mentioning issues of habitation and an excommunication. See discussion in Goitein, "The Twilight of the House of Maimonides," Tarbiz 54 (1984), 96–97.

Letter from Yusuf b. Ḥalfon in Damsis to Abu Nasr Da'ud b. Nahum in Fustat, mentioning business with the prominent merchant Abu Zikri. Dated to the first half of the 12th century. (Information from Gil, and Goitein's index cards)

End of a letter, containing greetings to several individuals including the Nagid.

Letter from Yefet b. Shemuel to Moshe ha-Sar b. Peraḥya. In Judaeo-Arabic. Regarding the affairs of scholars and inquiring about the needs of a little girl who has been sick (ll. 16–18). Mentions Rabbenu Yeḥiel and Abū l-Bayān b. Ṭoviya ha-Ḥaver ha-Kohen.