Geniza Lab

Four (?) court records in the hand of Natan ha-Kohen b. Shelomo. Fustat September 1133 a: The court prohibits Yosef b. Avraham to enter a certain compound on the punishment of ten dinars. b: Contract of rent in which Abu Ali rents the 'empty part and the floor under it' of a house to Abu al-Fadl, his sister's son, for him to live in, paying 1 2/3 dirhams a month as rent. c: Transfer of a debt of 2 1/3 dinars to Husein b. Abu al-Faraj originally owed by Yaʿaqov b. al-Shomer to Makarim [?] b. Yahya al-Hakim. The debt is to be paid by Husein b. Abu al-Faraj in monthly installments of half a dinar, while the responsibility remains with the original debtor. d: An excommunicated person is advised by the court in Fustat to settle the disagreement he had with the provincial community and which is the cause of his being excommunicated within fifty days. If he does not manage to settle his affair he has to pay a fine to the poor of Fustat.

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dated: 1445 Seleucid, which is 1133/34 CE. Bill of release between a woman, [..]ma bt. Abū l-Faḍl Shela Ibn al-Masqī (or al-Musaqqī? אלמסקי), and [...] b. Yehuda. (Information from CUDL and Goitein's index card.)

Two judges inspect together with two government muhandizīn two houses in the Laban (?) lane (near the synagogues) and find that the house of Hibāt & Co. tilts and inclines on the opposite house of Abu 'l-Ḥasan b. Ḥātim (Eli b. Ḥotam). In the hrnd of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe, 4 February 1136. Verso: trials of the pen; in one, Eli b. Ḥotam ha-Levi sells half of a house. (Information from Goitein's index cards.)

A, b, and c of this folded piece of paper contain List. 'Distribution of money and clothing,' superscribed 'The rest through Abu'l-Bayan' (the parnas). Since this heading is not followed by a sum, it does not represent the balance of an account, but indicates that one or more preceding distributions were carried out by other officials. Nine persons receive 5 (dirhams), eight, 3, and one, 2, altogether 18 recipients, all women, except for 3--2 of whom are characterized as foreigners. Verso, four distributions of a muqaddar (an item of clothing; three to male persons) and four of a jukhaniyya. Among the recipients a freedwoman and 'the orphans' of one household. In the handwriting of Shemuel b. Saadya, who wrote in the margin an item of another type dated Tishri (Sept.-Oct.), 1183. 14c, ll.5-6 are in the different handwriting of the man, Elazar b. Michael, who wrote this confirmatory note. Entries marked with an asterisk have a wavy line above them, at the beginning, resembling a sine curve, perhaps meaning 'claimed' one entry on 14b is overlined, meaning deleted.

A, b, and c of this folded piece of paper contain List. 'Distribution of money and clothing,' superscribed 'The rest through Abu'l-Bayan' (the parnas). Since this heading ais not followed by a sum, it does not represent the balance of an account, but indicates that one or more preceding distributions were carried out by other officials. Nine persons receive 5 (dirhams), eight, 3, and one, 2, altogether 18 recipients, all women, except for 3--2 of whom are characterized as foreigners. Verso, four distributions of a muqaddar (an item of clothing; three to male persons) and four of a jukhaniyya. Among the recipients a freedwoman and 'the orphans' of one household. In the handwriting of Shemuel b. Saadya, who wrote in the margin an item of another type dated Tishri (Sept.-Oct.), 1183. 14c, ll.5-6 are in the different handwriting of the man, Elazar b. Michael, who wrote this confirmatory note. Entries marked with an asterisk have a wavy line above them, at the beginning, resembling a sine curve, perhaps meaning 'claimed' one entry on 14b is overlined, meaning deleted

Fragment page of record book, 16 June 1186. Persuing, finding a debtor "beyond Qus," namely in Aydhab

Awaiting description - see Goitein notes linked below.

Awaiting description - see Goitein notes linked below.

Awaiting description

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Court case brought before Shemuel ha-Nagid (1142-1159). Dated: Monday, 21 Sivan 1467 Seleucid, which is 1156 CE. Concerning a disagreement over financial matters between Menashshe and Hillel b. [...].

Bifolium from a court register containing a copy (nuskha; naqalnāhā mila be-mila) of a marriage contract between Tahir b. Abu al-Yemen [?] and Binat bint Ḥalfon whose fathers are both deceased. The marriage gift is fifty dinars and the dowry (partially mentioned) consists of valuable items like a neckband made of jets and pearls worth seven dinars, a pear pin, a shepherd's staff, a choker (hanak) with pearls and a lazam (jewelry worn on the chest) made of gold and pearls worth nine dinars. Written in the hand of Judge Mevorakh b. Natan. August 27, 1157.

One of four pages from a legal notebook containing a detailed query about a case of inheritance, mostly providing details about silk. (Information from Goitein's index cards) EMS Written by Mevorakh b. Natan. AA

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Legal document from Damira, Egypt. The city is referred to as עיר דמירה הקטנה in Hebrew (‘the city of little Damira’). Dated 1158 C.E. (Jacob Mann, The Jews in Egypt and in Palestine under the Fatimid Caliphs, 1:230, 2:290; and Eliyyahu Ashtor, “The Number of Jews in Medieval Egypt,” JJS, vol. 18 (1967), 42) EMS

Medical treatise, mentioning for example drinks made from poppies and violets (Information from S. D. Goitein's index cards and CUDL) EMS

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

A bill of release between El'azar b. Tamim and El'azar b. Binyamin. AA

Betrothal deed. Location: al-Maḥalla. Dated: Tuesday, 24 Sivan 1471 Seleucid (31 May 1160 CE), under the authority of the Gaʾon Netanʾel b. Moshe ha-Levi. Bride: Sitt al-Tujjār bt. Yiṣḥaq. Groom: Netanʾel b. Efrayim ha-Levi ("Ḥemdat ha-Leviim"). Marriage payments: 30 + 60 = 90, i.e., the marriage gift was 90 dinars, 30 accepted at the time of betrothal by the bride's father. Also one golden ring and two silver rings given at the betrothal. The bride has the right to determine the couple's place of dwelling. Apparently in the handwriting of Meʾir b. Hillel b. Ṣadoq Av (per Goitein's index card). On verso there is a document in Arabic script (see separate record). (Information from Frenkel, Goitein's index card, and Goitein, Med. Soc. 3:389 note 14).

Verso: Draft of a petition in Arabic script. Needs examination.