Geniza Lab

Formula for a validation by the court in the hand of Hillel b. Eli (1066-1107), including an interesting addition. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Legal document in which Abu al-Khayr Hananel b. Yaʿaqov releases Benaya b. Moshe from a partnership with Allan b. Nahray, after the former had handed over to him corals deposited with Abu Ishaq Avraham b. Yefet ha-Levi and Abu al-Khayr Shelomo b. Saadya al-Suri (ot Tyre). Dated 1110. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Legal document (written by Yosef b. Shemuel. AA) . Lease of an apartment of the Qodesh ca. 1194 and 1199. A deed of lease is concluded between the qodesh and a certain Abu'l-Surur. The deed is written in the name of the court, by a scribe whose handwriting we know from other documents of the qodesh of this period. It is validated by Shemuel b. Saadya. Abu'l-Surur was apparently in the perfume business, and the representatives of the qodesh wished to prevent the qa'a rented by him from being used for anything connected with his occupation. He is therefore absolutely forbidden to arrange for any reservoir of rose water, or to make any breach in the wall, or to use arsenic or any other drugs whose production entails the use of fire. The verso of the document, written five years later by Shemuel b. Saadya, lists a series of payments collected by him from the same Abu'l-Surur, on account of another period of lease during which he occupied the same qa'a. Some of the payments are made indirectly through a third party. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 372 #98)

Fragment of an effaced court record. Location: Fustat. Dated: Middle decade of Ṭevet 1417 Seleucid, which is December 1105 CE. Among other matters, Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi testifies that Mudallala (aka Sitt Baghdād, as we know from T-S 13J2.14) received her bill of divorce together with her ketubba payment of 10 dinars in cash, and also her belongings valued at 10 dinars. She deposited the dinars with Abū l-Ṭāhir al-Ṣayrafī. Witnesses: Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel, Sasson b. Natan, and Avraham b. Aharon ha-Kohen. T-S 13J2.14 and T-S 10J28.14 appear to be two copies of the same document (Goitein). (Information in part from Goitein's index cards.)

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Fragment (thin vertical strip from the left side). In which a wife releases her husband from claims in exchange for receiving part of her dowry (the items are enumerated). (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Deed of manumission written by Mevorakh b. Natan in which Sitt al-Hasab, daughter of Shela ha-Levi 'the sar', manumits a female slave, named Salaf, who was probably given to another lady as a marriage gift. Dated Kislev 1469/ November 1157. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 138, 433; IV, pp. 325, 456)

Beginning of a settlement in court in Fustat between Wafi b. 'Amram and Ibn Yefet Tiferet ha-Qahal. Dated Sivan 1407/ June 1096. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Fragment of an agreement specifying the conditions imposed on the slaughterers licensed by the Palestinian congregation in Fustat and signed by ha-Ḥaver b. Mevorakh, Elazar b. Shemuel, Natan b. Avraham, Nissim ha-Kohen b. Aharon and Mashiah b. Semah. Dated beginning of the 11th century. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, 227, and from Goitein's index cards)

Court deposition testifying that Naḥum b. Yeshuaʿ Ibn al-Shāmiyya showed a caliphal rescript (ruqʿa mutarjama ... wa-fihā tawqīʿ) to Yehuda b. Yosef al-Rumi to the effect that the followers of Yosef have permission to hold their prayers wherever they wish. Other names mentioned in the document: (part of name preserved) b. Mevorakh; and signatories Wahb b. Mevorakh, Ezra b. Menahem; Shemarya ha-Levi b. Aharon. Dated Av 1052. (Marina Rustow)

Upper part of a legal document. Abū l-Ḥasan b. Abū Mansur al-Kohen, known as Ibn Qasāsa, receives from Avraham b. Masliah and Elʿazar b. Menaḥem one dinar each and releases them from claims. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Release document in which three partners release their fourth partner, Abu al-Wahsh b. Saadya, (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Power of attorney in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe, dated 1447 of the Seleucid Era (= 1136 CE). (Information from CUDL)

Fragment in two different scripts of popular stories. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Bill of release in which a certain Yeshua releases another Yeshua from their partnership. Signatories: Moshe the cantor b. Yehuda; Natan b. Shemarya ha-Kohen; Natan b. Meshullam ha-Levi. Dated Tevet 1139. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Court record mentioning Daniel the Nasi and Hezekiah, Head of the Diaspora. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Legal agreement between spouses on the question of a second wife. Written in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi. Location: Fustat. Dating: 1130–38 CE.

Verso: Letter in Hebrew, apparently in the hand of Yefet b. David. Published by Bareket, Shafrir Misrayim, doc. 24. On recto there is a legal document (see separate record).

Letter from Barhun b. Salih al-Tahirti, from Busir, probably to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1046. The writer sold goods in the Delta area and arranged flax shipments from Alexandria. He is planning to travel to Mahdiyya. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #330) VMR

Fragment of a business letter from Barhun b. Salih al-Tahirti in Busir, probably to Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat, mentioning bales of flax being prepared for shipment to Alexandria and places further on, and the writer's intention to travel to Mahdiyya. Dated ca. 1046. (Information from Gil)

Fragment of a badly damaged business letter mentioning merchandise sent to Palermo and Mazara, some ships, and business dealings with Yosef b. Yaʿaqov ibn Awkal, and the Tustari. Dated to the beginning of the 11th century. (Information from Gil)