Geniza Lab

Calendrical text in Judaeo-Arabic.

Document in Arabic script. Needs examination.

Literary text in Arabic script. Astrological/astronomical. Mentions Saggitarius (burj al-qaws) several times.

Letter fragment addressed to Ṣadaqa ha-Sar. In Hebrew (poetic introduction) and Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Late, probably no earlier than 15th century. Only the beginning is preserved. The format is very similar to the Ottoman-era Qaraite letters in the Firkovich collection.

Recto: Literary text, or possibly an amulet, in Hebrew. On verso there is also Hebrew script, but it is completely erased by being covered with black ink.

Letter from the congregation of Alexandria to the Nagid Mevorakh b. Seʿadya, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. In the hand of Shela b. Mevasser. The letter discusses the crisis among the Jews of Alexandria in this period and asks for help from the Nagid. Based on Mevorakh's titles ("Sar ha-Sarim"), this was written after 1094 CE. (Information from Frenkel, where the document is called T-S Misc.27.19.)

Drafts of legal documents in the hand of Efrayim b. Shemarya. In Hebrew. Recto and verso are closely related to each other. The parties include Asad b. Shelomo b. Khalīl ha-Levi, [...] bt. Bū ʿAlī b. Ṭoviyya/Ṭībān b. Khalīl ha-Levi, and Sayyida bt. Ṭoviyya/Ṭībān b. Khalīl ha-Levi. One of the family members (Ṭoviyya/Ṭībān?) died this year, and there was a dispute over his will because the signatures had not been validated in the court. The disputants reached a compromise. On the other side there are more details about the dispute—it concerned shares in a house known as "the house of Ibn Khalīl" in the alley known as Zuqāq al-Bawādīl(?).

Legal testimony. In Judaeo-Arabic. Location: Not recorded, but somewhere outside of Fustat. Dated: First decade of Adar 1453 Seleucid, which is 1142 CE. Shemarya b. Yakhin testifies concerning Shemuel b. ʿOvadya ha-Levi; Yeshuʿa b. Yiftaḥ ha-Kohen; Yeshuʿa and his female business partner (sharīka) in a women's jewelry business (bi-ḥilā al-nisā); possibly someone who died; an exchange of gold collaterals for a deed to a house; and the parties' desire to do it informally outside of a court, against Shemarya who told them to go get a proper document drawn up. They said, "We don't need a symbolic purchase; your knowledge of (the transaction) is enough for us." It seems that they didn't want to go up to Fustat. Shemarya now sends this document to the addressee to make it somewhat more official. Needs further examination.

Recto: Ketubba fragment. Verso: Legal deed. Location: Fustat. Dated: Tishrei 1607 Seleucid, which is 1295 CE. Muwaffaqa bt. Yirmiyya ha-Levi releases her divorced husband Ibrāhīm al-Kohen b. Rashīd from having to pay the delayed marriage payment (me'uḥḥar) mentioned in the torn-up ketubba and all other payments or claims. Signed: Seʿadya b. Yehuda.

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Arabic translation of the Gospel of John, written in beautiful Kūfī script. Dating: Ca. 9th century, based on handwriting. Includes John 19:25–27 and 35–37 (these ranges are approximate; only a few words from each verse are legible). (Information kindly provided by Samuel Bassaly and Peter Tarras.)

Bill of divorce (geṭ). Fragment (lower left piece). Written and signed by the cantor Yefet b. David. Also signed by Shemuel b. Avraham. The location, date, and names are all missing.

Engagement agreement. Fiancé: Ṭāhir b. ʿIwaḍ al-Jazzār. Fiancée: Mudallala bt. Ḥalfon b. Elʿazar. Dated: Wednesday night, 28 Sivan 1581 Seleucid, which is 1270 CE. The name Abū ʿImrān b. al-Tifʾeret appears in the margin. On verso there is a Judaeo-Arabic literary text. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Draft of a legal document in the hand of Efrayim b. Shemarya. In which Aharon and Ḥayyim the sons of Yisraʾel b. Yosef al-ʿAwjīlī, along with their mother [...] bt. Shelomo al-Zawbaʿa, release Abū l-Faraj Yaʿaqov b. Avraham b. ʿAllān from claims (the same Abū l-Faraj Yaʿaqov is mentioned in T-S Misc.25.130 after his death). On verso, at 180 degrees, there is a draft of another (related?) legal document, mentioning Abū l-Faraj Yaʿaqov, somebody who died at sea, a claim on 80 dinars "in accordance with the will of our father," someone being compelled to take an oath, and a remaining balance of 25 dinars. This fragment is uncited in the literature. ASE

Power of attorney. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Location: Fustat. Dated: First decade of Nisan 1436 Seleucid, which is 1125 CE. No signatures. Fragment (missing the upper left piece). Maymūn b. Yaʿaqov Ibn כחללו(?) appoints David b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi Ibn al-Ṣafaṭ (? אלצפט), who is also referred to as a guardian (אפטרופא). This David b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi appears also in Bodl. MS heb. b 12/17.

Legal document. Partnership agreement. Location: Fustat. Dated: Shevaṭ 1404 Seleucid, which is January 1093 CE. Release agreement following the dissolution of a partnership ("shirka") between Yaḥyā ha-Kohen b. Samuel al-Baghdadī and ‘Ulla ha-Levi b. Joseph. A moneychanging shop ("dukkān al-ṣarf") – which was apparently also occupied by one Abū ‘Imrān ha-Kohen – and 750 dinars split between Syria and Fustat, are mentioned. Lieberman identifies the scribe as Hillel b. Eli. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 248.) Friedman ("Jewish Polygyny", 314–19) believes the scribe to have been Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Talmid, based on handwriting.

Legal document. Scribe: Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Talmid (based on handwriting). Location: Fustat. Dated: Monday, 2[7] Kislev 1405 Seleucid, which is 1093 CE. ʿEli b. Yefet Ibn al-Wāsiṭī was summoned to the court of David b. Daniel b. ʿAzarya ha-Nasi (served 1082–94) to clarify the legal status of his daughter Milāḥ. ʿEli, who traveled between Fustat and Ashqelon, affirms that he bought a Nubian female slave named אכתרי (Aktharī? Ukthurī? Akthirī? Ikhtarī?) along with her daughter, in Ashqelon, for domestic service. After the daughter died, ʿEli freed the Nubian woman and married her, under the supervision of the Gaon Eliyya ha-Kohen (who served 1062–83). She subsequently gave birth to Milāḥ, who has now reached puberty. There was concern in Fustat that Milāḥ was actually identical with the original daughter whom ʿEli purchased and who died. ʿEli presents two witnesses from Ashqelon who confirm that the woman had no child when she married ʿEli. They were then asked about the interval of time between the marriage and the birth of Milāḥ, but they did not know. In any case, because Milāḥ was clearly born after the manumission of her mother, the court here acknowledges her as a legitimate Jew and grants her permission to marry whomever she pleases. This is one of the later documents known from David b. Daniel's tenure, and it is one of the handful of documents in which he is titled "Exilarch" (Rosh ha-Gola), none of which are earlier than 1092 CE. NB: T-S Misc.27.4.29 + T-S Misc.27.4.23 consists of two legal documents, both in the hand of Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Talmid, which have been glued together at 180 degrees to each other. (Information from Friedman, Jewish Polygyny, 314–19.) It seems that T-S AS 158.365 was originally connected to the main part of T-S Misc.27.4.29, or at least it relates to the same case; see separate record (PGPID 8366).

Bill of divorce (geṭ) from a betrothal (erusin). Location: Fustat. Dated: Monday, 17 Iyar 4846 AM, which is 4 May 1086 CE. Fiancé: ʿAmram b. Avraham. Fiancée: Bahiyya bt. Yefet. No signatures and no documentation of receipt. On verso there is a list of names and numbers.

Legal document. Fragment (lower left corner). Dated: Av 1461 Seleucid, which is 1150 CE, under the authority of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya. None of the content of the case is preserved.

Cryptic document in Judaeo-Arabic. Possibly a letter or fragments of two letters. Discusses liturgy and the reading of the Torah. Mentions asking R. Seʿadya b. Elʿazar ha-Levi to look after the addressee. Upside down, at a 45 degree angle, in a different hand, there is a date (493[.] AM, which is 1170s CE) and a typical ending of a letter ("do not blame me for what I've written").