Geniza Lab

Legal document. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Uncharacteristically, there is also text on verso, which looks literary.

Letter by a gaon (copy). The original letter was from the early 11th century. (Information from CUDL)

Letter fragment from Yoshiyyahu Gaon to Efrayim b. Shemarya, approximately 1020.

Leaves from a Karaite book of formularies, containing formulae for betrothal, divorce, and liturgy for mourning the dead, for use in Jerusalem and Ramla. The year is given according to the Exile, and according to the Seleucid Era, corresponding to 1009 CE.

Bifolium from the book of legal formularies of Hayya Gaon.

Copies of responsa from Sherira Gaʾon to the community of Fez. Of documentary interest in part because of the ownership note in the upper margin: "belongs to Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq b. Avraham b. [...] b. Yiṣḥaq known as Ibn al-Baqara."

See PGP 23457

See PGP 23457

Letter fragment from Shelomo b. Yehuda to an unidentified personality in Fustat, approximately 1029. Concerning the excommunication of the Karaites.

Ketubba or marital dispute resolution involving a Rabbanite wife and Karaite husband (Sarah bt. Efrayim and Yosef b. Avraham). Location: Fustat. Dated 24 Kislev 1364 Seleucid which is 1052 CE. The document states that the couple was married by means of a "Rabbanite ketubba" and that Yosef b. Avraham commits to respect the Rabbanite holidays. (Information from FGP). MCD.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to the head of the Babylonian community in Egypt, Sahlan b. Avraham, thanking him for forwarding a donation of ten dinars destined for the poor in Jerusalem, and justifying his unwillingness to borrow a midrash on the Song of Songs (Midrash Hazita) from the 'Third' and copy bits out for Sahlan, approximately 1048. Verso: Address in Arabic. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Sadoq Ha-Levi b. Levi in Ramla on Palestinian affairs, probably 1029. He refers to the arrival of a letter from Yoshiyyahu. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document related to remission of debts. Location: Fustat. Dating: 966-1011CE. The legal parties mentioned in the document include: Saʿa[dya], Ishmael, Salāma and Yefet. The attestation section mentions Nathan b. Manasseh, [Samue]l b. Jacob, Munīr b. [...]. The document is signed by Šemarya ha-Rav [b. Elḥanan ha-Rav], who served as the head of the Babylonian community in Fustat. (Information from FGP). MCD.

Legal queries addressed to Shemarya b. Elḥanan regarding marital laws. One in Hebrew and one in Judaeo-Arabic (this one crossed out)

Court record from the court of Shemarya b. Elhanan. Around 1000. A claim by Avraham b. Sa’da against his brother Tabian, regarding trades of small pearls. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #229) VMR

Letter addressed to Yehuda Nasi b. Josiah from an Egyptian community leader, replying to a letter where the leader expressed his intention to visit the congregation. 12th century. (Information from CUDL)

Maqāma-like work in rhymed Hebrew prose by a certain Shelomo b. Yehuda (not the 11th-century gaʾon, as this fragment is probably 12th–13th century), describing how his father Yehuda migrated from Spain to Egypt to Yemen, married a woman in Yemen, and returned to Egypt, where Shelomo was born. But then the devil led the father astray to take a second wife, who gave birth to a son named Evyatar and two daughters "of different religions"(?!). One of the girls died; Shelomo accuses his brother Evyatar of trying to sleep with the remaining sister; both Evyatar and the remaining sister died; and now Shelomo is writing this hymn of gratitude on account of how God liberated him from his wicked half-siblings. Recto is written over jottings in Arabic script, mainly formulae. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Letter from a father to a son. In Hebrew. Sent from an unknown location to Fustat/Cairo. Dating: Late, probably no earlier than 16th century. People mentioned: Shalom b. Pinḥas; Avraham Dayyan; Yoḥanan; Sulaymān b. Qamra; "Doña Gemalya our neighbor"; Ḥayyim Bibas; Yiṣḥaq Neḥemias. The letter contains updates on various items of clothing, a commentary on the book of Job, and 500 levanim (white silver dirham, eventually known as akçe). In the postscript there is a message for the writer's wife (he bought her a shuqqa). This is a long and well-preserved letter; needs further examination.

Copies of two rhymed epistles by Yehuda ha-Levi to Shemuel b. Ḥananya the Nagid in Egypt. Explanatory headings are in Judaeo-Arabic. (Information from CUDL.)

Letter describing the wanton destruction of a community and the ransoming of captives. It talks of Palestine (אר‫ץ הצבי‬) and Byzantium (אדום). (Information from CUDL)