Geniza Lab

Two fragment of a bill of divorce, from Fustat, probably from 10th-11th century, signed by Ya'aqov b. Yosef beit-din and Shelomo b. [...]. The wife's name is Ghalia. The husband [...] b. Shelomo. AA

See PGP 24530

Fragment from the top of a ketubba. Dated: Probably [49]49 AM, which would be 1188/89 CE. The groom is either Shemuel ha-Levi "Beḥir ha-Leviim" or Shemuel's son. The bride is [...] bt. Tiqva known as Abū l-Thanāʾ. The date could also be 4849 AM, but a man named Shemuel ha-Levi "Beḥir ha-Leviim" also appears in T-S 13J5.5 (1204 CE), and the name Abū l-Thanāʾ is more common in the 12th century than in the 11th century. AA. ASE.

Draft of a letter written either by Avraham Maimuni or his son David b. Avraham Maimuni (their hands are almost identical). Addressed to al-Shaykh al-Thiqa Hibat[allāh b. Abū] l-Faraj.The draft is repeated on verso. AA

Draft of a poetical Hebrew letter to a head of a community

Legal document. The main text is in Hebrew. Involves Shemuel ha-Levi and Sitt al-Kafāʾa and a quarter-house in Fustat that she had previously sold to Shemuel. No witness signatures on the portion preserved.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic (recto) and Hebrew (verso). From the well-known scribe Abū l-Mufaḍḍal Shelomo b. Shemuel b. Seʿadya ha-Levi (titled al-Dayyān al-Maskil); Shelomo was active until ca. 1231 CE. He has made copies (nusakh) of certain books. He is extremely grateful for the addressee's role in selling books. He has sent several more books with the bearer, including some in Hebrew (perushim wa-baʿḍ lughawāt [...]) and some in Arabic on logic and medicine. Among the latter: (1) al-Kāfī fī l-Ṭibb by Abū Naṣr Ibn al-ʿAyn Zarbī (d. 1153/54 CE) in the hand of Rabbenu Shelomo ha-Dayyan (ZL); (2) A volume in the hand of Abū Naṣr Ibn al-ʿAyn Zarbī himself(!), comprising 3 books: (2a) al-Kawn wa-l-Fasād (by Ibn Bājja?), (2b) Kitāb al-Maḍnūn bihi ʿalā ghayr Ahlihi by al-Ghazālī, (2c) Masʾala fī l-Nafs wa-mā Taṣīru Ilayhi by Ibn Sīnā; (3) two booklets (juzʾ) containing "The Eight" by Abū Naṣr al-Fārābī, missing one section; (4) three booklets containing Sharḥ al-Burhān in the hand(!) of Ibn Fātik. This portion of the letter is torn away around here. Verso may contain the continuation and ending, but it is quite faded and more difficult to understand. ASE

One side: Small fragment of a much larger legal document. Involves [...]ma bt. Avraham. The other side: Fragment from a bill of divorce. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe?

On verso Arabic Astrological text. Above the text two Hebrew signatures: 'Eli Hakohen b. Yeshu'a and Shemuel Hakohen Rosh Yeshiva shel Golah (Head of the Diaspora Yeshiva). Recto is an unidentofied Hebrew text. AA

Bill of divorce. Fragment (lower left corner). There do not appear to be any identifying details preserved.

Legal fragment (lower left corner). Perhaps a power of attorney. Mentions a doctor; Mufarrij/Mufarraj b. Ḍāʾūd al-Jawharī, and someone's agent Ṭayyib [b.] Mūsā.

Marriage contract. Location: Fustat. Dated: Sunday, 20 Sivan 1609 Seleucid, which is 1298 CE. The bride agrees to live wherever (in Egypt) her husband chooses, to observe the laws of menstrual purity, and to free her husband from the obligation to provide her with clothing on the condition that all she earns be her private property. Signed: Seʿadya b. Yehuda and Yoel b. [...].(Information in part from Med Soc III, 455 n. 86 and Goitein's index card.) Joins: Alan Elbaum.

Poem(s) in Judaeo-Arabic containing advice for the lovesick, written as a faux medical prescription. In the hand of Nāṣir al-Adīb al-ʿIbrī. The recto contains a marriage contract dated 1298 CE. Nāṣir made a pair of bifolios by making a horizontal cut across the ketubba and then placing a vertical crease in each of the resulting halves. Probably the upper bifolio nested inside of the lower bifolio, as the lower bifolio contains both the beginning and the end of the text. (Information in part from Cecilia Palombo and Goitein's attached notes.) ASE

Aramaic/Hebrew: probably a commentary, quoting Ecclesiastes 4:12 (recto); Judaeo-Arabic/Aramaic: theological/philosophical text, discussing various degrees (darajat) of creatures. (Information from Niessen/Shivtiel.)

A legal agreement. Yosef b. Zedaqa al-Antakhi is taking responsibility for Ibrahim b. Azhar. Also mentioned Nasir b. Fahd. there are Arabic words on the page on the verso. Needs Examination.

Fragment from the top right section of a ketubah. The reshut formula is partially preserved so it can be dated from the 12th century onwards. AA

A case in which an abused woman tried to activate a condition written in her ketubba as well as a document she had from the Nagid allowing her to live on the property of the Qodesh (Info from Zinger, Women, gender and law. p. 251).

Trousseau list. Groom: Ghālib b. Faraj. Bride: Sara bt. Avraham.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic (and perhaps elements of other languages). Dating: Late, probably no earlier than 16th century. Many of the commodities mentioned are spices or materia medica (e.g., pepper, frankincense, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, chebulic (myrobalan)). Mentions various people with Muslim names (e.g., Badr al-Dīn, al-Ḥājj Yūnus) and others with European names (e.g., Dominguez, Carlo מארי בירו(?), and a consul).

List of names. Communal census? Headed "baʿalei batim." Late.