Geniza Lab

Four lines of a state document. End of a Fatimid report to do with accounts, ending with inshallāh and praises for the caliph (al-Ẓāhir). Dated: 417 kharājī = 419 AH (dated according to both systems).

Testimony by Nissim b. Shemarya that Sasson b. Natan had deposited with him seventeen counterfeit dinars. When Nissim tried to exchange the dinars the deceit was discovered and he was in mortal danger. Ya'ir ha-shofet b. Avraham quelled the matter but the money was lost. Dated ca. 1090. (Information from Gil and from Goitein's index cards)

Bottom of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Vague and somewhat long-winded. Refers to: "al-nawba al-mubāraka"; sending various things; preoccupation on account of others; something which arrived, which the sender was worried would be damaged on the road, and which he is keeping with him until he can find someone to send it with. People mentioned: the brother of Menaḥem, and Yeḥezqel the cantor. It closes with greetings to Sayyid al-Kull and his son, and to Abū Saʿd. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Halakhic discussion about the responsibility for fire damage, probably from a geonic responsum. The leaf is blank on verso, and, given the layout of the page, this is probably the original responsum rather than a later copy. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document in the hand of Natan b. Shemuel. Location: Fustat. Dating: under the jurisdiction of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya (1140–59). In which a man agrees to repay a debt of 8 + 1/2 + 1/3 + 1/8 dinars in installments. The parties are Abū Saʿd b. Yosef and Abū l-Faraj b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi. (Information from CUDL.)

Fragment of a ketubba. Qaraite? In Aramaic and Hebrew (no Judaeo-Arabic). The signatures of the witnesses have been scratched out. On verso there is a draft of a magical work in Judaeo-Arabic with several lines crossed through. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Letter from Yosef b. Yaakov, probably from Tripoli (Libya) to Isma’il b. Barhun al-Tahirti, Fustat. Around 1030. A complaint about a person Ibn Masis. Mentions the “Ka’id” (the ruler of Tripoli) and it seems that there are good relationships between him and the writer. Verso: a list of goods that Isma’il is being asked to buy and send to Tripoli. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #727) VMR

Beginning of a draft of a court record in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe (1100–38 CE), mentioning the issuer Abū ʿImrān Moshe b. Yefet ha-Kohen ("Glory of the Community"), and the recipient, his wife, Zayn known as Sitt al-Ḥusn bt. Moshe ha-Kohen ha-Sar (her father is titled Saniyy al-Dawla). Date and signatures are not preserved. (Information in part from CUDL)

Alchemical recipes describing methods of preparation of metals (copper, sulphur), how to burn them, wash them, dry them and grind them. Mentions a crucible, a glass furnace (most likely a furnace for the preparation of glass) and qulquṭār (a reddish oxide of iron). (Information from CUDL; see also Goitein's index card.)

Recto: fragment of a document in which the parties are Nabā and Shemuʾel. Verso: part of another document. (Information from CUDL)

Fragment of a legal document from Fusṭāṭ, possibly the acknowledgment of a loan. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document. Partnership agreement. Unsigned. Dated: Middle third of Iyyar (year not preserved). Location: Fustat. Replacement document for a partnership agreement between Abū l-Ḥasan Menashshe b. Seʿadya ha-Kohen and the parnas Yosef b. Shelomo. Yosef was the original document holder, but apparently lost the document. Contains court testimony declaring the terms of the partnership to have lapsed, stating the partners to have no claims on each other following the partnership's termination and release. The duration of the partnership was specified in the earlier document but isn't recorded here. Yosef appears to have been the active partner, entrusted with the partnership document itself as well as the subsequent release. The structure of the partnership is as described by Maimonides (half of any funds given to a partner for a transaction are considered a loan). However, the upper portion of the document is missing and the first few extant lines contain lacunae. Profits and losses are to be divided in the same proportion which the Talmudic and Geonic sources permit only if the partners have other commercial relationships together. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 103)

Fragment (last part) of a court bill in the hand of Daniel b. Azarya. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 2, 715, #390) Verso: Arabic accounts and jottings (very similar to T-S 12.042 and T-S 12.157). (Information from CUDL) VMR

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. On parchment. Fragment (right side only). Very tantalizing subject matter, possibly written on the occasion of a change of government (tabdīl al-dawla). Mentions communal matters and the sulṭān; sounds like a communal letter or sermon addressed to a group, but then the text in the margin conveys greetings to a single person, mentioning names such as Yosef, Shemuʾel, and Elʿazar. Also mentions a man who lost his two sons in the same year. Reused on verso for a Hebrew poem or liturgical text written in very large letters. (Information in part from CUDL)

Fragment from the ketubba of [...] Ṭayyib ha-Levi (groom) and ʿAwz bat [...] (bride). Location: Fusṭāṭ. (Information from CUDL.)

Letter from a merchant from South Italy, now probably in Alexandria. Around mid-11th century. The writer describes a disaster in the sea. The writer started his journey with two friends, against his parents will. They arrived in Amalfi and Palermo, and continued on a big ship with 400 passengers to Alexandria. The ship was forced to return to the land after a storm started but on the way back they got stuck after hitting a shoal. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #815) VMR

Court record, calligraphically written, from a lawsuit about changing the configuration of the main hall of a house. During the dispute a Muslim judge was bribed. The intervention of Shemarya (b. Elhanan apparently), the rav, or highest Jewish religious authority, is requested. Dated ca. 1000. (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 84)

Recto: ketubba of [...] b. Nissim (groom) and Jins (bride), a divorcee. Locaiton: Fusṭāṭ. Verso: title page for laments for the 9th of Av. In the margin is the name of a copyist, Ḥalfon b. Beraḵot, a date, Kislev 1402 of the Seleucid era (= 1090 CE), and jottings. (Information from CUDL.)

Fragment of a marriage contract.

Ketubba (marriage contract) fragment that begins with the clause setting forth the wife’s obligations (to serve, etc.) and concludes with a dowry list. A minimum marriage gift of twenty-five gold dinars is stipulated, and the document contains a Hebrew clause stating that the husband will not be obligated to pay the marriage gift unless he divorces his wife willfully and she is not guilty of misconduct. (Friedman, Jewish Marriage, vol. 2, 347-49) EMS