Geniza Lab

Verso: Order. Probably in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu (dating: early 13th century). (On recto there is the upper left corner of a letter, also in his handwriting, with part of his name at the top.) He tells Abū l-Ḥasan to give 'the boy' rose conserve, 1 oz; myrtle rob, 1 oz., and quince rob, 1 oz.

Fragment of a list of contributors, in which at least 12 of the 23 names preserved recur. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 471)

Fragment of a list of donors similar to App. C 1, T-S Misc.36.137 (formerly T-S Loan 137) in the same hand and arrangement, in which at least 12 of the 23 names preserved recur. Most of the few sums extant are exactly or nearly identical with those listed there. The average of the sums contributed in silver in the 2 lists has about half the value of those given in gold. (First half of 11th century) (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 471, App. C 2)

Deed of manumission for a female slave, given by Yefet b. Yosef. Location: New Cairo. Dated: Tuesday, 2[.] Shevaṭ 1341 Seleucid, which is 1030 CE. The slave's name is missing; a large piece from the middle of the document seems to have been deliberately cut away. A portion of one witness signature is preserved. On verso there are pen trials in both Arabic and Hebrew script.

Enormous legal document. Fragment (upper left corner). Very faded. Probably a ketubba (בשעה מעולה...) or replacement ketubba (based on the phrase used to introduce the bride, אמר לנא דסת אלחסן...). The wife/bride is Sitt al-Ḥusn. Many more details could be extracted with effort (or with multispectral imaging).

Possibly part of a ketubba, containing a dowry list. But very faded, and this is only a piece from the left side. If a ketubba, the groom is named Maʿālī.

Ketubba. Small fragment (upper left corner). In the hand of Yosef b. Shemuel b. Seʿadya? Dated: 1508 Seleucid, which is 1196/97 CE. Groom: [...] b. [...] ha-P[arna]s. Bride: Sitt al-ʿIzz.

Marriage-related document, possibly a ketubba,, based on the reference to החתן הנחמד in the last line. But only a thin vertical strip from the right side is preserved, and it is difficult to make sense of everything. Dating: Late, perhaps 16th century. In a mixture of Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions: [Yo]sef Ibn Shānjī; Yaʿaqov ha-Levi; a sum of ducats (peraḥim); and "my wife" (so maybe this isn't a ketubba?). Needs further examination.

Legal document. Dated: [...]8 Seleucid, which can be improved to 14[.]8 Seleucid, based on the 12th-century people who are mentioned, but the decade is still unknown. It opens with the statement that "we (=the witnesses) came to the house of the honorable... Moshe ha-Kohen ha-Sar ha-Nikhbad b. [...]." Also in attendance were Sitt al-Maʿānī or Sitt al-Maʿālī (the last two letters are effaced) bt. Abū l-ʿAlāʾ [...] Yefet. She is the wife of Abū l-Rabīʿ Sulaymān b. Yehuda Kohen al-Sijilmāsī (Yehuda is Abū Zikrī Kohen, who served as representative of the merchants in Fustat and who is the subject of India Book V). Also involved is Abū ʿImrān al-Kohen. What remains of the document consists of legal formulae and references to a sum of money.

Draft of a legal query addressed to Avraham Maimonides. Only the introduction & titles were written.

Legal document. Dating: Refers to a period of 5 years and then to the end of Iyyār of either 153[.] or 1503 Seleucid. So this document could have been drawn up between 1498 and 1539 Seleucid, which corresponds to the range 1186–1228 CE. (This can likely be narrowed further.) Mentions "20 irdabbs (of wheat) at the beginning of every year" and mentions people such as someone's nephew [...] al-Kohen and [...] al-Ṣaʿīdī.

List of deaths in Fustat from the last day of Tevet to the 29th of Nisan 1437 (27 December 1125 - 23 April 1126). By Goitein's count: 41 adults, 18 children, and 6 infants. Includes several female slaves and poor people. Information from Med Soc V, p. 115; Goitein index cards.

Ketubba. Dating: Late, probably no earlier than 15th century. Currency: muayyadi (originally minted under the Mamluks). Groom: Yosef b. [...]. Bride: Mazal Ṭov. In Hebrew, with the dowry list in Judaeo-Arabic.

Small fragment of a ketubba. Groom: Hillel/Hilāl b. Jallāb (גלאב). There is a filing note on verso.

Small fragment of a legal document (lower left corner). Dating: 11th century. Signed by the cantor Yefet b. David (b. Shekhanya), Avraham b. David, and [...] ha-Kohen b. Eliyya(?).

Small fragment of a ketubba.

Legal document. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Concerning the death of Shemuel ha-Zaqen (or his son)—maybe the execution of his will.

Legal document, perhaps a deed of release. In Hebrew, in a striking square script. Dating: Probably 10th or early 11th century. Involves Mevorakh b. Shabbat and perhaps his brother Faraj (last line). States that future claims will be void, "whether verbal or written, whether in Hebrew documents or Persian documents." Similar formulae also appear in 10th-century legal documents (e.g., T-S 16.56 and T-S 12.496, and there is a good chance that other languages were listed at the beginning of the next line of this document, which is missing). The document refers to the Gentile courts as בידואר and refers to the currency טרפעיקא that occasionally appears in the Talmud. It may be the only known document that refers to the טרפעיקא. Between the lines and on verso there is an unidentified text in Judaeo-Arabic that gives elaborate technical instructions. Based on the reference to "distillation" (taqṭīr), these are probably instructions for making perfume or alcohol, or at least some (al)chemical process. This fragment is uncited in the literature. (Information in part from Oded Zinger and Eve Krakowski.) ASE.

Legal document: Qaraite ketubba from Ramla, part only. Yaʿaqov b. David al-Shulḥanī (groom) and Sayyida bat Wahb al-ʿArḍī (bride). Location: Ramla. Dated: Wednesday, 10 Elul 1403 after the Babylonian Exile (= 1006 CE), in Ramla. The bride’s agent is Menaḥem b. Iyyov al-Ḥalabī, and his appointment was witnessed by David b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Kohen, the scribe, and Khalaf b. […]. The extensive trousseau list of the wealthy bride includes tunics, cushions, mattresses, boxes of ḥalanj wood, several buckets, and houses in Ramla, Ibn Ṣafar-Street, next to the house of Shelomo b. [Ḥayyim]. Witnessed by Faraj b. Mevasser ha-Levi, Ṣemaḥ b. […], Efraim b. Yehuda, Yosef b. […], and Yaʿaqov b. […]. (Information from CUDL.)

Recto: End of a legal document, written and signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dated: Shevaṭ 1445 Seleucid, which is 1134 CE.