Geniza Lab

Testimony of woman, Sittuna bat Hayyim about her husband, Farah ibn Banuqa who left her 'a widow in his lifetime.' She is indigent because he had sold part of her dowry and pawned the rest, and this was many years ago.

Letter possibly sent from Alexandria to Fustat. In Arabic script. Fragment (right side of recto). Written on parchment. Dating: Likely 11th century. The address is written on verso but is almost too faded to read. Mentions: the wife of Saʿāda; al-Mahdiyya; that the sender had been promised safe passage in a certain ship; that the addressee was supposed to come down to Alexandria, "but if you are living with your wife...."; Jerusalem; Abū l-Faraj; urging the addressee to come down to Alexandria: "all of us to Jerusalem"; further urgings not to delay. Needs further examination

The opening portion of a letter—flattery and praises—for a certain R. Yefet ha-Ḥakham.

Ketubba from Cairo dated 22 November 1822 (8 Kislev 5583), for Khalīfa Pipa and Sulṭāna bt. Nissim Qanini (?). The grand sum of the ketubba is 32000 medins (מך).

Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic, mentioning someone's brother and al-Nezer. The writer then asks the addressee to pass on his copious excuses for not having rendered sufficient service to someone who has bestowed much favor (tafaḍḍulāt) upon him. The margin contains the interesting phrase "I will not drink again except. . ."

Two pages of formularies for marriage-related documents, giving sample locations and dates as Fustat/Cairo, 1707 CE (Tishrei 5468). The scribe uses parentheses liberally

Late accounts in Arabic.

Recto: The first page from an Arabic literary work, copied in Judaeo-Arabic in a late hand. The book seems to be a guide to witty conversation, and it is called "Kitāb al-Dahqana lil-ʿUqūl fī ʿIlm al-Faqhana wa-l-Dukhūl" = כתאב אלדהקנה ללעקול פי עלם אלפקהנה ואלדכול = كتاب الدهقنة للعقول في علم الفقهنة والدخول. The words "dahqana" and "faqhana" are respectively unusual and made-up. It is unclear whether this book has survived. Verso: Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic for deals involving livestock as well as some other jottings in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic.

Partnership agreement from Fustat/Cairo, dated 23 July 1819 (1 Av 5579), between Gedalya Mughrabi and Shabbetay Vidal, to begin immediately and to last for a period of 6 months. They are in the sarraflık trade (בעסק הצירפליק).

Partnership agreement. Location: Alexandria. Dated: 19 Tishrei 5575 AM, which is 3 October 1814 CE. Between Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi from Istanbul ["Costa"] who pitched in 10,000 gerushim, Yiṣḥaq de Curiel from Fustat/Cairo who pitched in 17,500 gerushim, Avraham Cesana & Company from Alexandria, who pitched in 17,5000 gerushim, and Eliyyahu Ayilion (?) from Fustat/Cairo, who pitched in 1,500 gerushim, yielding a total capital fund of 46,500 gerushim (it specifies "Egyptian gerushim").

Recto: Legal agreement between Nissim Mosseri b. Ḥayyim and Yosef al-[...] b. [...], from Fustat/Cairo, September 1829 CE (Elul 5589). The document is mostly in Hebrew but is about al-ḥūjjah (the deed?) for al-vīlah (the house?) and a deposit of 500 gerushim arayot. Interestingly the deed is referred to as "the legal deed that is registered in the jāmiʿ al-ḥākimī." Verso: Accounts for 19 Elul 5589.

Fragment (lower left corner) of a medieval legal document including the names Aharon b. ʿAmram and the witnesses [...] ha-Kohen b. Saʿīd and [...] b. Yiṣḥaq.

Recto: Several drafts of legal documents. Item #1: Legal document regarding a business partnership (but not the original partnership agreeement), from Fustat/Cairo, dated January 1790 (end of Tevet 5550), between Yiṣḥaq Aripol b. Shelomo who lives in Fustat/Cairo and Moshe b. Nehoray Torongi (?) who lives in Istanbul ["Costa"]. Item #2: Drafts of a document regarding a partnership between the same Moshe Torongi and Yaʿaqov Bibas. Item #3, at a right angle: Draft of a betrothal document for Seʿadya Angel (?) b. Avraham and Galiya (?) bt. Ḥayyim Madikhah (?). Verso: Contains some text from a legal document with 5 elaborate witness signatures (but at least two belong to the same person--perhaps someone is practicing their signature?). Also contains an account, a draft of a letter, and medical prescriptions for an infertile woman, all at different angles.

Recto: Fragment of a medieval legal document mentioning 6 cold coins and "my brother Yiṣḥaq." Verso: In a different hand, jottings in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic, significance unclear.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic (1819 CE?) from Me'ir ben Naʿim to David ben Naʿim. Information from Wagner, Linguistic Variety of Judaeo-Arabic, 24.

Nearly complete letter in Judaeo-Arabic to "my brother." Alludes to selling items in the Rif and reports that other goods have safely arrived. Many of the commodity names are obscure. Needs further examination.

Fragment of a legal document.

Letter from Daniel Levi Mondolfo to Avraham Krispin. In Ladino. Dating: 18th or 19th century. The sender signs his name in both Hebrew script and Latin script. He discusses previous correspondence between his location and Fustat/Cairo. Mentions his brother-in-law Efrayim, Se. סיוואיגרו, and Se. טילקי. Today, Yisrael Nunes received a shipment of garments, and he will send what was ordered as soon as the items are unloaded from the ship, along with the tobacco. On verso there is the remnant of a seal (red wax?) and part of the address, of which only the word Rashīd (Rosetta) is preserved. ASE.

Letter, late, in Judaeo-Arabic from Yosef Yaʿveṣ to Ya'aqov Yaʿveṣ (or Yuʿbaṣ?). Information from Wagner, Linguistic Variety of Judaeo-Arabic, 24.

Letter in Ladino signed by David Levi Mondolfo, who may be identical with the relatively well-documented man of the same name who was born in Trieste in 1797 and died outside Treviso in 1864.