Geniza Lab

Legal document(s). In the hand of Ḥalfon ha-Levi b. Netanel (identification provided by Amir Ashur). It looks like there are portions of at least three distinct documents here. One is only a formulary (fulān instead of people's names). Another has to do with Yeḥezqel ha-Levi b. Netanel getting involved in the empty silk and dyeing workshop of al-Barqānīyya.

Letter. In Arabic script. Portions of the beginnings of 6 lines are preserved. Moderately wide space in between the lines; lovely handwriting. The sender says he was worried when an amir(?) used something; that someone merited something; and that someone spent/wasted something (rajaʿa aṣrafahu). Needs further examination.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic and Greek/Coptic numerals. Possibly a contributions list. Dating: Probably 13th century. People include R. Ḥananya, R. Eliyya, Bū l-Faḍl, Ibn al-ʿŪd[ī], Farajallāh, and many more.

Informal note from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to a certain Ibrāhīm. Written once in Judaeo-Arabic and repeated in Arabic script. He asks Ibrāhīm to meet him urgently the next day. He gives a location in the Arabic-script version (fī al-kanā'is?). Of note, he signs his name in both Hebrew and Arabic script (Ibn al-Dayyān and Abū l-Barakāt respectively). This should be useful in identifying Arabic-script documents written in Shelomo's hand (such as ENA 3927.1). On verso there are pen trials (haqeṣ ʿaṣel..).

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Impersonal business letter stating that Umm Bayān, who is dragged to court everyday by her creditors, opened her husband’s storage crate and sold items from it in order to pay off some of her debts. Mentions Iraqian raw silk traded in Alexandria, and concludes with well-wishes to Abu Kathir Efrayim along with his wife and son. Written in the hand of Abu Nasr b. Avraham. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:103, 417; 3:246, 480; Oded Zinger, Women, Gender and Law: Marital disputes according to documents of the Cairo Geniza, 52.) EMS

Formulary for a legal document, for an abandoned wife (ʿaguna) to appoint a representative (called אפטרופא/"guardian") to receive her bill of divorce and ketubba payment from the husband who has abandoned her. There are two lines of crossed out text on verso.

Marriage contract (ketubba). Small fragment from the top. Dated: 12 Av 14[..] Seleucid, under the reshut of M[aṣliaḥ? Mevorakh?]. The groom may be Yeshuʿa b. ʿEli.

State document, probably. It refers to itself as a "receipt" (wuṣūl). In Arabic script. Location: Dahrūṭ. Dated: Ramaḍān 533 AH, which is 1129 CE. (Also mentions the "hilālī kharājī" year 521 in the body of the text, indicating that the lunar and kharājī calendars were in alignment). ʿEli b. Hillel (called on recto ʿAllūn b. Hillel/علون بن هلل and called on verso ʿĀlī b. Hillel/عالي بن هلل) makes some sort of declaration about his profits. There are no signatures, but rather what look like validation clauses above and further details below in different handwriting. A total of 10 dinars may be mentioned at the bottom; on verso it says 5 1/4 dinars were received 'according to the contents of this receipt.' There may be a jahbadh in the line underneath.

Inventory of the books of a certain Abū Ghālib. In a combination of Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 11th century, since none of the books listed are later than that.

Legal fragment. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe?

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions a wasaṭ garment; Alexandria (spelled סכנדריה); [not] being able to go out; great distress (shughlun ʿaẓīm); something good that happened (khayrun ʿaẓīm); and noble (jiyād) Jews.

Informal note/petition addressed to Avraham Maimonides. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer asks when Avraham will spend Shabbat in Cairo and when the writer can see him. Information from Goitein's index card.

Letter fragment from an unknown writer to his son (probably). Written in Judaeo-Arabic. The introduction is preserved, wherein the writer says he is proud of hearing about the son upholds his honor (qayyim al-jāh), and the concluding greetings are preserved, including to R. Seʿadya and R. Eliyya.

Letter/petition to a certain Net[an'el]. Written in Judaeo-Arabic. Little of the content remains; mentions household items (ḥawā'ij al-bayt) and the writer's shame.

List of quantities of commodities, including 1/2 ratl of tamarind. In Judaeo-Arabic. Information from Shivtiel/Nissen catalog.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic.

Letter fragment from Yūsuf in al-Maḥalla to the brother of Yaʿaqov in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer requests a shipment of various garments.

Legal document. Fragment: upper left corner. In Hebrew. Ḥasan b. Sulaymān makes a declaration of some kind, with clauses attesting to his clarity of mind (including not being drunk - ולא שותה יין - as in T-S 10J6.6 and T-S 13J8.29).

Legal note. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe? Concerning the merchant Abū l-Makārim Ṣadaqa ha-Kohen Ibn Qasāsa; loans; merchandise; and a partnership agreement whose terms include "a quarter of the profit" and "that he can travel with the (goods) wherever he chooses in the West (diyār al-gharb)." He already has a legal deed to this effect drawn up in a Muslim court.

Letter fragment (bottom part only). In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably c.1100, since Abū Naṣr al-ʿAfṣī appears in Halper 466 and T-S K15.106. Gives various business instructions. Mentions that Abū Naṣr al-ʿAfṣī owes nothing to the sender nor to Ibn Nuṣayr; mentions going up to Cairo; passing on information about the price of sugar (it is "22"); the addressee is to retrieve dinars from a female shopowner (ṣāḥibat al-dukkān); also mentions Abū l-Mundhir and Rashīd. In the margins there is the remnant of an Arabic-script document.