Geniza Lab

Legal document. Court ruling. Dated: July 1084. Written in the hand of Hillel b. Eli. Location: Fustat. Yaḥyā b. Samuel sues Amram b. Abraham for various commodities (wool, flax, and cinnamon in exchange for silk robes, silver scammony, and saffron) which represent the former’s investment with the latter. However, Amram seems to have placed the items in the care of Abū al-Ḥusayn al-Tinnīsī, who seems to have assumed responsibility for them by means of a power of attorney. Apparently, Aaron sold the items and prepared an account sheet, remitting the balance to Amram, who then settled his account with Yaḥyā. At the time the matter is to be adjudicated, Amram has left Fusṭāṭ and Yaḥyā asks for a continuance. Yefet b. Avraham, counterparty in the sale of a quantity of silver to Abū al-Ḥusayn, also appears in a number of geniza documents. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 110). Verso seems to contain another legal discussion with the same partners over similar issues.

Marriage contract (ketubba) from Ramla, mid-eleventh century, that describes the appointment of the bride's agent. (Friedman, Jewish Marriage, vol. 2, 361-4) EMS

Legal document fragment mentioning "his travel to al-Andalus," various sums of money, a widow named Umm al-ʿAysh, and Yefet ha-Zaqen. ASE.

Legal document. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dated: Tuesday night, 22 Kislev 1435 Seleucid, which is 1124 CE. Contract in form of acknowledgement of a debt concerning the cancellation of a "sale" of a house which served as a mortgage. A certain David (l. 7) and his son (ll. 5, 21–22) bought a house from the husband (l. 10) of a certain woman named Jayyida (ll. 23, 27). The transaction was executed by David's son while David was away (probably on a business trip). The son and father invested unequal shares of 12 and 38 dinars respectively (ll. 21–22). When David returned, he was informed that the house he bought was "donated to the pious foundations" (ḥubisa) (l. 7), or more likely was confiscated by the government. Coming upon this information, he immediately reacted by requiring the cancellation (fasakh) (l. 11), of the purchase, and asked for their money back (l. 8). The course of arguments was long, during which the woman argued that they had fixed the time of remittance 2 years from the day the deal was agreed upon, and that the money was not available. to her at that time (ll. 8–9). David firmly insisted on the cancellation of that deal against a written acknowledgement by the woman (her husband was probably away), that the purchase sum of 66 dinars would be a debt upon her to be repaid after 2 years (ll. 10–12). These terms were agreeable to both sides (ll. 13–14, 16–18), and acknowledged by them. Since the deal between the two parties was off, a compromise (l. 24) was reached and as a gesture of good will, the buyers decided not to collect the "rent" which was the previously intended "hidden interest" (ll. 24-25), but the 50 dinars borrowed. (It is understandable that they were happy to get out of this deal, if not with a gain at least without a loss.) The signatures preserved are of Avraham b. Shemaʿya and Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel. Lines 19–25 are very important to our knowledge about the rate of interest charged in those days. David and his son, by that fictitious purchase, lent together the sum of 50 dinars, which was to yield in interest 16 dinars (ll. 21–22) over a period of 2 years (l. 12), i.e., 8 dinars a year or 16 per cent, which was a very high rate of interest." (Information from Gershon Weiss.)

An individual claims that his house was destroyed and that he rebuilt and renewed its interior and exterior.

Recto: Letter fragment from Daniel b. Azarya, probably to Eli b. Amram, Fustat. Mentions the Gaon's opposition to Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 2 p. 625, #342) VMR

Legal fragment written and signed by ʿImmanuel b. Yeḥiel (active ca. 1231–79). Deed of sale with provisions about the right to buy back a house on(?) a mill on Darb Ḥudayjī (or Ḥadījī). The Arabic-script deed of sale (כתאב ביע ערבי) and a document called כתאב אצלהא were given to the buyer, who will bear expenses (maghārim) for the house as well as repairs. Parties are Avraham and Seʿadya. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Recto: Very faded document, appears to be a fragment of a late ketubba. Verso: Calligraphic biblical text in two columns.

Legal document. Agreements on prepayment of rent ca. 1180-81. Twenty years after agreements on repairs to be made jointly were signed between the qodesh and al-Nadiv, Abu'l-Makarim, we have such agreements now with Judge Shemuel b. Saadya, and three elders signing for the qodesh. These are three consecutive agreements covering together a period of four years. Again, the matter of repairs made jointly is settled. Abu'l-Makarim first advances the rent owed by him for a period of two years for the lease of al-Burj; this compound, as shown by its name, was probably originally some stronghold and was no completely owned by the qodesh. Abu'l-Makarim rents it both as a dwelling place and for the purpose of his business, which is mainly rose water. The first of the three agreements is for a period from June 1180 to June 1182; the third is from May 1183 to 1184. The second of the three is missing, but certainly covered the lunar year from June 1182 to May 1183. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp.314 #74) (Probably written by Mevurakh b. Nathan. AA)

A ketubah dated Tuesday, 28th Sivan, 142[.] which can fit to 1111 or 1115. The groom father's name is Yehuda and the bride is Turfa d. Yefet. Most of the preserved text contains the dowry list. AA

Fragment of ketubba (marriage contract) in the hand of Yefet b. David, ca. 1030. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Ketubba for the marriage of Sahlān and his bride. Ca. mid 11th century CE. Written by Yefet b. David. Signed by Yaʿīsh ha-Kohen ha-Parnas b. Abraham, [Sahlān b.] Abraham Alluf he-Ḥaver, Elʿazar b. R. [...], Shelomo b. [...], [Eph]raim he-Ḥaver b. Shem[arya]. (Information from CUDL)

Ketubba (marriage contract). Location: Alexandria. Dated: 16 Sivan 4920 AM, which is 23 May 1160 CE, under the authority of the Gaʾon Netanel ha-Levi. Groom: ʿAmram b. Seʿadya. Bride: Sitt al-Fakhr bt. Hillel, a divorcee. Marriage payments: 1 + 5 = 6. No dowry. No monogamy clause. (Information from Goitein’s index card.)

Recto: Three lines of a calligraphic Arabic document with huge space between the lines. Mentions the year '44, probably [4]44 AH, which would be 1052/53 CE if correct. The blank space on recto and verso was reused for Judaeo-Arabic court records (see separate PGP record).

Recto and verso: Court records. The entries on recto are quite faded and need examination. On verso, the first record involves Mivḥar b. Ṣedaqa and Moshe b. Moshe Ibn Majjān. The second seems to involve the stake of Moshe b. Ḥalfon known as al-Nīlī (the indigo merchant) in the inheritance of the late Abū Saʿīd Khalaf b. Hiba known as Ibn al-Dajājī. Berakhot b. Seʿadya testified regarding this issue. Mentions the female slaves and sleeping carpets (waṭā) and blankets (ghaṭā) in the property of the deceased. Shelomo b. Avraham the convert was present.

Ketubba fragment (right side). Location: Fustat. Dating: ca. mid-11th century. Groom: Muʾammal b. ʿUmayr. Signed by: the parnas Yaʿīsh b. Avraham ha-Kohen and Yeshuʿa b. Avraham ha-Levi (these two also signed T-S 20.23 in 1049 CE). (Information in part from Goitein's index card.)

Letter from a woman to the Head of the Jews, in Fustat. Dating: Early twelfth century (see explanation below). The writer asks the addressee to send her money for two orphan sisters whose care she was reluctantly supervising. The girls were ten and thirteen years old and had no relatives to take care of them, and nothing to live on. They had been allotted two dinars from communal charity funds, but for some reason (the letter is torn here, and parts are missing) the money had not actually been sent; without it, they had "only enough for a crust of bread." A childless widow who lived nearby had volunteered to teach them embroidery, and the letter's narrator was willing to check in on them once in a while. But she refused to take them into her household, even though the girls themselves wanted her to: "They constantly tell me, 'We want to come to you so that you can take care of us.' She asked the Head of the Jews instead to provide the two dinars that the girls had been promised, along with extra funds to rent them a living space and to hire a religious steacher who could "teach them prayer, so they will not grow up like animals, not knowing shemaʿ yisra'el." Eve Krakowski, Coming of Age in Medieval Egypt, p.1. Regarding the date: "The time of the document can be defined approximately by the mention of al-haver Ibn al-Kāmukhi, the member of the yeshiva bearing a family name derived from the profession of kāmukhī, preparer of preserves with vinegar sauce. Two such persons are known, onel iving at the time of the Nagid Mevorakh, around 1095, and another during the incumbency of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya around 1145. The script of the letter would fit either of the two dates, better perhaps the latter." Goitein, "Side Lights on Jewish Education," p. 88 (doc. 3).

Marriage contract in which the bridegroom promises to feed and clothe the son of his future wife, a divorcee, to let him learn a craft, and never to punish him physically or hurt him with words. Written by a Palestinian scribe in Minyat Zifta on 24 Av 1421/13 August 1110. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 191) On verso: Hebrew poems.

Letter from a woman, probably in Alexandria, to her paternal uncle. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1030 CE. The writer's family, a family of merchants that had emigrated from the Maghreb, has been left without any males (l. 9) after the death of both the writer’s father (l. 3) and grandfather (l. 4). The writer describes the wretched state of the family. She fears that her mother will fall sick from severe grief: "she has no eye or body left," and she is either literally or practically fainting from her excessive weeping (ll. 6–7). They are worried that their property will be confiscated when the government finds out that there is no man in the family. She appeals to the uncle to help them. Despite the difficulties, she also mentions that the family has received a shipment of merchandise. On verso there is incidentally a note in Judaeo-Arabic about the hafara for Ha'azinu (but no address or continuation of the letter on recto). (Information in part from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #227.) VMR. ASE.

Deed of release (שטר אביזאריה/פיצוי). Location: Almost certainly Fustat (and not Tiberias as Gil suggested). Dating: Late 10th century. Concerning property in Tiberias. A man releases his father's partner, Moshe b. Shemuel b. Sahl, from all claims. Witnesses: Yosef b. Seʿadel; Ḥashmonay b. Avraham; [...] b. Ḥasan; Fashshāṭ b. Shemuel; and Efrayim b. Ṣadoq. (Information from Gil and Friedman.)