Geniza Lab

Will of a woman. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. She gives 1/2 dinar to her sister Mukhaddara bt. Khalaf if she is still alive. She gives 1/2 dinar to her cousin Abū l-Khayr, the son of her paternal uncle Kathīr al-Naḥḥal (the beekeeper), who lives in New Cairo. She leaves six dinars for eventualities (nawāʾib). Many details specified about her desired clothing for burial. (Information in part from Goitein's note cards.)

A damaged Ketubbah of Joseph b. ʿEli (groom), dated [...] Kislev [...]. No other details preserved. Probably written by Halfon b. Menasheshe Halevi. AA

Damaged Legal document on vellum, with few details preserved. Signed by [...] ha-Kohen b. Ahuv? AA

Recto: Bill of release of Abraham and his brother [...], sons of Isaac, to [...]. Witnessed by Menaḥem b. Nathan, Abū l-Ḥay b. Hezekiah, Nissim b. Maymon Majani, Yeshua b. Sayyid. Attested by the court: Joseph b. Josiah, Nissi[m] b. Sime[on], Moses b. Joseph, Menaḥem b. Isaac. Verso: manuscript has been re-used as the cover of a book: ופר[...]רש דרבי אלעזר. AA

Letter from Sulaymān to his brother Abū l-Manṣūr. In Judaeo-Arabic. Opens with a blistering rebuke for the lack of letters and the failure to inquire about the writer whether with Jews or with Muslims, then "what I want from you now is for you to 'wash your face with me' by treating the bearer of this letter well." There follow instructions about various business matters, including materia medica (ḥawā'ij ʿiṭr). Mentions Abū Naṣr Ibn Khalaf. Mentions an agency (wakāla). Mentions silk. Asks for two qinṭārs of marble from the maghā'ir (caves?). Greetings to many people, including the parents of the writer and addressee. Regards to Abū l-Rabīʿ Sulaymān. Information in part from Goitein's notes.

Small fragment from the top of a ketubba.

Legal document. In Hebrew. ʿEli b. Ḥasan ha-Levi the dyer gives to his youngest son Shemuel part of a building near the synagogue of the Palestinians. The building bordered on another bought by Shemuel. On its north side, the building borders the house of the Christian Abū l-Yusr. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Deed of gift, signed by Breakhot b. Elazar. The other signatures are not preserved. The parties Abu al-Muna, and Tamim ha-Parnas. This Tamim is known from other document relating to the pious foundations: TS 8J11.7d (from 1182, published Gil, Pious foundations, no. 82) and TS 8J11.7a-b (Gil, ibid. no. 88). In the bottom what has left from the establishment of the deed, only the name Tiqva b. Yefet survived. Written by Mevorakh b. Natan (1150-1181). AA

Bottom of a Ketubbah, signed by Yeshuʿah b. [...] and Saʿadiah b. Solomon. We find here remnants of the immersion enactment issued by Maimonides in 1176. Written by Moshe b. Perahya, who served as a muqaddam of Minyat Ghamar (active 1220-1238 ca.). This Moshe was Abrham Ibn Yiju grandson from his daughter Sitt al-Dar. AA

Qaraite contract of betrothal (erusin). In Hebrew. Bride: Mubāraka. Groom: Yiṣḥaq b. ʿEli. He paid the first installment of 30 dinars at the time of betrothal. Seven witnesses: Bābār b. David ha-Kohen (the name means "tiger" in Persian); Yefet b. ʿEli ha-Kohen; Yehuda b. Nisi ha-Melammed ha-Levi; Yosef b. Yehuda ha-Levi; Shemuel b. Yosef al-Baṣrī; Ṣedaqa b. Moshe; Yosef b. Aharon ha-Levi. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Ketubbah of Meshullam ha-Kohen (groom). Few words from the beginning of travel stipulation survived. No further details are preserved. AA

Verso: Fragment of a detailed report about the colors and development of crops, as part of a will. Relevant to Karaite law for intercalculating a thirteenth month. (Information from Goitein's index cards and Mediterranean Society, IV, 418)

Legal document: will, fragmentary, of the Qaraite mother of two girls, before delivering another child. Concerns in particular her valuable jewelry. Goitein surmised that the document was Qaraite based on the style, the script and the text in the same hand on verso, which refers to the intercalation of the calendar according to Qaraite law. He dates it to the first half of the eleventh century. (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 418, and from Goitein's index cards)

From the book of contracts of Saadya Gaon. On parchment. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Ketubba fragment. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. This portion contains only part of the trousseau list.

Family letter from a brother to his sister trying to dissuade her from marrying a certain man from Syria whom he describes as being 'not a Jew, nor a Christian, nor a Muslim,' and threatening to cut off all relations with his sister and her family if the marriage goes through. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 334, 548)

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic in the hand of an 11th-century Maghribī merchant. On parchment. Fragmentary. One section devoted to sales in al-Mahdiyya. Notes "lil-ṣulṭān, ḥaqq al-ṣulṭān." (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Legal document. Written and signed by Natan b. Shelomo ha-Kohen. Dated: Middle third of Shevaṭ 1441 Seleucid, which is 1130 CE, under the authority of Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon. Settlement between Ibrāhīm Ibn al-Bārūtī of Qalyūb and the daughter of his late brother Abū l-Faḍl who was also his business partner. Ibrāhīm retains his apartment and his store but leaves to his niece and her mother the large house above the store. The assets will be divided according to the deed of partnership. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Two drafts of the same letter to the "holy congregation" about Yosef Saftawi (trader in "safta," it seems an Indian spice) who had been given shelter in the community's hospice after having arrived in Fustat penniless and burdened with debt. He behaved, however, in a way which was an offense to God, to his wife, and his child. The drafts were written on a page which had served as the beginning of a treatise by Avraham b. Ezra ("the Philosopher"), referring to the year 1165/6 [561 Hijri]. Information from Goitein's note card. ASE.

Fragment of a ketubba (upper left corner). In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dated: 1444 Seleucid, which is 1132/33 CE. Groom: Ismāʿīl b. Yosef. Bride: name missing, not a virgin. (Information from Goitein's index card.)