Geniza Lab

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Legal document in Arabic script. Likely a deed of sale for real estate. The borders are specified, including the house of ʿAṭāʾ al-Anmāṭī and the house of Ibn Qaṭāʾif.

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Two legal documents concerning the same case. The first is a Muslim legal query together with the ruling/fatwā, in Arabic script. The second is a Jewish court record, in Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: [12]48 AH, which is 1832/33 CE. The legal query reads, "A Jewish woman died, and some man came and demanded a bribe from her husband and brother "as is their custom" (ʿalā ʿādatihim)" The ruling of the jurist Aḥmad al-Tamīmī al-Khalīlī al-Ḥanafī: the bribe is invalid and the husband and brother can demand their money back. The Jewish court record reports that Yiṣḥaq Levi came with a messenger from the Muslim court, presented the fatwā, and demanded a reimbursement from the community for the burial expenses for his wife. The community pays up, and Yiṣḥaq releases them from further claims. The viewpoints in the 2 documents are strikingly opposed. The Ḥanafī court apparently objects to an administrative practice within the Jewish community ("he took a bribe as is their custom"). In the Judaeo-Arabic document, Yiṣḥaq is the one presented as extorting the community with an unjust demand. There are two official seals on this document, the first belonging to the Muslim authority (Aḥmad al-Tamīmī al-Ḥanafī), the second belonging to the Jewish authority (Gabriel Yisrael). MCD. ASE.

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Recto: Letter(s) in Arabic script. These may be copies or model letters. Each seems to contain only the opening portion and consists mainly of formulaic expressions of longing. They are in different hands and are very similar (but not identical) to each other. One of them is addressed to Shabbetay عثيبي(?). Verso: A few lines of a letter draft in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic, a few numbers in eastern Arabic numerals, and some geography homework in Arabic script. "Who founded the kingdom of Babylon? Nimrod. Who lived in Tuscany in ancient times? The Etruscans (الاتورويانيون)." The part about the Etruscans is from one of the chapters of Kitāb Tawārīkh Mukhtaṣar Yunabbi'u ʿan Mamālik wa-Bilād ʿAdīda, printed in Malta by the English Church Missionary Society in 1833 CE (see JRL Gaster heb. ms 2110b/17 and corresponding PGP record).

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Recto: List of names and numbers (written out in words) in Arabic script. Purpose unclear. On verso a list of names in Judaeo-Arabic: "The house of al-ʿIjl ("the calf")... Saʿīd...." The handwriting looks Yemeni.