Geniza Lab

Letter from Yoshiyyahu Gaon to the banker (ha-Shulḥani) Netanel b. Aharon, Fustat (?). Dating: ca. 1020 CE.

Letter from Damascus, from a Maghribi who intends to go to Jerusalem, to Avraham Ha-Kohen b. Hajay, approximately 1035.

Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Aharon Sijilmāsī, in ʿAydhāb, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel. Dating: 25 Iyyar [4900] AM, which is 14 May 1140 CE. Yiṣḥaq b. Aharon Sijilmāsī wrote this letter from ʿAydhāb nearly 4 months after he departed from Fustat to Aden, as described in document ח65 (where he is called Abū Isḥāq Sijilmāsī). He stayed in ʿAydhāb for a time before traveling further south (he wrote this letter after boarding the ship in ʿAydhāb). In the interim he already sent one letter to Ḥalfon and received one letter in response. The present letter asks Ḥalfon to help the bearer, a fellow man of Sijilmāsa, with some mercantile matters. Yiṣḥaq also reports on (and curses) two Jews who reported him to the government in ʿAydhāb, claiming that he cheated on customs dues for some coral. One of the accusers later drowned. On verso there are also several lines of piyyuṭ. (Information from India Book 4; Hebrew description below.)

Legal testimony about the custom of the merchants of Fustat regarding partnerships. The testimony describes how partnerships are established. dated to 1141. Signed by Shemarya b. Shelomo, Yoshiyahu ha-kohen b. [...] Yosef b. Avon, Yosef ha-Levi b. [...]

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Sa'adya b. Avraham to Sedaqa b. Semah. The letter contains many of the epistolary motives common to Geniza documents. It revolves mostly around commercial matters and mentions a large jar (zir) sent with Ben Banyas.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Tuvya b. Eli to Natan ha-kohen b. Shelomo dealing with commercial matters regarding fabric and mentioning many locations in the Rif (Minyat Zifta, Sunbat etc). It also deals with communal matters and a pesiqa. Berakhot, [...] b. Avraham, Abu al-Ḥasan Rosh ha-qahal are all mentioned. On the back of a letter there is a large vocalized piyyut.

Poem (a few lines) written by Amram b. Ḥalfon ha-levi. On the same page is also a literary halakhic discussion of whether a woman is legally trustworthy (ne'emenet) or not.

Dowry list for the marriage of Jamila bt. Meir and Netanel b. Moshe. The early marriage gift is 10 dinars. Dated: 1169 CE.

Letter by the scribe Ḥalfon b. Menashshe to his brother in law, with a long narrative about the difficulties he encountered procuring a tax receipt (bara'a) and the connections he used in order to procure it, some more useful than others. Also congratulates his brother in law on his sister having delivered a boy and a girl. (Information from Marina Rustow and from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 22, from Goitein's index cards; Goitein also has an English translation of this, to be uploaded soon.)

Narrow bifolio. One page: Legal record in Judaeo-Arabic written and signed by Natan b. Shelomo ha-Kohen. Dated: Adar 1451 Seleucid, which is 1140 CE. Involving a debt of 30 dinars owed by Abū l-Munā b. Yehuda to Abū l-Ḥasan b. Abū l-Namir(?). Bishr b. Hārūn al-Ruqūqī stood security for him. It seems that the debtor ran away and hid. The brother of Abū l-Munā, Abū ʿAlī b. Yehuda is also mentioned. The remaining three pages: Accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.)

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Yiṣḥaq Ha-Kohen b. Furat written in his own hand. (Gil) 1029.

Letter by Sahlan b. Avraham to Menashshe b. Hayyim, congratulating him on his marriage. Dated ca. 1030. (Information from E. Bareket, Shafrir misrayim, pp. 181, 182, 234)

Petition to Shelomo ha-Nasi from a man whose name is missing, reporting that a pesiqa (pledge drive) in his favor had brought a substantial sum, but more than a month had passed without his getting the money. Dating: Probably ca. 1230s, if this is the Shelomo ha-Nasi known to have been in Egypt at that time. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 106, 544, n. 13 and from Goitein's index cards) On verso, part of a book list mentioning responsa, as well as a couple lines of accounts in Arabic script.

Marriage contract (ketubba). On parchment. Location: New Cairo. Dated: [Thursday,] 15 Kislev 1461 Seleucid, which is 17 November 1149 CE, under the authority of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya. Groom: Merayot b. Ṣadaqa. Bride: ʿAmāʾim bt. Tiqva. (The only name preserved on recto is Tiqva; the rest come from the record on verso.) On verso there is a legal record (written after the divorce) certifying that ʿAmāʾim has received the 5 dinars of the delayed marriage payment “specified in this ketubba.” This interpretation is tentative owing to the state of the document and the fact that Goitein seems to have understood the payment as maintenance for nursing/rearing a child for 5 months. (But note also that the poor state of the previous PGP transcription suggests that the fragment was even more crumpled when Goitein examined it than it is now.) Also on verso, there are four undeciphered lines in Arabic script. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.)

Legal statement, signed by Nethanel b. Moshe and Shemuel b. Saadya ha-Levi, who is also the scribe, concerning a lawsuit regarding a house. One of the parties 'had had a writ drawn up according to Islamic law, which benefited him. Dated Tammuz 1477/ June 1166

Ketubba in a very nice large script, written on vellum, probably late. the bride named Hara. The groom father name is Dunash. Also mentioned Efraim ibn al-Hurmil

Marriage contract (ketubba). Qaraite. Groom: Ṣedaqa. Location: Fustat(?). Dating: 1020–30s(?). Witnesses: Avraham b. Khalaf ha-Kohen; Netanʾel b. Revaḥ/Rawḥ ha-Levi; Barakāt b. Mubārak; Hiba b. Yosef; Avraham b. Musallam (possibly the scribe of the document); Levi b. Yaʿaqov ha-Levi. On verso there are writing exercises in Arabic script (the beginnings of drafts of letters).

Ketubba of Elazar and Sitt al-Sada b. Adiyya, dated 1155–56.

Letter sent by the head of the Jews, Sar Shalom ha-Levi Gaon b. Moshe, to the community of Qalyub confirming Moshe b. Levi as slaughterer, cantor and teacher. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Query addressed to R. Yosef 'the Rav' concerning a case of inheritance. Headed by the unusual בשמ רחמ וחנינא. Involves several brothers, one minor. Quite damaged. (Information from Goitein's index cards.)