Geniza Lab

Letter from the 13th century. An angry trader of gems reports that he was forced to provide Muslim witnesses for a Muslim court in Fustat and that his Jewish witnesses were not accepted. He mentions a restriction of R. Yiṣḥaq b. Ḥalfon from Alexandria that one should not make exception to 'gentile manners'. Trade in Lazuward (Lapis lazuli) is also mentioned. (Information from Frenkel. See also Goitein, Med. Soc. 4:208 no. 411)

Legal document. Damaged deed of gift. Faiza d. Ya'aqov appeared in court after the death of her father Ya'aqov b. Shuaib שועיב, regarding half appartement bought (or rented) to Ami b. Moshe אמי ב. משה in Qasr al-Sham’ Hebrew. AA

Segment of a prenuptial agreement, in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi.

Legal fragment. In Aramaic. Portions of five lines are preserved.

Legal document and a marriage document. Damaged fragment containing 3 different legal deeds in 3 different hands, most likely refers to the same parties. On recto what looks like a part from a bill of gift or a will, in Hebrew and Aramaic. Two names mentioned: מובחר and Ya'aqov. On verso two legal documents. On the right side from a legal document of unknown nature, probably between husband and wife. Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic. On the left side a damaged fragment from a ketubah de'irkasa כתובה דארכסא, that is a ketubah written as a replacement for a lost ketubah. Aramaic. AA

Legal document. Fragment (lower right corner). In the hand of Natan b. Shelomo ha-Kohen (active 1122–50). Someone makes an acknowledgment in favor of Sayyid al-Kull. In the missing upper part of the document there was an interlinear insertion reading "all of it without installments." AA. ASE.

A Palestinian marriage contract from Ḥaṣor. The groom is to pay 10 dinars as the “security” of the marriage contract. (Information from Friedman, Jewish Marriage, pp. 316-320.)

Legal document. On verso remains of a legal document in mirror writing - the imprint left by another fragment. Hardly readable. Recto a colophon in Hebrew by Yosef b. Ya'aqov known as Abu al-Ridda. אבו אלרצא Judeo-Arabic. AA

Recto: Legal document. Fragment (upper right corner). Opens with the date (Tuesday the 5th of [...]) and then a long genealogy of Moshe ha-Sar b. [...] b. [...] Rosh Yeshivat Gaʾon Yaʿaqov. Nothing else is preserved.

Genealogical lists.

Legal document. Small fragment from a beginning of a legal document, probably bill of gift, written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi, under the authority of Masliah Gaon, whose name is not mentioned but his father and grandfathers are. It is probably from the first years of his rule, ca. 1127. Elazar [… son of …] Iskandrani is also mentioned. Hebrew, Aramaic, Judeo-Arabic. AA

Order of payment in the hand of Abū Zikrī Kohen. Abū l-Surūr is to give the bearer 1/4 pound pulverized olibanum (lubān) and 1/4 pound שגרה. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Court record in the hand of R. Daniel b. Azarya ha-Nasi. Hayyim b. Harun announces his intention to marry a woman in Sahrajt, but people say that he already has a wife in Fustat. The man vows 10 dinars to the waqf if he is indeed married. People check and discover that he is in fact married; he then says he had vowed 5 dinars to the Jeruslaem waqf and 5 dinars to the local synagogue, but people object. The court believes him, but then he argues that he doesn't have the money, so the court allows him to pay only a quarter of a dinar per month.

Marriage contract (ketubba) of a divorcee. The grand total of the marriage gift and dowry is 39 dinars. Dated ca. 1000. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 397)

Letter of request for help, probably sent to Abu al-Wahsh. The letter begins with words of praise.

Awaiting description

Letter from Yeshuʿa b. Yosef (based on the Arabic address). The sender announces the death of a cantor and asks the recipient to send a letter of condolence to the community. He notes that the deceased's son had not learned synagogue chanting. (Information in part from Goitein's index cards)

Deathbed declaration dated Tevet 1665 / December 1353, in which Yehuda b. Hananya assigns to his wife, Wazira daughter of the elder called al-Udi, the contents of his house in payment of the money promised her in their marriage contract and sets aside money with the Nagid Yehoshuaʿ to cover the costs of his burial and the 'shiva' (seven-day mourning period).

Letter (fragment) from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Yaʿaqov ha-Ḥaver b. Yosef. Apparently end of 1025 or beginning of 1026.