Geniza Lab

Recto: Letter probably from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to his father-in-law al-Shaykh al-Makīn Abū l-Faraj. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (beginning only). The sender's wife is very sick. He mentions her mother. The next part of the story is lost, unless a join is found.

Verso: Informal note. In Judaeo-Arabic. "O Ibrahim! I found with your son Fāḍil (may God gladden him) one and a quarter dirhams, and I took them from him, and it is in your [...] do not [...] and do not tell him."

A torn and damaged page. On recto probably end of a responsum citing Pesahim 49a, followed by the number 11 which is probably the next rsponsum. This is a query regarding validity of a contract ('her contract') with a doubtful testimony and qinyan. The responsum continues on verso mentions an oath not to testify in writing nor vocaly, and a testimpny given before the oath was taken. The ruling given: the testimony can only be validated by an act of qinyan. The end is missing. Copied by Meir b. Hillel b. Zadoq from Alexandria (Date: 1160-1175). Meir was in contact woth Maimonides, so tis queries might sent to him, but there is no direct evidence for that. AA

Two tiny legal fragments in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe.

Prenuptial agreement in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi (dated documents from 1100-1138). It is possible that the agreement reflects special circumstances: the marriage is mentioned in future tense and since there are no betrothal deeds in which the time of marriage is set, it must be assumed that this is a general Prenuptial agreement. However, due to the lacunas in the text it is difficult to ascertain the exact unfolding of events. The condition which forbids the husband to have sexual intercourse (with his wife? With the servant?) is especially intriguing.

Letter from Elazar Ha-Kohen Ha-Mumhe and Ha-Shofet b. Zakariyya the Gazan, to Eli Ha-Kohen b. Hayyim, Fustat, probably the beginning of the twelfth century.

Letter from Ibrāhīm b. Farrāḥ, Alexandria, 25 August 1056 (Gil). Mentions that Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ (here called Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣāʾigh) has unloaded his goods in Mazāra.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic and in Arabic script. Large and well-preserved.

List of names with numbers. In Judaeo-Arabic. Many women.

List of names with numbers. In Judaeo-Arabic. Many women.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Written in multiple hands, several entries crossed out.

Letter from Shemuel b. Sahl al-Hawwārī, in Aleppo, to [...], in Fustat. (The names are written in Arabic, so the writer's is tentative and the addressee's may yet be legible.) Written in calligraphic Judaeo-Arabic. Shemuel calls the addressee 'my father'; he seems to be the father-in-law of Shemuel's brother Abū l-Faḍl rather than Shemuel's actual father. Shemuel has received a letter informing him that his brother Abū l-Faḍl died in one of the villages of the Egyptian Rīf. Shemuel has no further information—which village, how he died, whether naturally or killed by Bedouins ('bādiya'), where he is buried, and in whose possession are the goods/money (apparently substantial) that Abū l-Faḍl had with him at the time of his death. Shemuel is sending his other brother, Abū ʿAlī, to travel to Egypt and investigate the matter. He asks the addressee to assist Abū ʿAlī when he arrives, so that the family can be 'consoled a little, though consolation is distant from us.' There are surprisingly few words of consolation at the beginning of the letter, but around here Shemuel writes that he and his brother and his mother have all 'melted' from grief, and commiserates with the addressee and 'our sister.' The addressee should send his response to Shemuel's mother in Jerusalem, to the alley of Yosef al-Sofer. There is the customary urging of a rapid response so that an old woman can be consoled before she dies of grief. ASE

Letter in the hand of Elḥanan b. Shemarya (who refers to himself as "Head of the Row / Rosh ha-Seder") addressed to a cantor named Avraham. In Hebrew. Elḥanan invites Avraham to lead the mourning prayers on the following day for a deceased man. (Information from Bareket and from Goitein's index card.)

Letter from Mevorakh b. Natan to Thiqat al-Mulk. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mevorakh describes his financial difficulties and asks for help obtaining wheat. He complains that al-Shaykh al-ʿAfīf Masarra had failed to provide wheat to Mevorakh's family during his absence on a journey (r9–11). When Mevorakh returned, he found his family sick and perishing of hunger (r6–7). (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, pp. 243, 439)

Notes for drawing up a legal document? "The husband: Sahl b. Yefet. His wife: [...] bt. Maṣliaḥ. The property that is in Bilbays. The name of the cantor: Avraham ha-Mumḥe b. Seʿadya."

Letter addressed to Rabbenu Ḥayyim. Letter of recommendation for the bearer, the nephew of the Kohen Abū l-ʿIzz(?). Small fragment. Verso is filled with Hebrew jottings as well as the name (of the addressee?): Moshe b. [...] ha-Melammed.

Letter from Shelomo b. Semah of Ramla to Efrayim b. Shemarya written in his own hand. (Gil) Ca. 1030.

Legal testimony. In Judaeo-Arabic. Abū l-Surūr Peraḥya b. ʿUlla ha-Zaqen Abū l-Munā al-ʿAṭṭār b. Ḥasan makes a declaration and asks for the document to be given to Natan/Wahb b. Yiftaḥ al-Ṣayrafī who is in Cairo al-Muʿizziyya, by the magnificent castles (al-quṣūr al-zāhira), by Bāb al-Zuhūma. . . (the remainder of the document is missing).

Legal document. A large damaged שטר אביזריה (= Bill of compensation), written by Hillel b. Eli (1066-1108). A certain Yosef is mentioned and also a sum of money to be paid to the Muslim authorities (שלטון). There is a qiyyum (establishment) of the bill on verso, but unfortunately no signatures have survived. Judeo-Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic. AA

Letter to the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saaadya. Small fragment. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic.