Geniza Lab

Letter of Eliyyahu ha-Kohen Gaon b. Shelomo, probably from Tyre. Ca. 1080

Recto with continuation on verso: Legal document in Hebrew. In which the brothers Yefet, Mevorakh and Yosef, sons of the late Mawhūb b. Faraj, acknowledge receipt of their inheritance, after their oldest brother, Mufarrij, also deceased, had deposited their father’s estate with the ‘three elders’, i.e. Sahl, Yosef and Seʿadya, sons of Yisrael b. Yaʿaqov, known as the Tustarī brothers. (Information from CUDL, Gil, Palestine, doc. 329, and Goitein's attached notes.) On verso there is also a letter in Hebrew (see separate record).

Ketubba of Nissim and Aziza bt. kathir. Written by Yefet b. David and signed by Avraham b. Farah and Moshe b. Amram (only full signatures recorded). Aziza was a virgin.

Business letter in Arabic script from Khalaf b. Yiṣḥaq in Aden to Abū l-Ḥasan Allal b. Ḥassun. in Fustat-Cairo. On the back of the letter are scribblings and accounts in a difficult hand.

List of contributors, including several moneychanger/bankers, a Ben Netira, a ghulam (slave-boy or factor), 'two foreigners', a broker (dallal), a parnas, a Marwan.

Letter from Ḥayyim b. Amar Madini, Palermo, to Abu al-Surur, a merchant from Fustat (might be Ishaq b. Barhun al-Tahirti). September 2, 1056. Mentions the events in Sicily and the Maghreb. Regarding shipment of goods, mainly lead from Sicily. Also mentions “Kitab Alamanat” by Se’adya Gaon. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #650) VMR

Letter from the office of the Palestinian Gaon Daniel b. ʿAzarya (r. 1051–62) to an unidentified addressee in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1055 (unclear on what basis). The letter is about a communal conflict (ikhtilāl al-umūr) in Fustat and the leader ʿEli b. ʿAmram's abnegation of his duty to try to resolve it. Daniel expresses his agitation and says that he has issued instructions to the 'ḥaver' for how it should be resolved.

Letter, fragmentary, from Daniel b. Azarya. Dating: ca. 1050 CE. Maybe a part of the same letter in ENA NS 45.31 + T-S 20.90. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 2, pp. 639-640, #350) VMR

Verso: Draft (probably) of a petition. In Arabic script. "The slave... wishes to maintain the traditions... we wish to maintain our traditions and the traditions of our fathers before us and [haykal something?] is in a place, which is our synagogue..."

Hebrew literary text written on a piece cut from what looks like an Arabic script letter.

Account in a cursive hand. Some of the entries are descriptive (" I bought for so and so, such and such for this price).

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The hand and layout suggest that this is a letter from Avraham b. Farah. the letter is addressed to a certain Abu Zikri Yehuda (b. Musa Ibn Sughmar - copare with T-S 13J26.8) .

Letter, fragmentary, from Eli Ha-Kohen b. Ezekiel, Jerusalem, to Eli Ha-Ḥaver b. Amram in Fustat written in his own hand. Eli Ha-Kohen expresses his anxiety over water "wa-qalbī mashghūl bi l- mā". (Gil) Middle of 11th century.

Court verdict, probably from Tyre, concerning the inheritance of a woman buried in Tiberias, dated approximately 1015.

Letter, minute fragment, probably to Ḥalfon b. Menashshe from his brother

Letter sent from Minyat Zifta by Abu al-Baha b. al-Mashmia to his father. The writer reports that his brother was caught by capitation tax collectors and that he had to pay for the entire family. The receipts were written in Ashmum, as they were inhabitants of that town. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter sent to Moshe ha-Kohen dealing with a loan he had given to the congregation and some public affairs. (Information from Goitein's index cards) . Some persons are mentioned: Abu al-faraj ibn al-Tawazi, Abu Imran, Sulayman, Ibn akhu khalfon

Legal document. Apprenticeship agreement. Dated: Thursday, 25 Tishri 1339 (September 1027). Location: Fustat. Written in the hand of Yefet b. David. Bishr b. Efrayim apprentices his son Yosef to the weaver Barhūn b. Yiḥye for a period of four months, for which Yosef is to be paid 15 dirhams a month. By the end of this period, Yosef should have gained competence in working the loom; if not, the apprenticeship is to be renewed for an additional four months and his wage is to be raised to that of an ordinary worker. Barhūn promises to feed Yosef for the entire period, subtracting the cost of maintenance from his wages. He also promises that Yosef will learn the craft. Yosef must have been quite young since it is his father rather than he who makes the contract, but the parties clearly thought that Yosef’s acceptance and understanding of the terms of the contract to have been important, because the contract's conditions were read to him and he agreed with them. The agreement was executed in the court at the synagogue of the Palestinians and signed by Yefet b. David and Shelomo b. Ḥakīm. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 71-73)

Legal document in which Khaluf b. Hayyim agrees that Ezra b. Yosef will pay him every month half a dinar of a debt of one dinar and seven qirat. Dated 1339/1027. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Magical fragment