Geniza Lab

Letter of appointment for Shabbat ha-Melammed (the teacher). According to Goitein, this is Shabbat b. Elazar ha-Melammed. Dated Tammuz 1366/ June-July 1055. (Bareket writes 1035, but this is obviously a mistake). Written by Eli b. Amram (Bareket). Bareket states that this appears to be the only deed of its kind in the Geniza. (Information from Bareket, Shafrir Misrayim, p. 44, n. 70; see also the Fustat on the Nile, p. 46)

Court record concerning mint management. Dated: 1513 CE. Issued in the court of the Nagid Yiṣḥaq Sholal. Witnesses include Yaʿaqov Beirav and Nissim Biba. The issue centers on an oath that the Nagid took when he was running the mint (dār al-ḍarb) to the effect that Avraham Talmid would not do business with anone in the world for as long as Sholal remained at the mint. There are mutliple sections to this document, some of which are testimonies from witnesses. See Avraham David's edition on FGP for further information.

Legal document. Location: Al-Maḥalla. Involves [...] b. Yefet ha-Zaqen and [...] b. Peraḥya ha-Levi ha-Zaqen and contains the curious phrase "I have leased myself to him (akraytuhu rūḥī) for the whole year for 1 dinar." Needs examination. See also Goitein's notes.

A rental agreement with Joseph ג׳לדיטי, priced in Venetian ducats (peraḥ zahav Veneziano). It is dated לצור according to the Pereq Qaṭan, which is probably [5]326 AM (=1566 CE). (Information in part from CUDL.)

Legal testimony. Involves someone who lives in Damsīs, a woman named [...] bt. Ghulayb, and someone who defamed her (shanaʿahā).

Legal document in Hebrew. Location: Fustat/Cairo. Dated: Middle of Av 5579 AM, which is 1819 CE. Involves Eliyyahu b. Ṣahal; Me'ir b. Shalom b. Naʿim; Nissim Ṭawīl. Concerning a partnership and a sum of 15,000 gurush. Very long; needs further examination. No signatures.

Legal document in the hand of the court scribe Yosef b. Shemuel b. Seʿadya ha-Levi (c.1181–1209).

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe concerning payments; it includes a date, Sivan 1434 (= 1123 CE). (Information from CUDL)

Part of a legal document, with references to the court and witnesses, but no names preserved. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document (possibly a deed of sale) describing a house. Fusṭāṭ and Mamṣūṣa (a Jewish quarter of Cairo) are mentioned. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document or documents (there is text on both recto and verso). Mentions the groom ʿOvadya b. Ḥalfon.

Legal document or documents. Very faded. Dated: 4[..]4 AM, which only narrows it down to 1234 CE at the latest. It looks substantially older.

Recto: Legal document. Dated: Thursday, 17 Iyyar 5316 AM, which is 27 April 1556 CE. May be a copy or a version of a document originally produced in a Muslim court: mentions "the Mālikī court of al-Ṣāliḥiyya" in line 2. Yosef Qalʿī owes Sar Yiṣḥaq 2000 medins every month. Eliezer Ashkenazi is involved as a guarantor. On verso there are additional notes, probably related to recto. At the bottom of the page it appears that the Sar acknowledges receipt of one of the monthly payments. Information in part from A. David's edition on FGP.

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Involves an Abū l-Faraj. Otherwise consists entirely of elaborate release formulae.

Recto: Document in Arabic script. Five lines, well preserved. The phrases seem more suited to a legal document than a letter, but needs examination. Verso: Note probably in the hand of Avraham Maimonides. Ends with the legal phrase והכל שריר ובריר וקיים. Maybe this is summarizing the document on recto? There is also a list in Arabic script, naming various items (building expenses? e.g. nails and wood) and numbers. ASE

Inventory of what was found in the house of a certain Yiṣḥaq. Written in Judaeo-Arabic. Written on textile (cotton?). Scribed by Avraham b. Ismāʿīl al-Maghribī. Also signed by Mevorakh b. Yehuda. Information from Goitein's attached notes.

Bill of divorce (geṭ). Location: Fustat. Dated: 26 Shevaṭ 1[5]40 Seleucid, which is 22 January 1229 CE. Wife: Maʿānī bt. Karīm. Verso contains the receipt, including a note in Arabic script. CUL Or.1081 J40 is documentation of her remarriage to her ex-husband 8 months later. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe.

Testimony given by Moshe b. Ṭahor concerning the sale of a Nubian female slave. Location: Fusṭāṭ. Dated: Heshvan 1542 Seleucid, which is 1230 CE. Under the authority of Avraham Maimonides (‘the Great Nagid’). There is a decorated title, זכרון עדות ברורה. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document. Partnership agreement. Dating: Late 13th century CE. Location: Fustat. Moshe ha-Talmid b. Ṭahor partners with Abū Saʿd b. Abū l-ʿAlā al-Ṣabbāgh in an apothecary shop. Moshe is paid 6 dirhams a month agrees to work for a year and a half. His wage is guaranteed by Abū Sa‘d’s father Abū al-‘Alā’ (ll.7-8). Because of the guarantee of Abū al-‘Alā, three qinyanim are performed: Moshe's agreement to work, Abū Saʿd’s agreement to pay, and the guarantee of Abū al-‘Alā’. Although the parties’ relationship is described as a partnership, Moshe's wages being fixed suggests an employment agreement, though likely not an apprenticeship, both because Moshe is not a youth (line 5 alludes to his five sons) and is said to manage or set up the store. The date and signatures are missing from the document in its current state of preservation, though T-S NS J405 (PGPID 26473) reveals Abū Saʿd agreeing to repay a debt of some eight hundred dirhams from November 1275. Perhaps Abū Saʿd had come upon difficult times and needed the guarantee of his father in order to convince Moshe to manage the apothecary shop. Note: Abū al-‘Alā’'s guarantee is for fulfillment of the obligation “to the store”, suggesting a sense of corporate identity ascribed to the store and its creditors. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Society", 100)