Geniza Lab

Qaraite marriage document (ketubba?). Attesting that the bride (Qamr bt. Moshe Levi b. Shelomo Levi Qayyim) and the groom agreed upon the conditions. ʿEzra b. Eliyyahu Rofe Fayrūz appears (the groom?), also known from Yevr.-Arab. II 1183.

Frontispiece of the Torah printed in Venice by Giovanni Colleoni, 1627 CE. Contains an ownership note: Eliyya Fayrūz.

Legal document, Qaraite. Conditional divorce. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated Sivan 5503 AM, which is 1743 CE. It is a detailed record of how David b. Reuven Nāqish wished to travel to Istanbul for business, and how he agrees that if he is absent for longer than 2 years, his wife Masʿūda bt. Avraham Fayrūz may receive a bill of divorce from the court. There appears to be only one witness, a certain Yaʿaqov. Merits further examination. Cf. Yevr.-Arab. II 1573 (another conditional divorce).

Legal document (deed of sale). In Judaeo-Arabic. Location: Fustat/Cairo. Venue: The house of Shelomo b. Aharon Kohen Khāzinī. Dated: Thursday, 19 Heshvan 5527 AM, which is 1766 CE. The three sisters Marḥaba (the wife of Avraham Jazzār), Astrika(?) (the wife of Moshe Levi), and Qamr (the wife of Yūsuf Naqqāsh), the daughters of Naḥum b. Aharon Kohen Ḥāṭūs(?) attest that they have sold their share in a house to Shemuel b. Yisra'el Ḥakīm for 215 "Abū Mushṭ" diwani reals (=Spanish reals). Scribed and signed by Shelomo b. Moshe Rofe known as Ẓaʿir. Additional witness signatures: Shelomo b. Aharon Kohen Khāzinī Shāmī; [???] b. Yeshuʿa Fayrūz. Also present: ʿOvadya Ẓaʿir; Nissim Gabbay (?גבי); and Elishaʿ b. Yeshuʿa.

Recto: Betrothal contract, Qaraite. Dated: Sunday, 4 Heshvan 5488 AM = 2039 Seleucid, which is 1727 CE. Location: Cairo. Groom: Naḥum ha-Levi b. Yosef b. Raḥamim. Bride: Marḥaba bt. Yaʿaqov ha-Levi b. Daniel ha-Rofe, virgin. Basic marriage payment: 50 silver pieces + gold seal + 1000 regular medins + 70 large medins. Early marriage payment: 200 large medins. Delayed marriage payment: 800 medins. Bride's agent: Her father. There follow the conditions. Witnesses: Yeshuʿa Sofer; Aharon Kohen known as ʿĀmmī; Moshe Rofe known as Ẓaʿir. There is a note underneath that may indicate that the marriage (הביאה) is to take place in 5493 AM (5 years later). Verso: Additional legal documents; awaiting examination.

Recto: Responsum in the name of Shelomo Kohen b. Aharon Kohen Kanzī(?) Dimashqī. Dating: After 1490 CE. It has to do with a man who vowed in anger that he would divorce his wife. The ruling is that this vow, taken when he was not in full possession of his faculties, is null in comparison to the vow he took when he married her, when he was both in possession of his faculties and fulfilling a mitzvah. Numerous proofs are cited as well as the authority of Yehuda Hadassi (12th c) in Sefer ha-Peles (= Eshkol ha-Kofer), Aharon b. Eliyyahu (d. 1369) the author of Etz Ḥayyim, Eliyyahu Bashyaẓi ZL (d. 1490), and finally the great sage Shemuel ha-Rofe ha-Maʿaravi (active 15th century) in chapter five of his Book of Commandments. Shelomo Kohen writes an addendum in his own hand with his own signature, confirming everything above (that was written in his name but not by him). There are two further addenda.

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 8 Elul 5588 AM = 1243 AH, which is 1828 CE. Involves Nissim ha-Levi b. Yequtiel and Menashshe b. Yūsuf b. Yehuda and a partnership in a shop.

Legal testimony? In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Ottoman-era. it is a first-person narrative recounting the events of several years, involving financial disputes, a shofar, the Muslim courts, and a certain "Turjuman Effendi."

Deed of lease. Location: Cairo. Dated: Monday, 27 Tammuz 1613 Seleucid = Shawwāl 701 AH, which is June 1302 CE. The elders of the Qaraite Jews of Cairo lease the right of way (sulūka) through a doorway of the street of the synagogue (darb al-kanīs), "may it soon be reopened" (in Hebrew in an otherwise Judaeo-Arabic text), to al-Ṣafiyy Abū l-Maḥāsin b. al-Asʿad Abū l-Ḥasan, for 6 dirhems per year. During the persecutions of 1301–02, the houses of worship of Christians and Jews were closed by the Muslim authorities for about a year until the Byzantine emperor and other Christian monarches obtained their (partial) reopening (see Strauss, Mamluks, I, 86–87). Information from Goitein, Med Soc II, p. 435 (Appendix A, #173). ASE.

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 915 AH, which is 1509/10 CE. It attests that Ṣadaqa and his brother Shemuel known as the sons of Ḥawwāsh received all that was due to them from the inheritance of their late sister ʿAzīza, the wife of ʿAbd al-Ghaffār al-Ḥaqqān. The possessions she left are listed, amounting to about 80 distinct items, mostly garments.

Legal document. Dated: Tuesday, 20 Heshvan 5549 AM, which is 1788 CE. Involves Yaʿaqov Levi b. Avraham Hītī (? היתי) and a sum of 80 "dīwānī reals" and a partnership with Eliyyahu Ḥakham known as Maʿānī b. Avraham ha-Ḥakham. No signatures. Needs further examination.

Betrothal contract, Qaraite. Dated: Tuesday, 19 Kislev 1857 Seleucid, which is 1545/46 CE. Location: Probably Fustat/Cairo. Venue: House of Eliyyahu b. Fayrūz Rosh Bet Din. Groom: Ibrāhīm b. Yehuda al-Ḥakīm. Bride: The daughter of ʿAbd al-Maqṣūd al-Ḥāshir. Early marriage payment: 15 bunduqī, of which 12 are to be given before the marriage and the remaining 3 prior to Nisan of the second year of marriage. Delayed marriage payment: 400 large medins ("halves"), 50 "for what is secret between them(?)" and 350 in case of divorce. Scribed and signed by Netan'el b. Aharon ha-Somekh.

Debt contract. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 27 Kislev 5346 AM, which is 1585 CE. Venue: The Dār al-Khāzin synagogue. Ṣadaqa ha-Levi attests that he owes 500 medins to his brother-in-law Avraham ha-Levi b. David Shaykh al-Yahūd. Signed: Eliyyahu Fūlādhī Ḥazzan; Avraham b. Yeshaʿya Tawrīzī.

Reconciliation agreement between husband and wife. Dated: 6 Tammuz 5415 AM, which is 1655 CE.

Marriage (prenuptial) document. Dated: 14 Adar (Purim) 5525 AM, which is 7 March 1765 CE. (Note that the year is covered by a paper flap in the digitized image; this dating is from the catalogue.) Groom: Yaʿaqov b. Shelomo Fayrūz known as Shāmī. Bride: [...] the sister of Hibatallāh bt. ʿEzra Rofe known as Fayrūz. Currency: zeri maḥbūb.

Legal document. Dated: Thursday, 29 Adar 5539 AM (=Ṣafar 1193 AH), which is 1779 CE. Avraham Fayrūz b. Eliyyahu Fayrūz known as Shuwaykh makes arrangements for the inheritance of his late wife Marḥaba bt. Naḥum Kohen known as Ḥāṭūm, a sum of 21 Abū Ṭāqa riyals. A portion of it is distributed amongst his sons Eliyyahu, Faraj, and Sulaymān according to a specified schedule.

Court record regarding the monetary agreement between the groom El'azar b. Shelomo known as Fayruz with the bride Zipora d. Sh'aya b. Nahum. It all took place in the house of Yosef b. Binyamin Romi known as Zoref, in front of the witnesses Ya'aqov and Nahum Kohen. the sons of Aharon Kohen known as Hatum, and the 'members'. Signed by Eliyahu Rofe Hazan. AA

Court record that took place in tne house of Eliyahu the physician b. Elisha the physician, in the presence of Yehuda the physician b. Shemuel the physician, Aharon Kohen known as Shami and Shemuel Levi Gabi b. Elya Levi and in the presence of the 'kahal', regarding a deposit from the inheritance of of his brother to kept by the deceased Moshe the physician. Dated Sunday, 15 Tevet, 5496. Signed by Yeshu'a Sofer, Avraham Fayruz, Shelomo Levi known as Karsi, Eliyahu b. Elisha the physician, Ishaq Levi known as Qays, Sa'adya Halevi known as Qays, Aharon Kohen known as Shami.

Legal document. Dated: Friday, 21 Tishrei 5527 AM (1766 CE). Previously the congregation had appointed as their head Shelomo Kohen b. Aharon Kohen and as his deputy Avraham Rofe b. Eliyyahu Rofe. Shortly thereafter, Shelomo was compelled to step down. Now, the congregation is undergoing terrible conflict, with brawling in the synagogue and lawsuits being taken to the Muslim courts. The congregation, together with Avraham Rofe, now approaches Shelomo Kohen and begs him to return to them. He agrees, on condition that everyone undertake to obey the original contract, settling down and behaving righteously and ceasing to fight in the synagogue or bring legal cases before the Muslim courts. Signed: Avraham Rofe b. Eliyyahu Rofe b. Lishaʿ Rofe; [...] b. Yeshuʿa Fayrūz; Shelomo b. Moshe Rofe known as Ṣaʿir.

Recto: Qaraite legal document. In Hebrew. Dated: Monday, 25 Av 5335 AM, which is 1575 CE. The context is a communal struggle over who would assume the position of the late Yaʿaqov, who served as chief cantor (ḥazzan kabir) and beadle (? משרת) in the Dār Simḥa synagogue (כנסת בית שמחה). The judges Aharon and Yosef al-Tawrīzī appointed Yehuda al-Tawrīzī ha-Rofe, because of his beautiful voice and wisdom. He will serve for 3 years without a salary (jāmakiyya). He will officiate at all celebrations and behave humbly with the congregation, his friends and enemies alike. Verso: A draft version of the same document, giving more details about the circumstances. This side clarifies that he will donate his salary to the widow and children of the late Yaʿāqov. Merits further examination.