Geniza Lab

Legal testimony, Qaraite. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Sunday, 17 Heshvan 5472 AM, which is 1711 CE. It has to do with the floor (ṭabaqa) that is across from the mill, above the house of Raẓon ha-Rofe. The floor belongs to the Qaraite waqf. Elishaʿ and his brother Avraham al-Sākit were living there, and it fell into a ruin. The miller Yūsur Muḥibb sued them to remove the hazardous ruin. They stated that they could not afford to do so, but agreed to vacate their rights to the dwelling and have it revert to the waqf, which would then be responsible for the repairs.

Court notebook, probably. Bifolium. Entries in Judaeo-Arabic. Probably pertaining to the Qaraite court that convened in the Dar Simḥa synagogue (here called Dār Ibn Sameaḥ). Dated: Tishrei through Kislev 1751 Seleucid, which corresponds to the last months of 1439 CE. Includes entries on divorces, marriages, deaths. Also an curious entry documenting that there were rumors about the daughter of ʿAbd al-Laṭīf b. Bashīr(?), somehow connected to the bathhouse of Ibn al-Ashqar, and indeed the rumors were proven true by her pregnancy. "They did to him what was necessary upon the טפטיס (? = taftīsh?). Then, when the קצין told her "go to your father," she said, "No! I don't want to [go to] the religion of the Muslims." The entry is cryptic and these readings are tentative. Another entry mentions the ḥakīm ʿAbd al-Karīm, the head of the court (Av Beit Din). Needs further examination.

Long deed of sale involving Rabbinates and Karaites. Signed by Shelomo Kohen, Eliyahu b. Yisrael, 'Amram Hazan and Avraham Rofe.

A Karaite betrothal deed. The groom Yosef Bekher known as Gedalya b. Aharon. The bride Huna d. Aharon b. Razon the physician. Her agent id Yosef b. Shelomo. Witnessed by Ishaq Levi b. Hamdani, Moshe Melmamed b. Yeshu'a the cantor, her uncle Moshe and her father. Signed by Eliyahu b. Moshe. Dated Wednesday, 15 Sivan, 5519 to the Creation.

Karaite betrothal deed from the year 5347 Era of creation. The groom Yisrael Hakohen b. Shemuel. The bride Esther d. Shemuel Ibn Yahya. The groom is taking upon himself not to travel from Fustat to another country such as al-Sham (except for Jerusalem), and when leavung to Rashid or Alexandria he is permitted to be away only few months (the exact period is faded). He also commit not to curse her parents and to behave nicely. AA

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 11 Heshvan = Safar 699 AH, which is November 1299 CE. Abū l-Bahā b. Mukrim(?) Ibn al-Ṣūrī agrees not to involve his daughter Sitt al-Yumn in his ongoing court case with her husband. She agrees to behave well with her husband and not to harass him and not to report untrue things about him to her father. Witness: Moshe ha-Levi b. Yehoshuaʿ. Information in part from Goitein's note card.

Legal agreement between the partners Ishaq Shami, Aharon Hazan and Ya'aqov b. Moshe Berakha, dated Monday 19th Sivan 5410 Era of Creation.

Legal agreement between the partners Avraham Levi b. Ya'aqov and [...] Halevi b. Aharon. Signed by Aharon Fairuz, Shemuel Hazan and Ya'aqov Berakha. Dated 4th Nisan 5417.

Monetary agreement regarding marriage from the year 1729. The groom Moshe b. Aharon, the bride Esther d. Moshe the physician Hazan.

Letter from Shemuel ha-Levi b. Avraham ha-Levi, in Jerusalem, to ʿOvadya Kohen and his son Nissim Kohen, presumably in Fustat/Cairo. They are Qaraites. Written in Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew. Dated: Sunday, 23 Elul 5522 AM (תאבד מכהן), which is 1762 CE. But catalogued as 1770 CE. Needs further examination for the content.

Letter from Moshe ha-Levi to a group of unknown individuals. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Thursday, 8 Elul 1743 Seleucid = 1432 CE. The letter discusses the matter of ʿAbd al-Karīm and his wife and how they were asked to report to Cairo. Needs further examination.

Court record of the Karaite community regarding the marriage arrangements.

Court record acknowledging a debt from the year 1591

Bill of debt. Dated: Tuesday, 28 Elul 5406 AM, which is 8 September 1646 CE. Rahamim b. Ya'aqov Qayyim and his wife Muhja acknowledge that they owe 15 Abū Kalb gurūsh (=esedi kuruş) to Aharon b. Elʿazar Rofeʾ the cantor. Their collateral is the right to the "Raḥamimāt" for several parshiyot.

Recto: Court record dated Adar II 5334 AM. Involves Yosef b. Yehuda al-Naqqāsh and perhaps his elderly mother. He says he can't support two houses any more, so she should move in with him. Then a woman named Ḥabība bt. Ṣedaqa al-Ḥawwāsh is mentioned, and one of the women agrees to a maintenance of two medins (nuṣfayn) each week. Verso: Incomplete court record regarding a dispute over items kept in a chest. Dated: Thursday, 20 Sivan 5335 AM = 29 May 1575 CE. Mentions 19 gold coins, of which (half were?) אשרפי קרונא and half were אשרפי דהב גדיד.

Cpurt record approving a payment for Ya'aqov Berakah the cantor b. Moshe for his service in the evening prayers. Dated Tuesday, 12th Nisan 5402. Signed by Avarham Qridilo, Barukh b. Nasi and Aharon Mu'amar.

Bill of debt dated Thursday, 29th Tammuz 5417 taking place at the Dar Simha synagogue. Moshe Levi b. Ishaq Qudsi is demanding a debt from Zedaqa b. Ya'aqov Qayys.

Legal contract between two partners. From 5453 Era of documents

Karaite bill of release from 1692

Legal testimony. Written in Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Thursday, 24 Shevat 1816 Seleucid = Shaʿbān 910 AH, which is 1505 CE. The document first lists the assembly that convened in the hosue of Yūsuf b. Shaykh al-Yahūd Rosh ha-Ḥazzanim: al-Shammās ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Rayyis, Shemuel Ibn al-Berakha, ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Maghribī, and Sulaymān al-Skandarī. Then al-Shammās ʿAbd al-Wāḥid b. ʿAbd al-Raḥīm Ibn Fayrūz appeared together with his brother ʿAbdallāh. In the presence of the assembled, ʿAbdallāh declared that from that day onward he would not speak against his brother ʿAbd al-Wāḥid or intend his harm. Likewise ʿAbdallāh's wife Ṭurfa bt. Mūsā b. Ṣafiyy committed to not speaking against him or doing him any harm. ʿAbd al-Wāḥid also declared that he would not speak against or harm his brother. He then gave his brother ʿAbdallāh a gift of 40 ashrafīs for the latter to support himself and defray his debts. An addendum states that Ṭurfa further declared that she would not tell ʿAbd al-Wāḥid, "Take your brother's children," nor ask him for support for them. Witnesses: ʿAbd al-Laṭīf b. Ibrāhīm al-Nasi, Yūsuf Ibn Ṣaghīr, ʿAbd al-Wāḥid b. Kātib al-ʿArab (the same as the ʿAbd al-Wāḥid in the document?), and ʿAbdallāh Ibn Fayrūz. The first two witnesses are presumably identical with the ʿAbd al-Laṭīf and Yūsuf named in the body of the document.