Geniza Lab

Recto/verso: recto

Recto: Legal deed. Location: Qalyūb. Dated: Tuesday, 7 Adar 1505 Seleucid, which is 1194 CE, under the authority of the Gaon Sar Shalom ha-Levi. In the handwriting of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi. Moshe later cut it very neatly down the middle, yielding ENA 2558.18 and T-S 13J7.12, and wrote a family letter on the verso of each half. The deed concerns the dissolution of a partnership in a house and in a store between Khalaf and Abū l-Faḍl, the sons of Hilāl. It seems that Khalaf retained the store, while Abū l-Faḍl bought out Khalaf's half of the house for 16.5 dinars. (See also Eliyyahu Ashtor, “The Number of Jews in Medieval Egypt,” JJS (1968), 13; Jacob Mann, Jews in Egypt and Palestine under the Fatimid Caliphs, 2:294. An earlier description said the document was dated 1481 Seleucid, but this must refer to a different document, because the date was previously missing.)