Geniza Lab

Recto/verso: recto

Recto: Legal testimony. Location: Alexandria. Dated: Kislev 4917 AM, which is November/December 1156 CE, under the authority of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya. A legal authority in Alexandria [...] b. Meshullam writes to the judges of Fustat and Cairo, the representatives of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya, in order to confirm the kashrut of the 8 moulds of Cretan "mixed" (with herbs) cheese (weighing 80 jarawī raṭls) which are being transported by the bearer of this document Abū l-Munā Tiqva b. Abū ʿAlī Yefet. The moulds are stamped with the names of Zeraḥ and Amaṣya, the merchants who imported the cheese from Crete (איקריטיש). The buyer was an Alexandrian Jew, and Abū l-Munā bought the 8 moulds from that buyer. When Zeraḥ and Amaṣya originally imported the cheese, they brought with them letters/documents bearing the signatures of the elders of Crete, which were recognized as valid in Alexandria. Those documents from Crete described the entire cheese-making process, from the milking stage onward, and proved that there was no blemish disqualifying the cheese. When the authorities in Alexandria saw this, they allowed the cheese to be sold. (Information in part from Frenkel and Goitein, Med. Soc. 1, 124n66, 429.) Join: Alan Elbaum. ASE