Geniza Lab

Legal document. In Hebrew. Location: Copied in Fustat but originally written in Granada (גרנאטה). Dating: mid-11th century, based on the mentions of Yūshaʿ b. Natan and Faraj/Furayj b. Shuʿayb (information from Moshe Yagur). This copy was requested by Shemuel b. Avraham b. Meir known as Ibn Qālūs from Lucena (אליסאנה) in Andalusia. The court record deals with property, merchandise, and money in Egypt and Palestine left behind by Avraham upon his death. Hosheaʿ b. Natan (known as Abū l-Surūr Yamanī al-Andalusī) was appointed trustee in charge of the property. The record reflects that Natan b. Shemuel ha-Sefaradi appeared in court with a deed of attorney written in Granada that appoints him as trustee for the estate of Hosheaʿ. The record seems to imply that Avraham, who did business on quite a large scale, very carefully made plans in the event of his death for his property to be kept secure from 'the ruler who governs Egypt' and seemed to habitually take property that belonged to 'deceased aliens'. (Information from Goitein’s index card and Gil, History of Palestine.)