Geniza Lab

Accounts by a communal official. In Judaeo-Arabic. Location: Fustat. Dated: Middle decade of Iyyār 1461 Seleucid, which is May 1150 CE. Described by Moshe Yagur as follows: "The account records the inheritance of a deceased woman, which was spent to cover the expenses of her funeral and of the suits of her converted children. The deceased's sister, who was supposed to inherit what had remained, was left with nothing, since her converted nephews, and the various figures involved in the compromise settlement with them, took all that was left. The case relates to the different and contradicting opinions in both Jewish and Islamic legal traditions regarding inheritance of non-Muslims by their Muslim relatives." Partially translated by Moshe Yagur as follows (with transliterations slightly modified for PGP): "[. . .] for the testimony of the qāḍī—ten silver coins. Payment for Abū Muḥammad— 1.5. This was on Sunday, in the middle ten days (al-ʿashar al-awsaṭ) of the month of Iyyar 1461 (mid-Muḥarram 545/mid-May 1150), in the presence of Barakāt al-Kohen, Khūlayf b. al-Ḥazzan, and Furayj b. Mūnīn. Abū Muḥammad took it [the sum] in their presence when the apostate (poshʿim) children of her [deceased] sister demanded their share. The next day they took forty silver coins by way of compromise (ṣulḥ). In addition—six dirhams to the representative. In addition— two dirhams to the messenger [. . .] in the presence of Khūlayf b. al-Ḥazza[n . . .] and for the document to the second qāḍī—five coins. In sum: sixty-four and a half, out of a total of one hundred and sixty-four. Taken from our pocket: four coins." (Information from Moshe Yagur, "Several Documents from the Cairo Geniza Concerning Conversion to Islam," (2020).)