Geniza Lab

Court record attesting that Ḥalfon b. Netanel repaid the debt of his late brother Abū ʿAlī Yeḥezqel. Location: Alexandria. Dated: Iyyar 1457 Seleucid, which is April/May 1146 CE. This document was written after the payment of the debt that is the subject of CUL Or.1080 J284 (ח88), a letter from Abū ʿUmar Saʿdān b. Thābit Levi Baghdādī (Seʿadya ha-Levi b. Yakhin) to Ḥalfon, in which he asked Ḥalfon not to travel to Damascus without repaying the debt of his (still-living) brother Abū ʿAlī Yeḥezqel, a sum of 45 3/4 dinars. Ḥalfon had previously given a collateral of silk to Saʿdān. The present document deals with the sale of the silk, part of whose proceeds (43 2/3 dinars) paid off part of the debt (25 dinars), which means that Ḥalfon must have paid the remaining balance of 20 3/4 dinars from his own money. Between the writing of the previous document and this one, Abū ʿAlī Yeḥezqel died. Ḥalfon's nephew Abū Naṣr Shemuel b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi was the agent for the sons of Yeḥezqel (his cousins) with regard to selling the silk and paying off the debt. Here the creditor is given his Hebrew name: (Abū ʿUmar) Seʿadya ha-Levi b. Yakhin. The witnesses describe in detail the price that Shemuel received for the silk, both for the bulk of it and for the portion that was of a higher quality. Following the creditor's acknowledgement of having received the balance of the debt, the witnesses state that Shemuel received an excellent price for the silk, at least 1 dinar/raṭl more than a broker would have fetched. Information from India Book.