Geniza Lab

Letter of appeal to Avraham Maimonides, begging for financial assistance, mentioning an old man who is sick and the plight of at least two daughters. Avraham Maimonides then wrote four lines, now quite faded, underneath the letter. ASE.

Letter from a judge to Avraham Maimonides, reporting about a case that came before him in Adar I 1529 Seleucid (which is 1218 CE). About 32 lines, partly effaced but mostly legible. There are 6 lines of (autograph) response in Avraham's hand, but these are mostly torn away or effaced. Mentions people including Ismāʿīl b. Maʿālī and Abū l-Ḥassan al-Levi and someone's first return from the Levant. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

An autograph responsum by Avraham Maimonides (1186-1237) dealing with wine brought by a Karaite and the injunction about preparation of wine by Jews (rabbanite Jews). (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 14, 123, 428)

Autograph letter from Yehuda ha-Levi, in Spain, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel ha-Levi. Dating: 1139 CE. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions the Kuzari and his intentions to travel east. (Information from Goitein and Friedman, India Book IV; Hebrew description below.)

Recto: autograph medical recipe in the hand of Moses Maimonides, prescribing an emetic and other drugs. The ingredients used include sticky sugar, lemon juice, oxymel, melissa, and green mint. The fragment includes dietary advice to avoid unripe dates, jujube, green almonds, carob, green broad beans, carrots and vinegar; whereas raisins, pistachios, figs and nuts should be eaten for dessert. Verso: draft of a witness statement related to a court procedure. (Information from CUDL)

Autograph letter by Avraham Maimonides to Moshe b. Peraḥya. It is a recommendation for the bearer, the French rabbi R. Yeḥiel [b. Yiṣḥaq Ẓarfatī], to the community of rabbis (ʿulamā' al-sharīʿa) in Palestine and Jerusalem. Moshe b. Peraḥya served as a judge in the Rīf, including in Minyat Zifta and Minyat Ghamr; he was the brother of Yosef b. Peraḥya. On verso is a donation list with many names, conceivably for a fundraiser on behalf of the bearer of the letter. Information entirely from Mordechai Akiva Friedman's edition and discussion.

An autograph letter by Abraham b. Maimonides to the community of Bilbays. (Information from CUDL)

Autograph letter by Isaac Luria, sent either from Egypt or Safed (probably the latter), concerning various matters, but principally the payment of monies. Dated only according to the day of the week, Tuesday (יום ג׳), and the parasha (Genesis 35:11) (Information from CUDL)

Verso: Autograph note from Moshe Maimonides to al-Shaykh al-Wathīq. In Judaeo-Arabic. Informing him that there will be a gathering of the elders on Shabbat and warning him not to be late. He says that the addressee's note arrived but was too wet to read.

Letter from Yehuda ha-Levi in Toledo to Ḥalfon b. Netanel regarding a collection in the cities of Spain for the ransom of a captive woman. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document. Bill of divorce, in the hand of Mevorakh b. Natan, Fusṭāṭ. Dated: 20 Elul 1489 (4 September 1178). This bill of divorce is one of forty under the T-S 10J2 shelfmark; this bill was not completed and consequently was not signed.. The divorce is between Abū al-Ḥasan al-Kohen b. Sayyid al-Kull al-Kohen and Riḍā bt. al-Faraj. (Information from Goitein's index card)

Legal document. Bill of divorce in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu ha-Dayyan, Fusṭāṭ. Dated: 5 Sivan 1524 (26 May 1213). This bill of divorce is one of forty under the T-S 10J2 shelfmark. The fragment is rather irregularly shaped, and the lack of signatures indicates that the divorce was not finalized; it was later completed two months later in NLI 577.4/27. The divorce was to be between Mufaḍḍal b. Mesullam and Nasab bt. Manṣūr, whose father is referred to in this document by his Arabic name, and in the completed bill by his Hebrew name Elʿazar. Shelomo b. Eliyyahu's handwriting in this document is quite poor. The verso contains a note from Abū l-Bayān asking to copy his codex (muṣḥaf). (Information from Goitein's index card and Mediterranean Society)

Legal document. A trousseau list likely in the hand of Moshe ha-Levi b. Dovid of Cairo, Fusṭāṭ. Dating: 1110. A detailed trousseau list labeled as al-tawqīm (estimate) that acted as a continuation of an engagement contract found at T-S 13J8.24. No names are mentioned, as this would have been included in the contract. (Information from Goitein's index card and Mediterranean Society)

Legal document: partnership agreement. Dated: July 18, 1107. Location: Cairo. Partnership agreement between Nethanel b. Tiqva and Eli b. Mevasser in a clothing and tailoring shop. Nethanel and Eli will both sell the clothing, which Eli will sew. Nethanel contributes 10 dinars, expecting to contribute more once the shop is in operation, and is the shop keyholder. He will receive two-thirds of the profits and losses; Eli is to receive the balance. Lines 1 and 4 mention God’s role in guiding the partnership and in bringing about profit, which is common in such documents. Four diagonal lines run through the entire text; it is unclear whether this indicates that the partnership was terminated. The document is signed by Shelomo b. Mevorakh. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 210)

Legal document. Partnership agreement. Dated: August 1181. This document preserves the lower part of a partnership agreement between the brothers Abū al-Faraj and Abū al-Mufaḍḍal in a shop selling food. The partners are allocated maintenance from the shop’s stores, as well as one dirham each per day. The two are to eat and live together, though they are given the option of eating separately, in which case Abū al-Mufaḍḍal is to take two dirhams and Abū al-Faraj is to take four dirhams as maintenance. As well, they will divide profits, though the division itself is not specified but is likely an even division, as is explicit in the case of losses. Interestingly, although the two seem to work close at hand, the text includes the provisions for "trust and avoid[ance of] betrayal" that is often seen in long-distance agreements. The recto is signed by Joseph ha-Levi b. Samuel, later a member of the court of Abraham Maimonides; as well as Levi ha-Levi b. Abraham, a scholar and cantor. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Society", 195)

Legal document. Partnership agreement. Dating: 1229. Location: Fustat. In a document written in Hebrew emerging from the court of Abraham Maimonides, Abū al-‘Alā b. Joseph and his father enter into a partnership with Mufaḍḍal in a sugar factory, splitting profits and losses evenly. Mufaḍḍal gave 50 dinars to "his Elder" (possibly his grandfather), which would act as capital to be used by the grandfather to purchase raw sugar; as well as an additional 50 dinars to his partners. The purpose of this document is to bring Mufaḍḍal into the relationship between Abū al-‘Alā and his father; no qinyan between the father and son is recorded here. Goitein points out that although the relationship is well-defined here, it may not have been canonized with a formal qinyan. The document may have been written for Mufaḍḍal and to record his investment (100 dinars) and the split of profits or losses due to him.The sole preserved signatory, the judge Yehiel b. Eliakim of Aleppo, is known to have signed other documents with Abraham Maimonides. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 106)

Legal document. Court ruling. Dated: July 1084. Written in the hand of Hillel b. Eli. Location: Fustat. Yaḥyā b. Samuel sues Amram b. Abraham for various commodities (wool, flax, and cinnamon in exchange for silk robes, silver scammony, and saffron) which represent the former’s investment with the latter. However, Amram seems to have placed the items in the care of Abū al-Ḥusayn al-Tinnīsī, who seems to have assumed responsibility for them by means of a power of attorney. Apparently, Aaron sold the items and prepared an account sheet, remitting the balance to Amram, who then settled his account with Yaḥyā. At the time the matter is to be adjudicated, Amram has left Fusṭāṭ and Yaḥyā asks for a continuance. Yefet b. Avraham, counterparty in the sale of a quantity of silver to Abū al-Ḥusayn, also appears in a number of geniza documents. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 110). Verso seems to contain another legal discussion with the same partners over similar issues.

Legal document. Partnership agreement. Written in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dated: 1003-1004. Location: Fustat. In bad repair, this fragment (T-S 8J22.16) reveals part of a partnership document between ʿOvadya and Menashshe ha-Kohen. It is signed by Ḥalfōn b. Manasseh and Manasseh ha-Kohen b. Jacob, thus datable to the first half of the twelfth century. Each of the partners is to receive a copy of the agreement, which is enacted in accordance with both their wills, as well as a specific appraisal (which is not preserved). This appraisal may have detailed the assets of the partnership and each partner’s contribution. Division of profits and losses is not preserved. The relationship is described both as a shutafut and a shirka. The term shirka may be used to refer to an act of qinyan; lines 8-9 seem to refer to the act of shirka along with acts of payment and appraisal. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 187-188). T-S 12.525 expresses that the store sold olive oil and legumes, and the partners invested equally (9 dinars each, ʿOvadya in cash and Menashshe in goods such as linseed oil, olives, and lemon juice). The term of the contract was one year and should a party leave, he would pay the other 2 dinars. Each party received a copy. (Information from Weiss, "Legal Documents written by the Court Clerk Halfon Ben Manasse", 149-150)

Legal document. Record of release. Dated: September 1016. Location: Fustat. ‘Ammār b. Joseph the Dyer releases Samuel ha-Kohen b. Moses b. Ṣemaḥ from all claims, and relinquishes any claim to funds owed by a number of named individuals in Malīj. These debts may have been accounts receivable, or may have been partnership investments made by ‘Ammār and Samuel. Goitein suggests that the document was written on 9 Tishri (Erev Yom Kippur) "because people from Malīj, where the workshop was operated, had come to Fusṭāṭ for [the holiday] and were able to witness the release", though Lieberman says there is no evidence that any of the witnesses came from Malīj. Still, the court in Fusṭāṭ may have been busy just before Yom Kippur, with litigants wanting to set their affairs in order before the holiday began – this could explain the number of witnesses. It may be no coincidence that this release from partnership obligations is written just before the festival which marks divine release from transgressions in the year which has just ended. Goitein characterizes this as an "industrial" partnership centered around a workshop, because ‘Ammār is identified as a dyer. But there are no details concerning the object and nature of the partnership itself, and ‘Ammār leaves all claims to Samuel, leaving open the possibility that he was not the principal, but was instead working for Samuel. There are nine signatures, including that of Elhanan b. Shemarya. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 212)

Legal document. Partnership record. Dated July 1103. Written in the hand of Hillel b. Eli. This fragment concerns ownership interest in a partnership between Mōda‘ and Abraham al-‘Assāl. In the document, Mōda‘ calls upon Abū al-Faraj al-Bazzāz to testify that Mōda‘ has an interest in the partnership, while Abraham seems to claim that he or he and his wife are the sole owners of the capital. Abraham apparently invested capital with Mōda‘ for the operation of a shop, and upon distribution of the profits it became unclear whether the capital was intended to be simply a deposit with Mōda‘ or if it would be (per Maimonides) "half a loan…and half a deposit". Apparently, these details were left unspecified when Mōda‘ first became involved in the venture. Subsequently, Mōda‘ seems to have called two individuals – one (perhaps a scholar) identified only as Head of the Congregations ("Rosh ha-Qehillot"), and Abū al-Faraj – to the shop to clarify the nature of his relationship with Abraham. Thus, the present document reports that the Head of the Congregations affirmed in a qinyan that Mōda‘ was indeed a partner with Abraham and not simply an employee. Signed by Abraham b. Shemaiah and Isaac b. Samuel ha-Sefardī. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 218)