Geniza Lab

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi (ca. 1000–38 CE). Fragment (upper right corner). Damaged bill of settlement. Involves a man named [...] b. Shelaḥya (שלחיה, a rare name) who is possibly a ḍā[min]; a Levi; and a lawsuit against another Levi for over 2000 of something. The one bringing the lawsuit may be Eliyya and the defendant may be Abū l-Surūr, but this is not definite without the join. The dispute has to do with coral. (A previous description said that there is also a Zekharya ha-Levi mentioned in this document.) AA. ASE.

A very damaged legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi (ca 1100–38 CE). Some details might be extracted with effort. In the margins of recto and on verso, in a different hand, there are accounts or possibly lists of names with numbers, written in a different hand. Probably unrelated to the legal document on recto, but this is not certain. AA. ASE.

Legal document. A damaged legal document, probably a bill of release. The sum of 55 dinars is mentioned. Signed by צדקה הכהן בן דוד נ"ע, Zedaqa Hakoen b. David who signed also on TS 12.75 (no later than1093). Judeo-Arabic and Aramaic. AA

Legal document. A torn deathbed declaration. The will is by a woman, for the terms used are צואתה אשר ציותה קודם מיתותה. Shemuʾel HaKohen and his brother Avraham are mentioned at the top of the deed. Also mentioned is 'Azarya haLaḥ... עזריה הלח[...] According to FGP, the deed is dated 1078 CE, but only the number לט (39) from the year of creation is visible. Interestingly, the document cites another bill from the year [4]734 [= 973], so it is possible that the actual date of the main deathbed declaration is from the 978 CE. However, the paper and the hand do not appear to be from the 10th century. AA

Legal document. Small fragment from a legal document, probably a bill of release. An amount of 9 dinars is mentioned. Location: Fustat. Signed by Maṣliaḥ b. Shemuel (also signed Bodl. MS heb. b 3/11, an 11th century ketubba) and Shelomo b. Seʿadya (also signed T-S 8J4.2b, from 1026 CE). This document might have been written by the same scribe, Yefet b. David the Cantor. See אלינער ברקת, פנקסים של בית דין הירושלמיים מן הגניזה במחצית הראשונה של המאה האחת-עשרה, HUCA, 69 [1998], p. 13–18 [Hebrew section]). AA

Legal document. An agreement between Shlomo b. Avraham and the mother of his daughter (probably divorced) regarding her support. The year is [1]403 (1092) in Fustat. Verso is blank. Judeo-Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic. AA

Legal document. A fragment from a bill of debt of 400 dirham, written by Mevorakh b. Nathan (active 1150-1181). Only partial names survived: [… b.] Shabat the elder; Zayn al-Kohen son of al-Kohen al-Dabah’s sister. Verso pen trials and a bismallah in Arabic script Judeo-Arabic, Hebrew. AA

Legal document. A small fragment, written by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe Halevi, regarding a settlement between a couple, probably after their divorce (a bill of divorce is mentioned). A sum of 10 dinars will be paid in installments. The husband’s name is Abdallah known as al-mashtub (scar face?). On verso one line אתצל יאשיך אבו אסחק and an ink trial in a different hand. Judeo-Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic. AA

Legal document. A large damaged שטר אביזריה (= Bill of compensation), written by Hillel b. Eli (1066-1108). A certain Yosef is mentioned and also a sum of money to be paid to the Muslim authorities (שלטון). There is a qiyyum (establishment) of the bill on verso, but unfortunately no signatures have survived. Judeo-Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic. AA

Legal document. Fragment from a Hebrew bill of release, 10-11th century. Contains reference to A Muslim legal document and which is invalid and can not be accepted. Shlomo Halevi, Ya'aqov b. […] and Yosef are mentioned. No signatures survived. Hebrew. AA

Legal document. Damaged fragment of a bill of sale of immovable property. 10-11th century. Name mentioned: Ya'aqov b. Dav[id]. Hebrew. AA

Marriage document. Damaged and faded ketubah, written by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe Halevi. Only the end part of the dowry list, and some of the signatures survived. Signed by [...]הכהן בן שלה and [...בן] יצחק Hebrew, Judeo-Arabic, Aramaic. AA

Legal document. Damaged bill of release, relating to quarter of a house. No names survived. Probably early 12th century (the hand is familiar, but I couldn’t identify the scribe) Judeo-Arabic. AA

Legal document. Damaged. On recto title: זכרון עדות (= bill of testimony) in square Hebrew script. On verso, in different hand, a refutation of a certain legal ruling, might be related to gentile courts or to a school of scholars. Hebrew. AA

Court register fragment containing the remnants of 14 documents, most of which are fully intact. Dated Tevet-Kislev 5460 AM which is1699-1700CE. On the recto two partnerships were recorded, the first an isqa and the second perhaps a general commercial partnership in the coral trade for the duration of one year: במלאכת אלמרגאן לזמן י׳ב חדשים (l.18). The other court entries on the recto recount engagements that include pledges of marital gifts from grooms to brides. The verso includes two other fully legible entries related to marital arrangements, one an engagement the other an abridged ketubbah that was entered into the court register. The other entries recount payments, debts owed, partnerships, and an apprenticeship perhaps in the production of gold lace: להתלמד מלאכת הסירמקגי (l.7). Based on the suffix, the term in use here is certainly Turkish but the scribe's intended meaning with סירמקגי is somewhat unclear. It could transliterate as sırmakçı– although this term does not appear as an alternative to sırmakeş in the Redhouse dictionary (p. 1014). MCD.

Legal document. Deed on mint partnership from 1563, in Cairo, between Yitsḥak d’Molina and Shlomo al-Faranji. Wednesday, Elul 1st. Published אברהם דוד, 'יהודים במנהלי בית המטבע במצרים במאה השש-עשרה', בין הסטוריה לספרות: ספר יובל ליצחק ברזילי, תשנ"ז, עמ' קו-קז. Hebrew. AA

Legal document. Will from 1527 drawn up by Shul (Sul, Shol), the wife of R. Shelomo ibn Sornaḥ סורנח. The wife disagrees to let her brother claim her estate from Shemuʾel Brodo, whom in his home she were living at the time she was writing the will (l. 3-4). She also declared that she has no other possessions whatsoever. Signed by Yeḥiel Mar Ḥayyim (data from FGP by Abraham David). Hebrew. AA

Legal document. Small fragment from a bill of sale. On parchment. In the hand of Yosef b. Shemuel b. Seʿadya ha-Levi. Drawn up under the authority of the Gaʾon Sar Shalom ha-Levi (dates: 1170–95). Abū l-Surūr is mentioned. AA

Marriage document. Small fragment from what is seems as a ketubah, probably by the hand of Hillel b. Eli or Ḥalfon b. Menashshe Halevi. Shemuʾel b. Khalaf is mentioned. Judeo-Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic. AA

Legal document. Seven fragments joined together (by Moshe Yagur and Alan Elbaum) to form a court record. On recto (should be verso) a court record, written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi, in which Issac b. Shemuʾel the Spaniard and Avraham b. Shema’ya are parties in a debt settlement. Also testimony on the arrival of Barukh b. Yitsḥak from Aleppo to Egypt. On verso (should be recto) a letter sent to Yitsḥak b. Shemuʾel. Judeo-Arabic, Aramaic. AA