Geniza Lab

Legal document. Partnership dissolution. Dated: 1152. Location: Fustat. Under the authority of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya. Hiba al-Abzārī b. Abū Isḥaq al-Tawwazī and Abū l-Faḍāʾil Yaʿqūb al-Raffāʾ release one another from a partnership, leaving Hiba owing Abū l-Faḍāʾil 6 dinars, to be repaid according to a schedule. The separation of the partners also leaves the two partners returning what seems to be a debt to their investor Abū l-Ḥasan Ibn al-ʿUrs; Hiba will pay 60-70 dinars and Abū l-Faḍāʾil will pay 13 dinars. Interestingly, each of the partners is left with a separate debt to Abū l-Ḥasan, distinct from the assets of his partner; thus, following the separation, the parties are no longer jointly liable even for debts which were accrued during the life of the partnership. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", pp. 279-280; Jacob Mann, "The Jews in Egypt and in Palestine under the Fatimid Caliphs," 1:230, 2:237; and Goitein's index cards.)

Petition from the wife of Abu'l-Faraj the Silkweaver, to Shemuʾel ha-Nagid b. Ḥananya (in office 1140–59). She is an "unprotected woman" (marʾa munqaṭiʿa) whose father could not support her and whose brother was a young boy with no connections. She explains that she “got stuck” with a man who was not ashamed of the bad things people had said about him (or maybe of the bad things of which he himself speaks?). The petition was written after a legal proceeding in which the Nagid ordered the husband to restore the ketubba to its original wording (apparently the husband had decreased the sum stated in the ketubba). However, now the husband has taken an oath that he would restore only ten dinars, a lower sum than previously agreed upon. The husband apparently managed to ignore the Nagidʼs commands by finding someone who supported him in his claims. The wife had been getting advice from her congregation and from the local judge, but, she writes, she is fed up with words and no action. The judge, for example, told her brother to leave the matter until Sunday, but “Sunday came and nothing was done for my issue except postponement.” She complains that she is treated “as if it was I who has done something unpermitted” (ḥattā ka-annī qad ʿamiltu shayʾ lā yanṣāgh (!) – for the last word (=yanṣāgh) see Blau, Dictionary, 379). Even a ruling of the Nagid was subjected to a process of negotiation at the local level until it was watered down to ineffectiveness. The same matter is also mentioned briefly in T-S 10J17.22. (Information from Zinger, "Women, Gender and Law" (PhD diss), 248n139, lightly revised by MR.) Alternate description based on Goitein's notes: Complaint to Shemuel ha-Nagid (his titles occupy 7 lines) by the wife of Abū l-Faraj, the silkspinner (qazzāz). Her husband had left her and her little daughter without provisions, however, he was not without means. His female slave she claims had been adjudicated to her, but was kept by her husband in his sister's house. The judge, to whom the complaint was made first was not effective in securing her rights. (some corrections by AA)

Legal minutes (tadhkira or tadhkir) regarding Ibn Bishr's case. Written in the hand of Natan b. Shmuel. Fustat 1153. Nazar bt. David, the wife of Musa b. Bishr also known as Moshe b. Mevasser, gives her husband a free hand (tasarruf) in half of a house she owns in Qasr al-shamʿ between the two synagogues. Then her husband gives this same half of a house to his son Abu al-Wafa Tamim as a gift on the condition that his child cannot sell it or give it as a gift as long as his father is alive. signed by Mevorakh b. Natan and Sa'adya b. Avraham. Musa b. Bishr also appears in ENA 4011.56. || Legal document written and signed by Mevorakh b. Natan in which Nazar bat David gives her husband complete freedom of disposition over one-half of a house belonging to him, which was also serving as their domicile. Second, the father gives this half to a son. Third, the son is not permitted to sell or give away that half during his father's lifetime. Dated Adar 1474/ March 1163. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 243, 479)

Legal document. Apprenticeship agreement. Dated December 1150 or January 1151. Location: Fustat. Written in the jurisdiction of Shemuel b. Ḥananya ha-Nagid, between Abū al-Faraj al-Musta‘mil b. Shelomo and Hillel b. Sālim. Abū al-Faraj gives Hillel 100 dirhams as an absolute debt and the latter agrees to work until the amount is repaid. If Hillel wishes to leave this employment, he must pay the entire balance of the debt. It seems that Abū al-Faraj is also to pay Hillel a wage, though the amount is unspecified. Repayment of the debt is to be recorded on the document itself. Abū al-Faraj is referred to as "his teacher", though his trade is not clear from the document; he is simply called "the [government] employee". This and the fact that Hillel indentures himself to Abū al-Faraj with the loan, suggests an apprenticeship relationship, though the nature of the work itself is unclear. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 63-64)

Fragment of a partnership document (per FGP), involving R. Shemuel, Abū l-Faraj al-Yatom, Yiṣḥaq ha-Dayyan, Abū l-Bishr. Written by Mevorakh b. Natan, during the reign of Shmuel b. Hananya ha-Nagid, so we can date it to 1150-1160 (AA).

A bill of debt between Shmarya b. She’erit Hakohen and Abu al-Fadl Shilo. Written in Minyat Ashna, under the Jurisdiction of Shmuel b. Hannanya Hanagid, from the year 1149. Signed by Yeshua Hakohen b. Avraham ha-Galilee, Ishaq b. Moshe and Mevurakh b. Perhaya. AA

Circular by the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya to all the authorities in the Rif to bring to court in Fusṭāṭ one Avraham b. Manṣūr who owed to Hillel b. Ṣadoq 500 dirhams. Information from Goitein's note card. There is also a note in Arabic on verso (mentioning Damietta?).

Letter/petition. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 12th century, during the tenure of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya. The sender asks the addressee to assist him with ‘tadbīr’ (management, regimen) so that he can petition or something similar. He offers blessings for the recovery of the Nagid Shemuel. (Goitein’s index cards). EMS

Verso: Reshut, beginning ויהי הכול, in a different hand from the recto. (Information from the Cambridge Genizah Research Unit via FGP). Probably in honour of Shmuel b, Hananya Hangid. AA

Court case brought before Shemuel ha-Nagid (1142-1159). Dated: Monday, 21 Sivan 1467 Seleucid, which is 1156 CE. Concerning a disagreement over financial matters between Menashshe and Hillel b. [...].

Legal document issued under the Nagid Shemuel in which Sitt al-Baha, after having received ten dirhams and her promised monthly payment of five dirhams, releases a certain individual (name cut off). (Information from Goitein's index cards) EMS

Recto: Beginning of a legal deed written by Natan b. Shemuel he-Ḥaver (dated documents: 1128–54). Location: Fustat. Dated: 145[.] Seleucid, corresponding to the range 1138–48 CE. Part of the reshut formula is preserved, probably tor Shemuel b. Ḥananya (r. 1140–59). The case involves ʿEli b. [...] Rosh ha-Qahal. Verso: Document in Arabic script. Might be a summary of the case on recto or related in some other way. Mentions Abū l-Ḥasan. Needs exxamination. AA

Very faded and fragmentary beginning of a legal document written on parchment under the reshut of Shmuel b. Hananya (Date: 1140-1159). AA