Geniza Lab

Bifolium, probably from a literary compendium. Dating: Late, possibly 18th or 19th century. Two of the pages are a story about a female slave and a king—needs further examination. The other two pages are love spells in Judaeo-Arabic, apparently transcribed from Islamic/Arabic-script models, as one of them invokes the prophets Moses and Jesus(!).

Letter to Ibn Awkal mentioning a female slave (telling the addressee to send her without delay?); someone named Ḥayyān; the price of wax/candles; Yaʿqūb al-[...]; two qārūrahs, one containing nawāfij (?) and one containing musk.

Letter in early Judaeo-Persian. Dating: ca. 790. Matters discussed include the local ruler and his daughter, a trade deal or gift exchange with them involving sheep, Sogdians, slaves, capers, musk, silk, sugar, and news of Kashgar, including the capture or killing of Tibetans in battle. The dating is based on political events in western China to which the letter seems to be alluding. The variant of New Persian in which the letter is written is, according to Zhan Zhang, very early, containing grammatical and/or lexical elements from Middle Persian, Sogdian, Hebrew, Arabic and Chinese. The letter surfaced in China in 2004 and is now housed at the National Library of China. Zhang published an edition and Chinese translation in 2009: “Yijian xinfaxian Youtaibosiyu xinzha de duandai yu shidu ⼀ 件新发现犹太波斯 信札的断代与 [Dating and interpretation of a newly-discovered Judaeo-Persian letter]," Dunhuang tulufan yanjiu 敦煌吐番研究 11 (2008) [2009], 77–99. An English translation of Zhang's Chinese translation appears in Valerie Hansen, The Silk Road: A New History with Documents (2012). Zhang is working on a new edition and a new English translation as of 2021.

A query seeking a responsum, addressed to Avraham Maimonides regarding an unmarried man living with a female slave. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, p. 486 and from Goitein's index cards)

Legal document in Arabic script. A contract made before a Muslim notary, in which the proprietor of a Nubian slave promises to pay to the Jewish physician Makārim b. Isḥāq b. Makārim an honorarium for the successful treatment of the slave's left eye (June, 1245)—how much is not said. The fee perhaps depended on the degree of satisfaction of the contractor. The idea that payment should be made to a physician only after successful treatment is as old as the Codex Hammurabi (paragraphs 215 ff.), and presumably much older. Med Soc II, 257, 580.

Legal document. Abū l-Makārim undertakes to sell his female slave Ghazal if she behaves badly against his wife, the daughter of the head of the yeshiva (probably Masliah ha-Kohen Gaon b. Shelomo, head of the Jews 1127-1139), otherwise she has the right to sell her. Dated Heshvan 1466/1154. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Bill of sale for a slave. Location: Fustat. Dated: Last third of Tammuz 1505 Seleucid, which is June/July 1194 CE, under the reshut of Sar Shalom ha-Levi. In the hand of the court scribe Yosef b. Shemuel b. Seʿadya ha-Levi (c.1181–1209). The slave (waṣīf) is an Indian man possibly named Padan (? פדן). Goitein at one time read it "Patan Patana," but the second word is rather ביעא ("sale"), and the first word is extremely faded; it needs to be checked in the physical manuscript. Seller: the druggist Abū l-Ḥasan Yefet b. Nadiv ha-Levi. Buyer: Abū a-Mufaḍḍal al-Sayrafī b. Abū l-Ḥasan of the Nānū family. Price: 19 ½ dinars. The seller guarantees (=provides ḍamān al-darak) against ḥiyal, i.e., against anyone else laying claim on the slave whether in Jewish or Muslim court. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.) On verso there are 9 lines of Arabic script, undeciphered.

Deed of sale of a muwallad (born in the home) male slave named Fayrūz. In the hand of Mevorakh b. Natan. Dated: Middle decade of Kislev 1487 Seleucid, which is 1175/76 CE. In which the physician al-Shaykh al-Muhadhdhab Abū l-Faḍāʾil Yequtiel b. Moshe ha-Sar ha-Nikhbad ha-Sofer ha-Mahir Paqid ha-Soḥarim (ZL) sells his slave (waṣīf) Fayrūz for 12 dinars to his maternal uncle al-Shaykh al-Thiqa Abū l-Barakāt Yehuda b. Elʿazar (ZL). (One incidental detail is that this transaction was witnessed in the house of the seller, who was sick.) Witnesses: Yeshuʿa b. Ḥotam ha-Levi; Moshe b. Avraham ha-Levi. On verso there is a filing note in Arabic script (ʿuhdat Fayrūz). (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.) ASE

Letter from Yosef b. Ezra to Yiṣḥaq Ashkenazi (not necessarily Luria, as more than one Yiṣḥaq Ashkenazi was active in trade at this time). In Hebrew. Dating: 16th century, based on Avraham David's assessment. The contents of the letter are quite difficult and merit further examination; there are a handful of words that do not appear to be Hebrew or Arabic and many place names, some obscure. The writer's father-in-law Avraham Sūsī arrived with the two documents (ma'marim) from the addressee, but these documents are useless. The first because it is for the Amir ʿĪsā, with whom relations are not good. The second is an order involving Rashid (the city?) and the slave trade but is missing some key feature. He then gives detailed instructions regarding documents to be sent to him, chiefly involving the trade in slaves "from the West" (1–11, 15–26). In particular, he writes that in Buḥayra, slaves from ״חריב״ are brought only once a year, in Elul, whereas slaves from the West, i.e., Awjila in Libya (אוגֿלה) arrive every month. During the year and 9 months that the writer lived in Buḥayra, not 30 or 40 days passed without Bedouin caravans arriving to trade slaves from the West for horses. In the remainder of the letter, the writer mentions various European currencies including peraḥim and coronas. In the margin he mentions trade in raisins (margin, 1, 6) and sulfur (margin, 5). Information largely from Avraham David, FGP. This document was also edited by Simha Assaf (see FGP for bibliography).

Bill of sale for a female slave. Written and signed by Moshe b. Elʿazar. Also signed by Avraham b. Hillel b. Ṣadoq Av. Location: Cairo. Dated: 5 Kislev 1519 Seleucid, which is 1207 CE. The name of the female slave (here called Heb. shifḥa) is missing. Seller: Shemuel ha-Levi. Buyer: Ḥasan/Yefet ha-Levi known as Ibn al-Batnūnī (אלבתנוני). Price: 21 dinars. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card and from Craig Perry.)

Legal document. Location: Fustat. Dated: 27 Tammuz 1472 Seleucid, which is 1161 CE. The widow of Bunyān(?) b. Durra(?) testifies that she received 10 dinars collected on her behalf by by a well-known tājir, or big merchant, Abū l-Maʿālī b. Bū l-Ḥasan b. Asad. The contributions: 2 dinars from the Nagid Netanel ha-Levi; 2 dinars from Abū l-Maʿālī of al-Maḥalla; 1 dinar from Abū Naṣr; 1 dinar from Bū l-Faraj al-Ṣūrī; 2 dinars from Sālim al-Parnas Ibn al-Jubaylī; and 2 dinars from Ṣāf(ī) the ghulām/slave/business agent of the tājir on the very day on which the document was written. "The participation of the slave seems to indicate that the dead merchant had been connected with his master by partnership or otherwise. In any case, such a collection also represents some form of mutual help" (Information from Goitein, Med Soc I, 204 and 451 n. 65, where he erroneously cites the document as MS heb. d.66/76). Although the scribe is different, this shelfmark may belong together with the preceding 2 shelfmarks.

Bill of sale for a female slave. Dating: ca. 1100 CE (based on Med Soc II, p. 601 n. 18). The name of the female slave may not have been preserved. Parties to the transaction: Ḥalfon b. Seʿadya and Netanel ha-Levi b. Ḥalfon. The document and the qiyyum (validation) are scribed and signed by Avraham b. Natan Av ha-Yeshiva, apparently in the same session. Witnesses for the main part of the document: Moshe ha-Levi b. David; Menaḥem b. Shemuel. Witnesses for the validation: Aharon ha-Kohen b. Ḥalfon ha-Ḥaver; Mevorakh b. Natan. Information mainly from Goitein's note card.

4 legal records. (1) Taqwīm for the marriage between Avraham b. Abū l-Ḥasan Ibn al-Maghāzilī and Niʿam bt. Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ḥazzan. Dated: Nisan 1497 Seleucid, which is 1186 CE. Marriage payments: 5 + 20 = 25. Dowry = 44. See also T-S NS J287, a petition from the same woman to the Gaon Sar Shalom ha-Levi (1170–95 CE), written on her behalf by her father. (2) Taqwīm for the marriage between Abū al-Mufaddal b. al-Rayyis Abū l-Najm and Sitt al-Nasib bt. Eliyyahu. Dated: Nisan 1497 Seleucid, which is 1186 CE. The objects are evaluated by ½, ⅓ and ¼. Marriage payments: 0 + 30 = 30. Dowry = 55 (which includes a female slave named Shams valued at 15 dinars). Total = 85. (3) Taqwīm for the marriage between Abū l-Ḥasan b. al-Shammāʿ and Sitt al-Thanā' bt. Abū l-Makārim אלתווזי. Dated: Av 1497 Seleucid, which is 1186 CE. Marriage payments: 0 + 15 = 15. Dowry = 33. Total = 48. (4) Taqwīm for the marriage between Munajjā b. Hiba al-Ṭabīb and Ḥasab bt. Abū ʿUmar. Dated: Tishrei 1498 Seleucid, which is 1186 CE. Marriage payments: 5 + 20 = 25. Dowry = 15. Total = 40. (Information from Goitein’s index cards.)

Legal document. Dated: Thursday, 17 Nisan 1483 Seleucid (1172 CE). Inventory of the estate of the physician Abū l-Riḍā al-Levi, which was designated for the benefit of the orphan daughter of ʿImrān by order of "the great Rav Moshe," that is, Maimonides, who had recently been appointed head of the Jews. Also mentions the dead man's female slave named Musk. Join by S. D. Goitein. Join awaiting transcription. Goitein's notes say that Westminster Frag. Cairens. 25+ is another copy of this document, but the shelfmark must have changed (this should correspond to L-G Misc. 25, and nothing in the L-G Misc. folder appears to be related to this document).

Fragment of a large letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Referring inter alia to a Nile voyage in the entourage of al-Malik al-Afḍal (1095–1121). Excerpts from recto: "...send it with whomever is available, and I will pay him the price of two nights of [...].... The only reason I did not send the saddle and the reins was fear that you would not be happy with that... I hired a donkey (with) a driver from Qalyūb nearly to Shaṭnūf, to the place of the noble barges (al-ʿushāriyāt //al-saʿīda//), and we went down and stayed several days, and we encountered terrible frights on the Nile. When we arrived in Manūf, the king (al-mālik) //may God make his reign eternal// embarked, along with my master (mawlāya) as well as my master Abū l-Mufaḍḍal, and they traveled to al-Maḥalla. I stayed in the barge, and a murshid(?) stayed with me, and there was nobody to send a letter with, which is the reason for the cutting off of my letters. The day that my master arrived from al-Maḥalla, I wrote a letter and sent it with Salāma al-Shīrajī, and it was concise... because I did not have enough time...." The continuation of recto deals with trade in clothing and textiles. The letter resumes on verso as follows: "We entered Alexandria.... Abū l-Mufaḍḍal took back (? istaʿāra) his seal/decree (?? sijill) and gave me a female donkey and informed me what happened with the Frankish female slave...." Then mentions purple cloth (urjuwān) and the merchant Abū l-Afrāḥ. In a postscript, "I was informed about the deliverance of Abu Saʿīd's wife, praise be to God for this. As to the girl's death, nothing can be done about it. May God soon give them a male child instead. Congratulate them all on her deliverance" (Med Soc III, p. 228 note 26). ASE. NB: Goitein's attached transcription belongs to another fragment.

Fragment of a double query, presented to Avraham Maimonides about (1) a man who keeps a female slave—not for service—although he was married and a father of children. (2) a man who had a Christian female slave accept Judaism but lived with her out of wedlock. This seems to be another version of the same two questions contained in T-S 10K8.13. Information from Goitein's note card.

Account ledger in a mixture of Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic (and Greek/Coptic numerals). Fol. 1r: Mentions two lumps of gold (faṣṣayn dhahab). One entry reads "the acquaintance of my brother-in-law al-Thiqa in the Fayyūm whose name is [...]. 7 1/4 dirhams." An Abū l-Faraj is also mentioned. Fol. 1v: The main text appears to be a donors/revenue list in Judaeo-Arabic. al-Thiqa: 3. Kāfūr: 1 (crossed out). Mufaḍḍal b. N[...]: 3. Ibn al-Sadīd: 2. Ibn Saʿd al-Mulk: 2. Abū l-Faraj: 1. "The delayed"(?): 14, 16. "We took from the house of the captive": 8. There are also a few lines of accounting in Arabic script. Fol. 2r: Mentions ʿAlī the neighbor of Ṣāliḥ and al-Zakiyy b. al-Nākhudhā. Fol. 2v: Mentions Ḥasan of Dār al-Raqīq (which may be the slave market); Ismāʿīl al-Qazzāz(?) al-Maghribī who lives on Darb al-Nā'ib; and ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Ḥadīd.

Legal document, draft. Left side only. No witnesses. Location: Fustat. Dated: Nisan 1542 Seleucid, which is 1231 CE. Features a freed muwallad slave (al-ghulām al-maʿtūq... al-muwallad al-jins) whose name is unfortunately missing. The issue has to do with a payment in installments, but the specifics are difficult to discern.

Two letters. (a) Letter from Yaʿaqov b. Yosef [..]ān al-Barqī to Shemarya b. Shemuel. He decribes the difficult winter they have had, not to mention the illness and inkisār (debts to the diwan? see T-S 13J3.6v) of Nissim; the illness of Ezra; the "arrival of that [woman]" and their expenses on her behalf. He mentions the arrival of Barakāt b. Khulayf (mentioned in several other letters) and having purchased two robes (shuqqatayn) for the addressee. ʿAwāḍ is also seriously ill, as well as his elder daughter. He has likely become dependent on public charity (inkashafa), and he even put up his ghulām for sale, but there are no buyers. Faḍl bought a donkey and has gone wandering about. "As for ʿAwāḍ [finding relief?], here no [travelers?] enter or leave." Mūsā b. ʿAllūsh has run away from his family. ASE.

Two fragments of a dowry list (taqwīm). In Judaeo-Arabic. Includes a female slave named Waṣl ("Union") valued at 13 dinars. Delayed marriage payment (muʾakhkhar): 60 dinars (or 20? Goitein read ס instead of כ, but this is not certain. Possibly the fragment was better preserved at the time, or he deduced that 60 was the more likely alternative based on her socioeconomic status). (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.)