Geniza Lab

Legal contract in Judaeo-Persian. Location: Hormshīr (Ahwāz). Dated: Shevat 1332 Seleucid (1020 CE). Signed by ʿAzarya b. Avraham b. ʿAmmār and Saʿdān b. Daniel b. Saʿdān. Ḥana bat Yisrael b. Yaʿaqov received a payment of 25 dinars (described as qawāmī sulṭānī) in exchange for six pairs of pearls which her husband, Daniel b. Reuven b. ʿAzarya, had illegally appropriated. The pearls belonged to Ḥana and her three brothers, the Tustarī brothers Sahl, Yosef and Saʿīd. Verso is blank. (Information from Olszowy-Schlanger, Karaite Marriage Documents, p. 41. See also Goitein notes and index card linked below.) The letter is labeled "L14" in Shaul Shaked's (unpublished) classification of Early Judeo-Persian texts. OH

Letter from a Karaite to his community, asking for the proclamation of a ban against certain people who suspect him of stealing.

Letter from ʿAllūsh b. Yeshuʿa (Qayrawan) to Ismaʿīl b. Avraham al-Andalusī (Fustat), ca. 1010. A cargo of best quality flax was stolen from a ship. The ship’s owner compensated merchants for their losses but received his money back when the cargo was found. The letter testifies to a wide-ranging commercial activity of traders from Muslim Spain. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 617-618.)

Legal document. Partnership contract. In the hand of Hillel b. ʿEli. Location: Fustat. Dated: 1100. This court record notes the reorganization of a business venture after one of the partners absconded with some of the partnership capital. Abū Mansūr Aharon b. Mevasser al-Zayyat contracted a partnership in an oil and legume shop in Ḥamām al-Faʾr (the "Rat" bathhouse), also known as the shop of Ibn Shahrayn al-Jazzār, with Abū ʿImrān Moshe b. Mordekhay ha-Kohen and Abū Saʿd b. Abū l-ʿAlāʾ, the latter of whom may have been Aharon's brother. Moshe was likely the senior investor, collecting 5/12 of the profit; Abū Saʿd, an investor and the active partner, was to collect a third; and Aharon was to collect a quarter. When, to Aharon and Moshe's shock, Abū Saʿd absconded with the partnership assets, Aaron took Abū Saʿd's place. Aharon and Moshe reconfigured the partnership and agreed to split profits evenly. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 45-46)

Letter to Abu Sahl b. Ibrahim from his brother Yeshu‘a b. Sa‘id detailing how thieves (wusus) entered into Yeshua’s shop and vegetable garden (mabqala) at night, stealing from him money and silk. He requests Abu Sahl to quiet the heart of Abu Yaqub b. Yeshu‘a and ask him to be patient, further remarking that he is ready to sell his soul to Abu Yaqub (fa lau ṣīrtu an abya‘a nafsī). Verso: directions and list of bible verses. EMS