Geniza Lab

A draft of a legal claim issued by Avraham b. Hayyim to the Jewish court in Cairo against his partner, whose name is not mentioned, regarding a debt owed by him in a transaction involving export of a rubin gemstone. This kind of stone was manufactured in the far east and was in a very high demand in Europe. 3 persons were involved in this partnership - the writer, the defendant and a person addressed as Itstafnin. Published by Avraham David in Ginzey Qedem 16. See image there. (Data from A. David publication). AA

Letter in Hebrew, possibly begging for charity. Probably late. Needs examination.

Fragment of a late letter in Hebrew, likely ca. 16th century, mentioning sums in peraḥim.

Court record concerning mint management. Dated: 1513 CE. Issued in the court of the Nagid Yiṣḥaq Sholal. Witnesses include Yaʿaqov Beirav and Nissim Biba. The issue centers on an oath that the Nagid took when he was running the mint (dār al-ḍarb) to the effect that Avraham Talmid would not do business with anone in the world for as long as Sholal remained at the mint. There are mutliple sections to this document, some of which are testimonies from witnesses. See Avraham David's edition on FGP for further information.

Legal document in Hebrew. Location: Fustat/Cairo. Dated: Middle of Av 5579 AM, which is 1819 CE. Involves Eliyyahu b. Ṣahal; Me'ir b. Shalom b. Naʿim; Nissim Ṭawīl. Concerning a partnership and a sum of 15,000 gurush. Very long; needs further examination. No signatures.

Recto: Legal document. Dated: Thursday, 17 Iyyar 5316 AM, which is 27 April 1556 CE. May be a copy or a version of a document originally produced in a Muslim court: mentions "the Mālikī court of al-Ṣāliḥiyya" in line 2. Yosef Qalʿī owes Sar Yiṣḥaq 2000 medins every month. Eliezer Ashkenazi is involved as a guarantor. On verso there are additional notes, probably related to recto. At the bottom of the page it appears that the Sar acknowledges receipt of one of the monthly payments. Information in part from A. David's edition on FGP.

Recto: Legal document in Hebrew. Late. Yaʿaqov ha-Kohen b. Barukh attests that he owes Yaʿaqov Esprial (?אישפריאל) 4,800 diwani muayyadis ('fine and good ones') for the merchandise and books ("los Shir ha-Shirim" are mentioned on verso) that he acquired. He will repay 60 muayyadis every 15 days. The date of the first payment ("paga") is given. Verso: Document in Spanish, related to recto. The year 5428 AM is mentioned, which is 1667/68 CE.

A legal ruling concerning a 'chained' wife (ʿaguna). Published by Glick, Seride Teshuvot: A Descriptive Catalogue of Responsa. Fragments from the Jacques Mosseri Collection at CUL, p. 386-391.

A court record concerning a prozbol ( A write technically changed the status of individual private loans into the public administration, allowing the poor to receive interest-free loans before the Sabbatical year while protecting the investments of the lenders)- needs examination. Image not available

A draft of a question concerning a person who bought rights of a house. Upon the seller's death, his widiw claimed the valyue of the ketubah from the homestead. The buyer argues that he compensated her for the value of the ketubah but he lost the deed. He also argued that the house did not belong to her husband but to her father-in-law. Published by Glick, Seride Teshuvot: A Descriptive Catalogue of Responsa Fragments from the Jacques Mosseri Collection at CUL, p. 393-397.

Sums and jottings in Hebrew. Accounts? Calendrical? Dated: 5463 AM, which is 1702/03 CE. On verso there are various tables filled in with Hebrew numbers, presumably for divination.

Birth record? In Hebrew. Dated: Sivan 5324 AM, which is 1564 CE.

Legal document. Location: Fustat/Cairo. Dated: Thursday, 9 Adar 5309 AM, which is 1549 CE. Loan contract between Avraham b. Masʿūd (creditor) and Avraham al-Ḥājj b. David b. Avraham al-Ḥajjāj (borrower). Currency: Venetian ducats.There are many other jottings, including some accounts mentioning the currencies corona and something sulṭānī.

Letter from an unknown writer, in Jerusalem, to his in-law (גיס) Saʿīd Bardaʿ, in Fustat/Cairo. In Hebrew. Dated: Thursday 28th Maṭmonim (=the Omer), which is 13 Iyyar. The year is כי תבואו אל הארץ, but it is unclear which of these words are meant to be counted (if all of them are counted, the year is 2012 CE). The hand of the letter and the currencies mentioned (gurush, dinar, real) suggests 16th or 17th century. The addressee *may* be identical with the Sehid/Seid Barda of AIU VII.E.240 and AIU VII.E.241. The letter is an update on the fortunes of the writer traveling to Ḥebron and thence to Jerusalem. He complains a great deal about the evil Zidan (זדאן/זידאן) who took the writer's woolen coat and is no longer to be trusted. He describes the costs associated with traveling and gives advice to the addressee should he decide to travel to Jerusalem. He describes some legal trouble with the parnas of Jerusalem; it seems that the writer failed to uphold the condition of his sheliḥut by sending a certain sum of money (קק גרו) each year. He sends regards to several people, including Mordechai קיבה(?), Moshe Bardaʿ, Ḥayyim, Avraham Yona, and Ḥanna and Lea. There is an elaborate signature of which only the word Levi is legible. ASE.

Partnership agreement dated Sivan 1735 CE (5495), to last for eight years, it seems for a business venture dealing in etrogim. The six partners are (1) Yaʿaqov Bonsenyor (whose signature is preserved at the bottom), (2) Yeshuʿa al-Ḥāmī, (3) Avraham [...], (4) David Mizraḥī known as Nawwār (?), and (5) the youth Avraham Rozanes known as Ghazzāwī, and (6) Avraham's father, Shemuel al-Ghazzāwī. (There are a few missing words so it is not certain that Shemuel al-Ghazzāwī is the 6th partner.) An interesting detail mentioned is that Yaʿaqov Bonsenyor is about to set forth for a sheliḥut in Hebron and in Yemen. ASE.

Recto: Family letter in Arabic script, mentioning transactions and a Qāḍī. Verso: Late letter in Hebrew to R. Shelomo ha-Sofer from "your wife Dona Soro (=Sara?) and your daughters Reina and Raḥel and your son-in-law Moshe." They are dismayed at Shelomo's lack of response to their numerous letters urging him to return. They ask him to approach R. Shelomo ha-Rofe (David suggests this is the same Shelomo ha-Rofe who had access to the Nagid, mentioned in T-S G1.17, lines 15–16) and obtain an exemption from the tax. They have heard that the addressee plan to travel to Turkey, and they beg him not to do so. This would cause strife between his pregnant daughter Reina and her husband Moshe, it would cause bad luck to Rahel, who is grown and beautiful and good and modest, for the world will scorn the family and say, "look at this good, elderly, scribe who abandoned his wife and daughters after so many years. He must have gone mad, because he has traveled to a distant land," and you know what the verse says, "The eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth" (Proverbs 17:24). So please beseech R. Shelomo ha-Rofe that he obtain for you an exemption ('ketav') from the tax, and (even?) if you cannot, return. See also analysis in Zinger, "Long Distance Marriages in the Cairo Geniza," p. 28. ASE

Letter from a woman, in Jerusalem, to her brother, in Egypt. In Hebrew, with several Judaeo-Arabic terms mixed in. Dating: Probably late 15th or early 16th century (per A. David); the letter is undated but refers to peraḥim (ducats), and is headed by the abbreviation בה. The sender complains at great length about the addressee's wife, her sister-in-law. "I say to her, 'Why did you say you wanted to go to him, and now you don't want to go?'" She discusses trade in books as well as bread, wheat, barley, olives, and lemons. Mentions two inkwells (dawātayn), one of which was sent via Qaṭya (in the Sinai desert). Mentions letters from "the Nagid." She returns to complaining about the sister-in-law and her friendship with Jawhara and "those witch friends of hers" (אלו החברות הכשפניות שלה), apparently including Jawhara and Sara the broker (al-Dallāla), who curse [...]. A little further down: "And the woman who was selling hashish..." (or just herbs?). On verso there is a lot more about money matters—her difficult circumstances, which even led to time in prison—as well as more about women who are fighting with the sender. She asks her brother to save her from this 'evil woman' and also urges him to take a different wife ("If a widow, she should be young; a virgin is better"). The letter was written on her behalf by Yom Ṭov b. Yosef b. ʿImanuel and it is addressed to [...] Hārūn al-ʿŪdī. (Information in part from CUDL and mainly from Avraham David's edition.)

Recto: letter of recommendation from Jerusalem to all cities on behalf of Shabbetay Karira b. Raphael (שבתי כרירא בן רפאל), dated Adar 5596 (= ca. 1836 CE). Signed at the foot of the page with 6 elaborate signatures. Verso: an addition to the letter, with one elaborate signature, dated 1837 CE. Information from CUDL.

Accounts in Hebrew, late.

Letter in Hebrew. Late. Needs examination.