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.)

Court record containing a complete list of items of a trousseau (without prices) returned to Sitt al-Hasab on the order of the Nagid. Dated Tishri 1458/ September 1146. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 386)

Legal document. Written and signed by Mevorakh b. Natan. Location: Fustat. Dated: Middle decade of Iyyar 1484 Seleucid, which is 1173 CE, under the authority of the Gaʾon Sar Shalom b. Moshe ha-Levi. (This is the earliest known document from Sar Shalom's second term in office, after Maimonides held the title ca. 1171–72.) Abū l-Maʿrūf Ṣedaqa b. Shemarya has taken in the orphaned boy Hiba of his late brother Abū Saʿd al-Miṣrī, and he asks the court to grant money for him to support the boy. The court agrees to provide 10 dirhams a month out of the estate deposited in the name of the orphan. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 299, 493.)

Letter (with Fatimid petition/report formulary) sent by the shammash (beadle) of Sunbāṭ in the center of the delta to Shemuel ha-Nagid (1140–59) describing a brawl and accusing the opponents of having arranged with the wali beforehand to look the other way. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 368, 369, and from Goitein's index cards)

Accounts of Avraham Ibn Yiju's workshop for bronze vessels, India 1132-1139, 1145-1149. The verso of this document is III, 21.

Beginning of a draft petition from a woman. After ca. 1120 (includes taqbīl clause).

Legal document. Dating: probably ca.1185. This is the only known document that refers to the majlis of Maimonides. It is a draft of a statement (tiqrār) to be signed by Maimonides, the Judges and the Elders, to the effect that Avraham b. Yaḥyā ha-Levi, called al-Najīb, should get the payment of his capitation tax (jizya) to the amount of 1 2/3 dinars out of the revenue from the rents of a "block" (rabʿ) which was a pious foundation earmarked for poor people. Thus Avraham's capitation tax will be paid from the revenue of the qodesh, not as charity, but as compensation for fees which he once renounced for supervising repairs in the funduq. The text stresses the great benefit which would accrue from his continued presence at such repairs. This payment was to be in the place of a daily salary of 1/2 dirham to which al-Najīb was entitled for his supervision of the building of the Funduq ('hotel' or caravenserai), erected by Abū ʿImran Beḥir ha-Kohanim, certainly also a public building. The remuneration of 1/2 dirham normally was paid out of a daily emolument of 2 dirhams which the Wakīl or administrator of the building received. The statement is not signed, perhaps because Maimonides objected to such a vague agreement made in respect of the spending of money destined for the poor. (Information from Goitein's notes and from Gil, Documents, pp. 323 #77.) On verso there are 6 lines of verses in Arabic script.

Account for building operations, ca. 1155-56. Very damaged fragment of a leaf, in which several entries in an accounting of building operations are preserved. An otherwise known compound, Dar al-Kaziruni, is mentioned. Data about plastering, building, and carpentry work are included. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 285 #58)

Fragment of a list of recipients of bread (twelve out of 22 receive 2 loaves each). Ca. 1107 (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 465, App. B 101) | Four fragments in this shelfmark. Upper right: a literary text in square hand involving inheritance. Upper left: faded text, perhaps a part of a piyyut. Lower right: a list of names and sums - probably dispribution of bread for charity. Lower left: faded text , hard to read.

List in large, beautiful Arabic script (perhaps of the judge Shemuel b. Saadya ha-Levi?), containing about 55 names, followed by a column in Hebrew characters with about 23 names, some identical. Abu al-Barakat al-Murid, the purveyor of gold and silver to the mint (see Mediterranean Society, I, p.267). Only three contributions are indicated. Ca. 1180. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 504-505, App. C 126)

Memorial list for several families of judges. mentioning some well known judges of the second half of the 12th century.

Letter from Aharon ha-Levi, Yosef ha-Borsaqī ("the tanner") to Abu'l-Ma'ali, ca. 1120. A certificate regarding the Estate of the Jerusalemites. The bearer of the letter informs Abu'l-Ma'ali that he is entitled to a share in the revenues of the houses "of the Jerusalemites." Since the man is in great distress, an advance is requested. The writer asks that a note be delivered to Shelomo ha-Melammed, regarding the sum that Abu'l-Ma'ali considers proper. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 244 #44) | Court record, written by Hillel b. Eli, regarding a property in Qasr al-Sham'. One of the parties is a convert to Islam.

Legal document. Record of release. Dated: 1169. Location: Fustat. Likely in the hand of Mevorakh b. Natan b. Shemuel. Onetime business partners Abū al-Faraj Yeshu‘a and Abū al-Riḍā release one another from partnership obligations. Line 13 refers to the “oath of partners”, in which the partners swear that they have not engaged in malfeasance or negligence with partnership assets. This phrase is a statement made at the termination of a partnership, particularly where partnership assets have been lost; reports of partnership profits are often more frequent and are often performed during the life of the partnership. The release clauses pair “loan” (qarḍ) with commenda (qirāḍ) because of the linguistic relationship between the two. The release clauses are mutual. Signed by [unclear] b. Ya'aqov ha-Melammed. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 51-53)

Letter from Avraham b. Natan Av, judge in Cairo, to al-Mumhe, i.e. "the specialist," meaning a permanent member of the court, whose name is not preserved, and who was apparently in charge of the money of the qodesh, ca. 1100. Report concerning money of the qodesh after the death of its holder. A certain parnas, Musafir, has donated five dinars to the heqdesh of the synagogue of Cairo. Sa'id, "the head of the congregations," who was given the money in order to bring timber from Alexandria for this sum, died before he could go to Alexandria and the money was left with his widow. An inquiry (carried out by the court) into the matter has shown that the qodesh still owes the widow money and the writer asks that the balance be paid to her. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 220 #35)

List of expenditures of the Qodesh ca. 1169-70. An accounting written in the hand of Judge Shemuel b. Saadya ha-Levi, on both parts of a leaf from a notebook, mentioning several houses of the qodesh. Most items refer to building operations, but there are also sums spent on nightwatch and gifts to Muslim officials. The Synagogue of the Babylonians is one of the main beneficiaries in this accounting. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 309 #72)

Account: record of payments of the qodesh in Cairo, ca. December 1181. The collector of the qodesh in Cairo, Kohen Abu al-Munajja, surnamed al-Zariz, submits his account to the court. The account refers to expenditures made out of the rent of three months, Elul 1492, and Tishri and Marheshwan 1493 Sel. The money was spent for clothes, for the children of the Nasi, for nightwatch and maintenance. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 366 #95 and Mediterranean Society, II, 423). Written under the authority of Sar Shalom Halevi. A note written by R. Isacc the dayyan is mentioned. Alternate description: Record of payments of the Qodesh in Cairo ca. 1181-82 (Gil). Request from a notable to remit immediately the sum he had pledged for the capitation tax of the poor. These notes and similar ones no doubt emanated from the office of Elhanan b. Shemarya (see S. D. Goitein, "Elhanan b. Shemarya as a Communal Leader," Yehoshuaʿ Finkel Jubilee Volume [New York, 1970]). Information from Goitein, Med. Soc., 2:455. The transcription here is for ENA 4011.29.

Money order of the Qodesh. Ca. 1162-63. The judge Shemuel b. Saadya ha-Levi wrote and signed an order to pay 9.5 dirhams to the children of a certain Hiba, the brother of Abu Ishaq al-Mukari, said to be thier share in the revenue of the "Estate of the Jerusalemites." (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 308 #70)

Verso: Legal document: agreement with the Qodesh. Dating: ca. 1160. An agreement is concluded between a certain Ṣubḥ and his wife, and the qodesh, represented by Abū Naṣr Yeshaʿyahu ha-Levi, the general administrator of the estates of the qodesh. Since the couple own nine qarārīṭ (=3/8) of the house of which the qodesh owns the rest, the repairs needed in the house could not be made without their collaboration. As a pledge for their part of the cost, they temporarily waive the ownership rights over their part as long as Yeshaʿyahu ha-Levi wants it. They also will accept the sum of the expenditures stated by him without question. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 292 #62)

Account of the qodesh, ca. probably 1158. Fragment of an accounting between the qodesh and, apparently, its partner in the ownership of a compound, known as Hiba al-Abzari, one eighth of which belongs to the qodesh. This can be inferred from the fact that the qodesh returns sums previously paid by that man for the ground rent (ḥikr). A former agreement seems to have imposed monthly payments of 10 dinars upon the co-proprietor, to settle his debt. The new computation stretches over a period of nine years, 1149-1158 - years 1461, 1465, 1466 sel. (1149-50, 1154, 1155), and years (5)50, (5)51, (5)52, (5)53 AH (1155-1158 CE). It shows that 50 dinars are still owing to the qodesh. This sum is to be paid on the spot, and the account has the tone of a deed of release, indicating that money was about to be paid. Coptic numerals are used. Written in the hand of Judge Hiyya b. Yitzhak, and signed by him. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 274-276 #56)

Legal document. Partnership record. Dated 1125. Settlement of a dispute of two partners in a bakery concerning the repayment of depleted partnership capital. The creditor, Abū al-Riḍā ha-Shomer, loaned funds to the partnership as a corporation but not to the partners as individuals. Although the two partners contracted to work the same amount and to share profits and losses equally, the partnership lacks sufficient funds to repay the loan. Abū al-Riḍā asks the partners to demand the “oath of partners” each from the other, and himself demands that each pay half the loss, but one of the partners (Hiba) seems reluctant for unclear reasons. Pressured by Hiba's refusal to pay his share of the debt, the other partner (Mūsā) brings Hiba to court. The result of the court’s action was mediation (“tawassaṭū”), and Hiba agreed to pay Mūsā a single dinar, to which the latter would add the balance of three dinars. The initial loan amount and the repayment amount were both four dinars, and that it seems that Abū al-Riḍā did expect to garner profit from the loan directly. Signed by Natan b. Shelomo ha-Kohen. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 54-56)