Geniza Lab

Legal document. In Hebrew. Location: Rashīd. Dated: First third of Tishrei 5534 AM, which is September 1773 CE. Involving Yosef, Yehuda, a butcher, and the sale of meat. Currency: medin

Legal document from Fustat/Cairo, dated 1777 CE (end of Tamuz 5537) in which Menaḥem Abzaradel (אבזראדיל) makes arrangements for his 7 1/3 qirats that are in the "diwan al-[...] (karār?)." He renounces all right over it. It is to be divided between his grandsons Yosef and Menaḥem (the sons of his deceased daughter and her widower Ghulaybī Yeshaʿyah) and his two living daughters, Ḥabībah and Leah. Yosef and Menaḥem each get 2.5 qirats, Ḥabībah gets 1 1/3, and Leah gets 1. Witnesses include Binyamin Revah (?), Menaḥem Abzaradel (junior?), and David Nunes.

Betrothal document and dowry list: "The clothes and the nedunya and the contante [Italian for cash] of the widow Ms. Dona (name or honorific?) bt. Moshe P[.]so"). The document is in Hebrew but several of the items on the dowry list seem to be in Judaeo-Arabic. She is going to marry Shelomo Maymūn b. Yaʿaqov Maymūn. Dated 1 July 1794 (3 Tamuz 5554).

Legal document from Fustat/Cairo, dated 1730 CE (8 Heshvan 5491), involving the partners Moshe ʿAzarya and Yosef Buntol (? בונטול) and a debt of 16,495 diwani medins. A Muslim named al-Amīr ʿAbd al-Raḥmān is also somehow involved.

Recto: Legal document from Fustat/Cairo, dated 1730 CE (1 Heshvan 5491), involving a debt of 5000 diwani medins owed by Moshe Benvenist to Shabbetay b. Merkado מוגנאגי (?). Verso: A legal record of the kiddushin of Seʿadyah Maymūn b. Moshe Maymūn and Esther bt. Raḥamim ha-Levi, from the same year as recto but in a different hand.

Recto: Fragment of a late letter in Judaeo-Arabic from a son to a father. Verso: The page was trimmed and reused for what may be a legal record (?) in Hebrew drawn up in Fusṭāṭ/Cairo regarding the betrothal of a certain Yosef, dated 1720s CE (5480s, the last digit is unclear). The customs of Jerusalem and Eretz Yisrael are mentioned. Several other names are given, including Yehudah Masos (?) ha-Maʿaravi and a R. Yeshaʿyah. Needs further examination.

Legal document (right side only) dated 1701/2 CE (5462) involving Yosef Yedid and an orphan girl Sitt al-[...] and payments on the order of 2000 medins.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Yaʿaqov Roẓano, Damietta, to Yehuda Karo, Fustat/Cairo, dated 19 January 1798 (2 Shevat 5558). The margins are filled with sums and lists. ASE. MCD.

Bifolium from a late Hebrew register of monetary transactions. Every time the date appears it contains a tricky ligature, but it may be 549[.] (?) = 1730s CE. Many names are given throughout. The signatories for respective entries are David Samḥūn, Avraham ha-Levi, Aharon Ḥanūn, and Yosef Beirav. One of the entries is about the betrothal of Yaʿaqov Orta b. Mordekhai and Ruḥama (?) bt. Ḥayyim Mizraḥi. Needs further examination.

Legal document draft of a debt contract ("shtar/שטר," l. 7, 13) recording financial arrangments where Spanish Seville-minted reales "ריאליס שיבילייאנוס" are in use (l.4r). The location of the document's recording may be Dimyat (Damietta) which is denoted (l.2r) with the Aramaic place name "קפוטקייא" (Kapotakia). The next line mentions Avraham Menashshe, a resident of Damietta. In the body of the draft document, just before the middle section is crossed out, the names Shabbetay ha-Kohen and Mordechai Suriano appear (l.7). A reading of the date could be roughly 1834 CE (first third of Cheshvan 5595) yet it appears more likely that the Jewish calendar year/month is Cheshvan 5489 (l.6, 21) or roughly October 1728CE (this dating is closer to the Judeo-Arabic accounts in the same shelfmark and the alphanumerical digit "ה" can be cross-referenced with the with the same ligature, for example, in "השטר" (l.13). Possibly a scribe or Shemuel Rolo himself signs at the bottom of the document and within his signature we find the title "שליח" (l.24-25). The other pages on the recto and verso are filled with neatly organized accounts in Judaeo-Arabic, arranged according to the Islamic calendar and giving many names of Muslims such as Muhammed ʿAbd al-ʿĀtī (l. 5-6r, 28-29r) Mustafa al-Qabānī (l.13-14v). The accounts seem to be dated 26[?] Safar 1143 Hijri on the recto (where the Persianate rendering of the number 4 or ۴ is in use) which converts roughly to September 1730CE. MCD.

Partnership agreement dated November 1739 CE (Heshvan 5500) between Nissim Kaspi b. Moshe and Moshe Kohen b. Yehudah Kohen. Signed by Avraham Castro and Nissim (ha-ẓaʿīr) Kaspi and Moshe Magor[...].

Legal document in Ladino, Hebrew, and Aramaic that affirms the signer's receipt of a sum of "pataqas" ("סומה די פטקאס") from Shemuel b. Yiṣḥaq de Ancona and Masʿūd Azulay (l. 1-3r). The document can be dated to 1772/1773CE through l.14r. This term "פטקאס" likely indicates coins of Spanish or Austrian mintage, such as a silver real or thaler, that are being sent to Alexandria: "y ditos siyen pataqas me obligo de mandarlos a No Amon [Alexandria]" (l. 3-4r). In lines 10-11r, the document code-switches primarily into Hebrew and its legal bearing is confirmed in the closing line with the Aramaic phrase "והכל שריר ובריר וקיים" (l. 14r). The document is followed by signatures that have been torn somewhat and have lost their clarity making it difficult to confirm who is confirming receipt of the monetary sum at the center of this shtar. The verso contains notes in Hebrew script left by a different hand than the recto. MCD.

Letter in Ladino and Hebrew addressed to Moshe Ruben dated 6 August 1754 (28 Av 5514). The sender's calligraphic signature is damaged and mostly illegible. The author has a strong command of Hebrew and code-switches into it more frequently than is commonly the case in Ladino letter writing. For example, following the heading, the opening lines of the body of the letter rely primarily on Hebrew and in l. 11r the writer switches when mentioning "הדיין המצויין יצחק נואני יצו... ולכל שירות" (l. 11-12r). In the following line the author mentions "our brother Eliyyahu Portos" which may mean "אחינו" is being used loosely rather than in the sense of direct familial ties between siblings (l. 13r). The letter's marginal section is damaged, likewise the address on this shelmark's fourth scan has deteriorated to the extent that it is not possible to confirm the letter recipient's location (though the latter portion of [No-Am]on may be visible indicating Alexandria. MCD.

A document that has been folded twice. The outer face (pages 1 and 4) contains legal documents relating to business partnerships; a Moshe and a Yosef are named. The innner face (pages 2 and 3) is a long and clearly written legal document drawn up in Alexandria involving business partnerships, dated 1750 CE (Heshvan 5511). The occasion seems to have been the death of R. Shulam, a native of Rhodes who lived in Izmir for many years. His partners included Avraham Arukh and Nissim Provencal, residents of Alexandria, and Shem Tov al-Hadif (?) who is from Rhodes but presently in Alexandria. It seems the partners are now agreeing to transfer the partnership into the name of Yiṣḥaq Nemias (? נעמיאס) and Yosef Shulam. There are another 50 lines or so: merits further examination.

Letter in Ladino from Mordechai Mir to Avraham Crespin (or Krispin) in Cairo. Dated 15 Cheshvan [5]550 or 4 November 1789CE. A number of other individuals are mentioned, including: Fransis de Costa, Yiṣḥaq Tilio (Tiglio?), and someone with the surname Aghion whose first name is not mentioned (l. 8-10r). This is a brief letter in which the author is mentioning a variety of other correspondnence in connection with these individuals and the recipient Avraham Crespin. MCD.

Letter or letters. In Ladino. Dated: 29 Tishrei 5548 AM, which is 11 October 1787 CE. There are two blocks of text in two different hands. The first is from Mordekhay (or Martin?) b. Mir(?) to Carmen(?) de Curiel. The second mentions shipments of goods to Thessaloniki, Izmir, and France (l. 20f).

Letter in Italian addressed to Seid Barda et Abram Amram, Cairo, 1719 CE. Livorno is mentioned in the first lines. There are also sums and a single line in Hebrew: "Today is the 18th of Tammuz .. 94."

Letter in Spanish from Abram Nunez (?) to Sehid Barda, Cairo, dated 1712 CE (4 Nisan 5472). The letter is on Page 1 and the address on Page 4.

A letter in Ladino, possibly to Ya'aqov b. Habib, however, not the same person as the famous author of 'Ayn Ya'aqov. A Ya'aqov b. Habib is also mentioned in the Ladino letter 13J7.30. This letter is dated 1718 CE (5478). The address is then somewhat confusing: "to the sages Alpalas y Sahalon (?), Mitzrayim." It also says "Zurich" (?) in latin characters along with the date. Needs further examination. See "Alpalas y Sahalon" tag for other documents from the same group. ASE.

Letters in Ladino that from Shem Tov b. Mozeo (Moshe?) and another individual with a distinct signature and hand. The letter on the fourth scan for this shelfmark is dated 1750 CE (Adar 5510). These letters were likely drawn up on separate days by different individuals and were sent together on the same piece of paper (or they were subsequently sewn together given the presence of thread in the fourth scan f. 2v. The first letter mentions a monetary sum in Venetian "ducats / ducados" (f.1 l. 4r) and later on an orphan "גואירפ׳נה" may be referenced (f. 1 l. 10r). The second letter mentions the financial arrangement connected to moneylending known as "polisa / פוליסה" (f. 2 l.8v). MCD.