Geniza Lab

Draft of a deed of gifts, 1041

Draft of a deed of compensation in the hand of the court reporter Yefet b. David Shekhanya, around 1030. It was given to Efrayim b. Shemarya ha-Ḥaver, the head of the Jerusalem community in Fustat. (Information from Goitein, Palestinian Jewry, pp. 53-54). VMR

Draft of alegal query addressed to a legal authority referred to as 'our lord and gaon' discussing the marriage of Abu al-Ala ibn Abu al-Ḥasan the glassblower, which took place in the Muslim court. Connected with this incident the letter writer also refers to the Karaites (?) and someone described as an apostate ('meshumad'). Verso is blank. No date. Probably from Abraham Maimuni's era.

Document containing blessings for the caliph al-Hafiz li-din Allah (1131-1149 CE). See also see T-S NS 110.26. (“Prayers from the Geniza for Fatimid Caliphs, the Head of Jerusalem Yeshiva, the Jewish community and the Local Congregation,'' in Studies in Judaica, Karaitica and Islamica, Presented to Leon Nemoy...Bar-Ilan University, 1982, 49-58) EMS. NB: This description corresponds to some other shelfmark.

Blessing formula for the caliph al-Ḥāfiẓ li-Dīn Allah (1131-1149 CE), possibly a draft petition. See also T-S NS 110.26. (“Prayers from the Geniza for Fatimid Caliphs, the Head of Jerusalem Yeshiva, the Jewish community and the Local Congregation,'' in Studies in Judaica, Karaitica and Islamica, Presented to Leon Nemoy...Bar-Ilan University, 1982, 49-58) EMS Goitein thought this was a prayer, but it is almost certainly the draft of a petition formula. (MR)

Verso: Draft of a legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Netanel ha-Levi. Partnership agreement. In this unsigned and undated draft, an unnamed active partner receives 200 dinars from Sibāʿ, with which he is to travel to Alexandria and transact in unnamed commodities. Sibāʿ agrees to share equally in all losses to the partnership as a whole (e.g. losses due to work stoppage or broken merchandise). Lines 12-16 indicate that if commodities may end up traveling for sale in Alexandria escorted by someone other than the active partner, the active partner should inform Sibāʿ. The risk of loss is wholly carried by Sibāʿ. The active partner’s testimony concerning profits and losses does not require the support of witness testimony. The active partner seems to be entitled to all profits except for the maintenance of Sibāʿ(excluding Sibāʿ's rent and education costs for his son). Sibāʿ's share of the profits – a fixed amount unrelated to the success of partnership assets – might contravene the rabbinic prohibition of usury, but he does bear responsibility for losses. The use of the first person throughout the document suggests that it was prepared and notarized for the active partner, as with powers of attorney. The active partner could then present it as supporting documentation in the event of a dispute concerning distribution of partnership profits. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 97–98.) See also Hebrew description from India Book IV, below. On recto there is a business letter in Arabic script; see PGPID 9140.

Draft of a letter in Hebrew, ca. 1043, from Efrayim b. Shemarya to Shelomo b. Yehuda, the Gaon of Jerusalem. Efrayim requests Shelomo to thank “the dear and righteous elder Hesed [al-Tustari], the respected dignitary” for the powerful aid he affords him, and then details the strife occurring in his community. Efrayim directs the Gaon to strongly reprove the disputants and impress upon them the need for unity, furthermore asking Shelomo to write a letter to Hesed thanking him for his part in bringing peace. (Marina Rustow, Heresy and the Politics of Community (Ithaca, 2008), 321; and Jacob Mann, The Jews in Egypt and Palestine under the Fatimids (New York, 1920-22; reprint 1970), 1:108-9) EMS

Letter. Draft or model of a letter expressing regret for having left the service of the recipient, a government official. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

India Book I, 9: Draft of court proceedings from Fustat dealing with the dispute between Yosef ha-Lebdi the India trader and Yequtiʾel b. Moshe, 'the representative of merchants' in Fustat. After seven weeks had past from the last session (see I, 8), it was clear that Lebdi and Yequtiʾel had reached no agreement between them. They returned to court and the trial continued. We hear that Lebdi was considering the desperate act of delaying the prayer in the synagogue (or appealing to Muslim authorities see p. 81 n. 1 in the Hebrew edition). The document is dated June 10, 1098.

Lease of land belonging to the Qodesh, ca. 1180. Written on the surviving upper part of a leaf, this is a draft of a deed leasing a parcel of land belonging to the qodesh to Avraham ha-Levi (B. Yahya) al-Najib (al-Watiq). The parcel (saha) is in Dammuh, near the synagogue. It had been dedicated to Yesha'yahu ha-Levi b. Misha'el (Maimonides' brother-in-law) who, in a previous document, was appointed general administrator of the qodesh. The lessee is granted the right to build on the land and also to cultivate it and operate the saqiya on it. The lease is for a period of 30 years, for 180 dirhams, i.e. six dirhams a year; it is apparently a small parcel. In 30 years, it will revert to the qodesh. The purpose of the deal, from the point of view of the qodesh, might have been the revival of the Dammuh area, to prevent it from falling into decay. This was a practice known in Egypt during many centuries, taken over by the Muslim administration from the Hellenistic-Roman-Byzantine emphyteusis, meaning lease for a symbolic price, and sometimes exeption from taxes, in order to revitalize abandoned land. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 319 #75)

Drafts of two legal documents, the first a declaration by a father regarding bequests to his sons. Incompletely drafted in Fustat. Dated 155?/1238-1248. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 135, 543)

Drafts of two legal documents, the second (on the top of the verso) is a deathbed will by Yeshuʿa b. Avraham. He bequeaths to Sitt al-____ bt. ʿElazar five maṣrī dinārs (and something else that's effaced). RR

Recto: Draft of a letter from Fustat to Daniel b. Azarya, concerning "tarima" - a room or apartment, made of wood, that was added to the house's top floor. The writer complains against Ali b. Amram. Around 1060 (Gil estimation). Verso: Arabic document, probably a letter. (Information from CUDL) VMR

Draft of a letter of recommendation by Eliyyahu Ha-Kohen b. Shelomo Gaon, on behalf of the scribe of the Yeshiva, Shemuel b. Semah the cantor (left side). (Information from CUDL)

Draft of sale contract for 12 out of 20 shares (the whole house constituted 24 shares) in the Qadi Badr alley of the al-Mamsusa quarter, at a price of 1000 wariq (silver) dirhams (exchange rate of 1:40). Dated ca. 1230. (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 278)

Draft of deed of attorney written in Tyre, which includes an accounting between partners after the death of one of them, Menashshe b. Yiṣḥaq, and indicates the use of documents drawn in a Muslim court. Dating: Ca. 1041 or slightly later. According to Bareket, this is in the hand of Efrayim b. Shemarya, it was drawn up in Fustat, and it is related to T-S 10J6.6 and T-S 8J11.1.

Draft, written in two hands, of a letter of congratulations to Mevorakh’s “only son” for Passover. (Information from Goitein's index cards) EMS

Draft of a petition in the handwriting of Natan b. Shelomo ha-Kohen, addressed to al-Malik al-ʿĀdil (aka the vizier Ibn al-Salār), asking that he release the estate of the Jewish merchant Abū l-Faḍāʾil b. Baqāʾ, which had been illegally sealed by the Mutawalli al-Maʿūna in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1150–51 CE. (Information from Khan and from Goitein, Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 269, 437; II, pp. 353, 513, 604.)

Draft of a letter from Efrayim b. Shemarya to Shelomo b. Yehuda. (MR; see also S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:399; 2:8, 520, 534)

Introductory phrases of a letter and jottings written in a childish script. (Information from Goitein's index cards)