Geniza Lab

Letter by a Karaite woman to three different family members. The language is opaque in many places. (1) To her mother, she opens with her sadness at her mother's departure. "Your love did not overcome [your desire to leave]." She then lists all the people who have died (mātū yā ummī māt. . .): the elderly Dāwudiyya (female descendant of David); the wife of al-Kāzarūnī who was the paternal aunt of the wife of Yehuda; the son of Ibrahim the Deaf—no one has been able to bury him for two days, "they say he is ḥashrī," probably meaning "without heirs" rather than "verminous" (see Lecker, "Customs Dues at the Time of Muhammad," al-Qantara, XXII, 2001, p. 33). (Unless the concentration of deaths means it was plague time, and some corpses were regarded as hazardous?) As for the writer's own news, she swears by the Sabbath day that she has had financial trouble with her landlord, who seems to have given her a loan and to have come on Friday to demand a payment. She had to pawn her daughter's ring. "Do not ask what trouble I had with Maʿānī yesterday. Tell him (the landlord?), 'He (Maʿānī?) is not hiding. It is just that he has had ophthalmia (ramad) for 20 days. Be patient. He will soon work and repay you in installments just like he took (the loan) in installments.'" The bottom of the letter may be missing. On verso, she addresses (2) Abū Manṣūr, and exhorts him, "Be diligent in your work, and everything will turn out well for you (yajīk kull shay' mustawī)." She makes some cryptic statements, which may mean, "As for what Umm Yehuda said, pay no mind. I have told you that the Rabbanite should pay the debt of the Samaritan on your behalf. This would be good luck and an end to the setbacks." (It is from this line that Goitein deduced that the writer was a Karaite.) She says she is working as hard as she can for the sake of "the dowry" (? al-mahr) and has already paid ʿUbayd a qadaḥ and a half of flour and some honey and two pieces of firewood and a qadaḥ of vetch (julubbān) and lye (? ghāsūl). She mentions an underfilled (? muṭaffafa) clay vessel (burniyya) and asks the addressees to send it back to her properly filled (lā tuṭaffūhā). Finally, she addresses (3) her brother Abū Thābit. "I have no counsel for you except that they are your guests. Do not be heartsick on your brother's account. Do not spurn (? tufqir) my advice, and you will overcome much misfortune (?). Do good deeds. He who digs the hole (al-zūbīya) falls in it. Do not lay a hand on him. . . You will regret it very much and say, 'That old woman (al-qaḥba) my sister was right.'" ASE.

Recto: Karaite Arabic work with Hebrew quotations in transcription. Verso: Judaeo-Arabic Bible commentary. Information from Baker/Polliack catalog.

Formula of a Karaite ketubah. AA

Fragment from a Karaite ketubah. AA

the exact nature of this MS is unclear. The Arabic part seems to contain short poems. The Judaeo-Arabic part describes an unknown issue taken part at the synagogue. A Karaite is also mentioned.

Recto: Karaite calendar giving the dates of the new moon by observation for a portion of the year 1362 Seleucid (1050/51 CE). Edited by Gil in his book on the Tustaris. Cf. ENA 4010.35 + ENA 4196.15, a related calendar for the years 1045–48 CE. This fragment was reused for business accounts in Judaeo-Arabic (see separate record.)

Court record. Location: Istanbul (קושטנדינה). Dated: Nisan 5401 AM, which is March/April 1641 CE. David b. Avraham Levi and his brother Yosef b. Avraham Levi and their wives Irinia (אירינייא) bt. Kalev Cuchino (? קוגינו) and Senyerola (? שיניירולה) bt. Yiṣḥaq Mazal Ṭov attest that they are giving to their sister Rika bt. Avraham Levi all their rights to the shop inherited from their late father in Ankara (מדינת אנגורה) in the market of Mahmut Pasha in the section of the jewelers (לצד הקויימגיש). Unsigned. This document was folded in half, and one one of the halves on verso (at 90 degrees to the text on recto) there is a draft of a legal document in the same handwriting, concerning the marriage conditions of Rika and Moshe, with the dowry and payments adding up to 500 gurush.

Qaraite bill of divorce. Location: apparently Baghdad, but it is not clear how this is known. Dated: 6 Iyyar 5571 AM = 30 April 1811 CE. Husband: ʿAṭāʾ b. Murād ha-Levi (spelled מרייד with imāla, so maybe Murayyid). Wife: Sharḥ or maybe Seraḥ bt. David known as Davida ha-Levi .There are three witnesses, two of whom have elaborate signatures and "Sason" somewhere in their names.

Karaite betrothal deed between Avraham b. Yosef b. Ya'aqov and Esther known as Ohalo d. Yish'aya b. Nahum. Dated 17th Adar I, 5512 Era of creation, Cairo.

An agreement between a betrothed couple. Yosef b. David known Fairouz b. Zemah is taking upon himself to write a conditional bill of divorce to his wife-to-be (described here as deflowered- probably a divorcee from previous marriage) Esther known as Badra d. Ishaq b. Elisha known as Naqash. The bill of divorce will become valid if he will not return on a set date. Dated Tuesday, 8th Elul 5549 Era of creation. See also Yevr. II A 1267. AA

Approval about paying a debt. Dated Tusday, 3rd Nisan, 5443 Era of creation

On recto bill of sale. On verso bill of release. Both from Constantinople 1524

Short Karaite betrothal agreement from Cairo 1699

Karaite betrothal deed from Cairo. Dated Tuesday, 11th Tamuz 5525 Era of creation (1765), The groom is Yosef b. Gedalyah b. Aharon and the bride is Esther known as Mas'uda d. Sa'd b. 'Ezer b. Yeshu'a

A letter of appeal to the community of Constantinople asking to help an orphan young lady. Written by Aharon b. Shelomo.

An agreement to write a conditional bill of divorce to his future wife if he will fail to return home in a set date. The groom is 'Aziel b. 'Aziel b. Yeshu'a and the bride Esther known as 'Aziza d. Yehuda b. Menashshe. Monday 29th Tishrei 5560 (1799). See also Yevr. II A 1254. AA

Karaite betrothal deed. Gedalya b. Ovadya b. Gedalya is betrothing Esther known as Rachel d. Nahum b. Yeshu'a. Dated Friday 14th Adar I, 5463 Era of creation (1703)

Karaite betrothal deed. Mordechai b. El'azar b. Aharon is betrothing Esther d. Ya'aqov b. Avraham. Dated Monday, 8th Adar I, 5398 Era of creation (1638).

Agreement to pay a debt.

Elaborate Karaite ketubba, dated both according to the creation and to the 'counting of the Greeks'. The groom Yosef b. Mordechai b. Shalom is taking upon himself not to marry another wife for 20 years but if his wife Esther bt. Ḥayyīm ha-Kohen will be childless he can marry another after 10 years. He also commits not to curse her family. Line four states that the ketubba was recorded before "the elders and undersigned witnesses," which include: the scribe Yosef Melamed, Musi ʿUziel, and Avraham[?] ben Aharon Barma[?]. The borders of the ketubba feature a gorgeous floral design.