Geniza Lab

Torn fragment from the top of a legal deed written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi (Date: 1100-1138)

An almost complete letter written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi (Date: 1100-1138). Halfon informs that he applied to Mubarak Ibn Diqlas regarding an issue and also to his brother Abu Nasr and made him ashamed(?) regarding 3 dinars, probably a debt, but he couldn't collect it from him. When Mubarak will return to Egypt he will try to take care of it. He is asking the addressee to by him olive oil for one dinar and sending regards. AA

Legal fragment. Appears to be the settlement of a marital dispute between Yūsuf and Sitt al-Ahl. Dating: Mentions the date Shevat 1437 Seleucid, which is 1125/26 CE. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. See also the description for T-S NS 320.57 + ENA 2386.4, which is related. NB: Goitein and Gershon Weiss refer to this fragment as "T-S NS 320.54."

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe (1100–38). Nafisa, the daughter of Kathir, the widow of Yaʿaqov ha-Kohen, sells the female slave Tawfiq, a minor, to the merchant Abu al-Barakat b. Sha'ya for the considerable sum of 18 and three/fourths dinars. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, 331, 501)

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. In the hand of Halfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi. The case involves a husband named Yosef ha-Kohen and his wife; the husband has traveled and failed to pay maintenance for his wife and daughter. They are "hungry and without anyone" and have asked the court to investigate. This document is related to the documents found on T-S NS 320.142 (which is the current shelfmark for the manuscript cited as T-S NS 320.54 by Goitein and Weiss). Goitein writes (index card #11899) that Sitt al-Ahl, the wife of Yosef ha-Kohen, is granted 20 dirhams per month for her little daughters since her husband traveled and left her no money. (The join—ENA 2386.4—clarifies that Sitt al-Ahl is actually the daughter of Yosef ha-Kohen.) "The wife, as usual, had applied directly to the Nagid, who then ordered the court and the elders to propose an equitable solution." Apparently dated Tammuz 1437 Seleucid, which is 1126 CE. This document is discussed in Med Soc III, 192–93, 467 n.152, and also in the cluster of documents edited by Gershon Weiss, Ḥalfon, #200–02. Join: Alan Elbaum. The wording of the document is nearly identical to T-S 6J1.20, another document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe, describing a similar case. AA. ASE.

Court register, fragment. Upper left corner of a legal record. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dating: 1127–39, under the reshut of Maṣliaḥ Gaon. Naḥman ha-Kohen sues his paternal uncle Yosef b. Moshe ha-Kohen concerning the estate of Yosef's brother Avraham b. Moshe ha-Kohen, who died in Yemen and had assets in both Yemen and Egypt. Information from Goitein notes linked below.

Legal document. Partnership agreement (copy). Written in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dating: 1112 CE (based on T-S Misc.28.263). Goitein records that this fragment is from a copy of the document from which T-S Misc.28.263, also in this documentary corpus, emerged. Both fragments refer to the renewal of a trading partnership worth 3,750 dinars for which profits are divided equally, and the partners are granted an allowance for their maintenance. The parties are Berakhot b. Yaʿaqov; Abū l-Wafāʾ Tamīm b. Ḥalfon. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 260.)

Fragment from a legal deed, written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi (Date: 1100-1138)

Very damaged betrothal deed, probably between Rabbinate bride and Karaite groom (See Ashur, Engagement and Betrothals, p, 69). It is the bride's second marriage and the groom is responsible to provide them with cloths. An apartment in Qasr al-Sham' is mentioned. Written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi who signed together with Isahq b. Shemuel the Spaniard and Nethanel b. Efrayim, probably between 1100-1127, because the reshut formula for Masliah Gaon is lacking. AA

long discussion between a woman and the court about taking an oath in a legal dispute she had with a man (the document mentions that she “lived with him for several years” so he might have been a husband or a relative). The document is fragmentary and very hard to decipher, but it seems that the court kept asking her whether she was willing to take the oath. Her answers seem to be that she is willing and even wants him to be present. When asked again, she said “I prefer nothing but that the Torah scroll be brought forth” (i.e. for her to take the oath). It seems that in this court session the oath was not administered. Dated 1105. Written by Ishaq b. Shemuel (the Spaniard) who signed it together with Sasson b. Nathan, Avraham b. Shema'yah ha-Haver, and Halfon Halevi b. Menashshe. (Info from Oded Zinger, PhD, p. 172n142)

Very faded but complete legal deed, probably bill of release, written and signed by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi, dated 1448 Era of documents (1137) under the reshut of Masliah Gaon. One of the parties, whose name is not preserved is titled al-Iqritshi- the man from Crete. Signed also by Nathan b. Shelomo Hakohen. Around his signatures tiny letters represented the month and the year. AA

Marriage contract (ketubba). In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi. Dated: Friday, 15 Kislev 1417 Seleucid, which is 24 November 1105 CE. Groom: Yefet b. Ḥalfon ha-Levi. Bride: Badra bt. Aharon, a widow. Signed by: Elʿazar b. Avraham ha-Kohen. Marriage payments: 1 + 2 = 3. No dowry. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.) AA

Bill of release scribed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dated: 1428 Seleucid, which is 1116/17 CE.

Fragment of a bill of acknowledgement of a debt by Yehezkel Halevi b. Netan'el to Abu 'Ala. Written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi (Date: 1100-1138). See India Book, IV/A, p. 42, n. 128. AA

Fragment of a court record written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi (Date: 1100-1138). Regarding 20 dinars and involving Perahya the elder, Avraham b. Sasson, Abu al-Hasan b. Asad, Abu Ishaq and Yosef Hakohen.

On recto bottom line of a court record, signed by [Avraham] b. Shema'ya ha-Haver, [Ishaq b. Shemuel] the Spaniard, Menashshe b. Shemuel, Halfon b. Ghalib, [...] b. Yehezkel Hakohen ha-Haver. On verso torn and damaged court record written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi dealing with inheritance of daughters. Might be related to recto. AA

Legal fragment. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Involves Abū Sulaymān Dā'ūd. Signed by Moshe b. Yosef Nafūsī.

Minute fragment from the end of a legal query written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi (Dating: 1100-1138). AA

Small fragment from a legal deed regarding a deceased woman. A refernce is made that 'he shall not marry a second wife' but the text is fragmentary. Written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi (Date: 1100-1138). AA

Minute fragment from a list of items and amounts written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi (Date: 1100-1138)