Geniza Lab

Recto: Partnership record. Dating: 1096. Written in the hand of Hillel ben Eli. Describes a settlement between Yaḥyā and Abū al-Barakāt Mevorakh. Abū al-Barakāt Mevorakh loans 210 dinars to and places some agricultural commodities with Yaḥyā. Yaḥyā agrees to take upon himself the maintenance of the poor of Fusṭāṭ for a year in the event of nonrepayment. The repayments do not appear here because this would have been recorded only on the debtor’s copy of the loan agreement. Yaḥyā’s testimony that he paid his debt wouldn't be accepted without these records, but testimony by Abū al-Barakāt Mevorakh (the creditor) is to be accepted without such condition. Verso: Court record. Dating: 1116. Part of a court record detailing a different partnership. Abū al-Surūr Simḥa ha-Kohen brings a power of attorney to pursue the claims of the brothers Abū al-Ma‘ālī and Abū al-Wafā Tamīm b. Yeshu‘a regarding a partnership held by their dead brother Mevorakh, with Yaḥyā (the same Yaḥyā from the recto) and Abū al-Ḥusayn the money-changer. The structure of the partnership is unclear, but it seems likely that Mevorakh was an investor and Abū al-Barakāt had always been the active partner. Upon Mevorakh’s death, Yaḥyā and Abū Ḥusayn claim 2/3 of the partnership assets, leaving Simḥa to collect the remaining 1/3 for Mevorakh’s heirs. The verso is written in a different hand from the recto, likely that of Nissim b. Naḥray. Signed by Barukh b. Yiṣḥaq, the chief judge of Aleppo. The connection between the two documents is Abū al-Barakāt and Yaḥyā. Per Goitein, this Abū al-Barakāt is not the Mevorakh mentioned on the recto but rather Abū al-Barakāt Mevorakh b. Shelomo al-Ḥalabī, and Yaḥyā is Abū al-Ḥasan Yaḥyā ha-Kohen b. Shemuel ha-Kohen al-Baghdādī. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 56-60)

Legal document. Apprenticeship agreement. Dated December 1150 or January 1151. Location: Fustat. Written in the jurisdiction of Shemuel b. Ḥananya ha-Nagid, between Abū al-Faraj al-Musta‘mil b. Shelomo and Hillel b. Sālim. Abū al-Faraj gives Hillel 100 dirhams as an absolute debt and the latter agrees to work until the amount is repaid. If Hillel wishes to leave this employment, he must pay the entire balance of the debt. It seems that Abū al-Faraj is also to pay Hillel a wage, though the amount is unspecified. Repayment of the debt is to be recorded on the document itself. Abū al-Faraj is referred to as "his teacher", though his trade is not clear from the document; he is simply called "the [government] employee". This and the fact that Hillel indentures himself to Abū al-Faraj with the loan, suggests an apprenticeship relationship, though the nature of the work itself is unclear. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 63-64)

List, an account of expenditures, by Abū al-Munajjā al-Zariz, including clothing the poor (140 dirhams), money for the children of the nasi, for payment to the acquaintance of the dayyan. | List or account in which the Kohen Abū al-Munajjā, surnamed al-Zariz, collector for the charitable foundations in New Cairo, turns in 100 dirhams that were used for the distribution of clothing, and an additional 50 that were spent on another approved charity. Dated Tevet 1493/ December 1181. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, 423) Written under the authority of the Nagid Sar Shalom ha-Levi. A note written by R. Isacc the dayyan is mentioned. The transcription here is for ENA NS 28.15.

List of distributions for charity, some of the entries similar to the T-S K15 lists, dated ca. 1107 (see Goitein, Mediterranean Society, II, Appendix B 19-23)

Account of a parnas, ca. 1152. Details of rent collection, written in the hand of the Judge Hiyya b. Yiṣḥaq. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 269 #54)

Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen, advising the elder Munajjā to give out three ūqiyyas of rose and lemon (preserve). (Information from CUDL)

Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen, advising the elder Munajjā to give out three ūqiyyas of lemon and rose drink. (Information from CUDL)

Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen, advising the elder Munajjā to give out two ūqiyyas of rose and lemon preserve. (Information from CUDL)

Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen, advising the elder Munajjā to give out two ūqiyyas of rose (preserve) and two ūqiyyas of lemon (preserve). (Information from CUDL)

Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen, advising the elder Munajjā to give out three ūqiyyas of lemon drink. (Information from CUDL)

Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen, advising the elder Munajjā to give out three ūqiyyas of lemon and two ūqiyyas of sorrel. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen, advising the elder Munajjā to give out two ūqiyyas of lemon and one ūqiyya (of lemon) extra. On verso there are Coptic numerals, perhaps accounts. (Information from CUDL)

Order of payment issued by Abū Zikrī Kohen, advising the elder Munajjā to give out a raṭl of lemon juice and three dirhams. (Information from CUDL)

Fihrist copy of Saadya Gaon’s works sent to Fustat by the gaon’s sons Sheʾerit and Dosa in 953. The copy is dated 2 October 1113. In the fihrist the exact date of Saadya’s death is given as Sunday, 26th Iyyar, 1253 of the Seleucid Era, corresponding to 15th May 942 CE. Another copy of the same fihrist is found in T-S NS 298.27. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 30 and Allony, Frenkel, The Jewish Library in the Middle Ages, p. 312.)

Letter from Avraham Ibn Yiju to his brothers and sisters after his safe return from India to Aden, 11 September, 1149. Alternate description: Letter written by the India trader Avraham Ibn Yiju after his arrival in Aden, to his brothers and sisters in al-Mahdiyya or anywhere else in Ifriqiya. This letter, from September 11, 1149, is primarily addressed to Avraham’s elder brother Yosef, although he also speaks to another brother Mevasser. Covered topics include the future marriage of Avraham’s daughter, consolation for the reported death of an individual, and encouragement for the recipient to pay a visit to his brother Avraham. (S. D. Goitein, Medieval Jewish Traders, 201–06) EMS

Letter from Shabbetay b. Avraham to a notable, mentioning prayers made in his name. Identification of the writer based on handwriting. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Mūsā Ibn al-Lakhtūsh to Ḥalfon b. Nathaniel, mentioning Yehuda ha-Levi. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Abraham Ṣiqillī to Ḥalfon b. Natanʾel. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from a physician to his uncle. Tells the writer's sad story, which involved the death of his beloved wife, an unfortunate second marriage, and his eventual flight. The writer asks his uncle to give his son the family bible. (Edited, translated, and analyzed at length in Oded Zinger's dissertation, chapter 5 and document #10.)

Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Asher Sefardi to the head Parnas Abū l-Faḍl Mevorakh b. Avraham, instructing him to make payments to needy people, ranging from one eighth of a dinar to half a dinar. (Information from CUDL)