Geniza Lab

Legal document concerning the breaking off of an engagement agreement in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi.

Legal documents in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Recto: betrothal deed between [...] b. ʿEli (known as Ibn Ḥunayn) and the daughter of Ṭahor. Verso: legal document concerning a house. (Information from CUDL)

Verso: Betrothal deed between Nathan ha-Levi b. Isaac and Sitt al-Bayt bat Nathan ha-Parnas from Cairo. Dated Marḥešvan 1420 of the Seleucid Era (= 1108 CE). Written and signed by the clerk Moses ha-Levi b. David, also signed by Ṣemaḥ ha-Levi b. Jacob and ʿAmram b. Šemarya. (Information from CUDL) See T-S 8J4.22v, T-S 8J4.22A and Goitein's index cards below.

Betrothal between two possible cousins (both named Levi), a groom whose father had died and a bride called Baghdad with a wedding gift of 25 dinars and the promise of the groom to be responsible for the payment of the expenses of the wedding which was to take place seven months later. Written by Avraham b. Natan, the judge. Cairo, October 1110.

Betrothal deed. Location: al-Maḥalla. Dated: Tuesday, 24 Sivan 1471 Seleucid (31 May 1160 CE), under the authority of the Gaʾon Netanʾel b. Moshe ha-Levi. Bride: Sitt al-Tujjār bt. Yiṣḥaq. Groom: Netanʾel b. Efrayim ha-Levi ("Ḥemdat ha-Leviim"). Marriage payments: 30 + 60 = 90, i.e., the marriage gift was 90 dinars, 30 accepted at the time of betrothal by the bride's father. Also one golden ring and two silver rings given at the betrothal. The bride has the right to determine the couple's place of dwelling. Apparently in the handwriting of Meʾir b. Hillel b. Ṣadoq Av (per Goitein's index card). On verso there is a document in Arabic script (see separate record). (Information from Frenkel, Goitein's index card, and Goitein, Med. Soc. 3:389 note 14).

Recto and verso relate to the same case: the betrothal of a nine year old orphan girl. A court document recording the refusal of the grandmother of an orphaned bride to pay her granddaughter's dowry in full when the groom Abraham b. Yefet, fails to live up to the promises he made in the betrothal agreement. The elders arranged a compromise between the groom and bride's grandmother. Bilbays 1221. See also PGPID 2223.

Betrothal agreement between Perahya b. Arah and Sitt al-Ahl whose trustworthiness is mentioned in the document. Both the bride and groom are fatherless. The bride's representative, a brother of her mother, received twenty dinars as betrothal silver. At the wedding she would receive another fifty dinars as the first installment of her marriage gift. The second half was seventy or ninety dinars. In addition she was promised a khila, a festive attire consisting of a robe, a tiara and a wimple for the wedding. Her dowry included a house (or parts in it) and half a store. Ca. 1100.

Qaraite deed of betrothal. Fiance: Jābir b. Azhar. Fiancee: Ḥusn bt. Ḥayyim b. Sahlawaya. The witnesses to the appointing of the bride’s agent - probably her father - were Elʿazar b. Menashshe and Natan b. […]. The groom is mistakenly referred to as Azhar b. Jābir at one point in the text. The date is lost but the bride’s father and grandfather are known from other documents from the early-to-mid 11th century, suggesting a date of ca. 1030s–1040s CE for this betrothal. The groom may be the same individual referred to in T-S 13J26.2, where he is described as a merchants’ representative in Tinnis. On verso there is a commentary on the creation of Adam and the notion of shame (possibly on Genesis 2:25), followed by a didactic teaching on ḥiddushim (innovative interpretations) and yediʿa (knowledge). (Information mainly from CUDL.)

One of four fragments from the court ledger of the Babylonian congregation of Damascus (T-S 16.181, T-S AS 146.66, T-S NS 320.108, and T-S 12.592). Dated: 6 Nisan 4693 AM, which is 933 CE. The first betrothal recorded is between Shemuel b. Avraham the Persian and Khayriyya bt. ʿEzra; the mohar was fixed at 50 gold pieces. At the time of betrothal Samuel gave her 3 good gold pieces, and he will add 17 gold pieces at the time of marriage, and a further 30 in future. This offer was accepted by Manṣūr b. Isaac, the guardian of Khayriyya. Witnessed by Muʿammar b. Yaʿaqov, Benyamin […], Aharon b. R. […], […] b. Shaʾul, Yaʿaqov b. Maymūn, and Avraham ha-Shofet. The second record regards the betrothal of […] b. Yosef with Thanā bt. Furayj ha-Kohen, witnessed by Yaʿaqov b. Natan and Aharon b. ʿEli. (Information from CUDL.)

Legal deed: Betrothal agreement (draft), in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe, assuring the wife that she would have an apartment to herself, not to be shared with a concubine. (Information from CUDL)

Multiple documents sharing one bifolium. (1) There is a draft of a legal attestation that al-Shaykh al-Ḥakīm al-Muhadhdhab Abī Saʿīd b. Shela ha-Sar betrothed a woman who is both a virgin and a divorcee. Al-Muhadhdhab Abū Saʿīd is also named in T-S NS J494. (2) An entry in Arabic containing several words in Judaeo-Arabic: the document of the dowry belonging to the daughter of Yūsuf b. Nufayʿ. Someone of the same name appears in T-S NS J357 (mid-13th-century). (3) and (4): Other entries, it seems also marriage-related, in a mix of Arabic and Hebrew.

Probably a fragment of a court ledger from Fustat, including three records dated November 1719 (Kislev 5480). The first is marriage-related; the second is a betrothal document; the third is some sort of financial arrangement. (1) Names Shemuel Neḥemias the acquaintance of Avraham and the widow Confrada (?) bt. Avraham Mizraḥī. (2) The groom-to-be is Yiṣḥaq Afiya (?) and the bride-to-be is Kabīra (?) bt. Gabriel Amarillo of Crete (Candia). (3) Names Yaʿaqov Yo'av and Ḥava the wife of David ha-Levi Ṭorina (?).

Recto: A very formal letter (resembling a legal document or legal query) to an authority in Fustat, regarding the daughter of [...] ha-Levi, known as Ghazāl, who is betrothed to Eliyya Marṭūb. A certain Moshe has been maligning the reputation of Eliyya's fiancee. The writers of the letter are very upset and wish the addressee to investigate the situation and to punish Moshe as necessary. Dated "vihi ka-zayiT hoDo" (Hosea 14:7), which likely means 1643/4 CE (5404). Verso: An account or donation list using western Arabic numerals. A Hayyim Vital appears, but the date excludes the famous one.

Deed of betrothal (erusin). In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe (dates: 1100–38). Drawn up under the authority of Maṣliaḥ Gaon (dates: 1127–39). Fiancée: Malka, a divorcee. Her brother is her agent. Possibly witnessed by [Natan b. Shelom]o ha-Kohen. (Information from Ashur's edition.)

Betrothal agreement in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Fiance: Yahaboy. Fiancee: Malīḥa. There is no payment of a first installment of the additional marriage gift. Dated: 1431 Seleucid, which is 1119/20 CE. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 381, 457)

Small fragment from the end of a betrothal deed, from the year 1119, written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi. Published by Ashur, Engagement and Betrothal, p. 232-233. AA

Very damaged and faded page, probably from a court record, regarding betrothal. From the various signatures preserved we can assume it was written between 1092-1132. Signed by Avraham b. Shema'aya ha-Haver, Shemuel b. Shemarya and Yefet. AA

Betrothal (erusin) contract. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Listed in Amir Ashur's dissertation, p. 355.

Betrothal (erusin) contract. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Location: Fustat. Dating: Probably before 1120 CE. Groom: Abū ʿAlī (Yeḥezqel), the brother of Ḥalfon b. Netanel ha-Levi, who agrees to pay a fine of 15 dinars if Abū ʿAlī should cancel the betrothal.

Betrothal (erusin) contract. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Fiancée: Sitt al-Dalāl. Conditions: 1. Should separation occur, the document freeing Sitt al-Dalal ("Lady Bold") will be produced by her husband without delay. 2. She is trustworthy in her statements concerning everything and no oath of any kind may be imposed on her. 3. He will not marry another wife [nor keep a female slave disliked by her]. 4. He will not beat her. 5. He will not leave Fustat and travel anywhere [except with her consent]. 6. Before setting out on a journey he will write her a conditional bill of divorce, and deposit the delayed installment of her marriage gift as well as the sums needed for her maintenance during his absence. 7. The young couple will live in her parents' house. The husband owes a yearly rent of 6 dinars and will never be late in paying it. 8. He will not separate her from her parents, as long as the latter are alive and cannot force her to live anywhere else. 9. A fine of 50 dinars is imposed on him in case he fails to fulfill any(?) of the preceding conditions. (Information from Goitein, Med Soc III, p. 144.)