Geniza Lab

Draft of a lease of half a house with a garden for two years, stipulating that the tenant retains some of the rent for expenses on watering the garden, in Fustat, Adar 1540/March 1229.

Draft of an oath to be taken by Yosef Lebdi in which he enumerates his assets. Due to the litigation between Yosef Lebdi and his nephew, David b. Shelomo, following Shelomo's death, Yosef Lebdi was to make a formal oath stating that he had cheated neither his brother nor nephew. The draft is incomplete, probably because the elders of the community intervened and prevented such a respectable merchant as he from the shame of making such an oath. There is reason to believe that the detailing of Yosef's assets and dealings is complete.

Draft, in the hand of the scribe Hillel b. Eli, of an addition to the last will of the parnas Eli ha-Kohen b. Yahya (documents signed by him 1057-1107). In his previous will, drawn up by the Andalusian judge Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel (see Mediterranean Society, II, p. 512 section 13) Eli had mentioned that one of his partners, Abu al-Muna Tiqwa b. 'Amram from Ascalon (see Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 212-214, 566, 567), owed him forty-eight dinars. The next day the witnesses reported that the partner had testified that Eli had withdrawn about six dinars, whereupon Eli asked them to include a declaration that he had been under the impression that the sum withdrawn had been profit made leaving the forty-eight dinars Eli had invested in the partnership intact. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 134, 212-214, 542)

Court record in the hand of David b. Daniʾel and Hillel b. Eli (draft). This is the testimony of Yefet b. Menashshe, acting as power of attorney for his wife Banat, daughter of Abu al-Rida. Abu al-Rida died in a shipwreck on his way from Mahdiyya to Spain, and has left two daughters. Banat claims her father’s share of what remains (700 dinars) from his partnership with Musfir b. Shemuel, but Musfir insists the two were not in partnership when Abu el-Rida died. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, vol. 4, pp. 667-669, #824, and CUDL). VMR. ENA 4010.31 and T-S 20.162 are from the same case.

Draft of legal document; the merchant Nahrir b. Mawhub appears before the rabbinical court of Fustat in the fall of 1127. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, 553)

Draft of a letter from Nahray b. Nissim to a person in the Maghreb. Around 1046. Seems like the letter is addressed to the Tahirti Family. Mentions several of his relatives and a few ships. Also mentions a visit of Nahray to Alexandria, the status of selling silk, and the arrival of Ibn Basak (Masliah b. Eliya, the Sicily’s judge). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, pp. 722-723) VMR On the recto of the join is a different business letter.

Legal query, draft. In the hand of Berakhot b. Shemuel. Addressed to Yosef Rosh ha-Seder. The page is crossed out. A man gives half a house (which actually belongs to his wife) as pledge for a debt of 8 dinars, and after the man dies the creditor demands the money from the widow. The same case is probably described in Moss. VIII,403 and several other fragments: see Friedman's article for complete discussion.

Legal document draft in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu about a gift from his father of almost all his books and copper vessels; brother Abu Zikri gets only a few small books.

Verso: Draft of a letter (or letters) in the hand of Yosef b. Yaʿaqov ha-Bavli that mentions Shelomo ha-Kohen Segan ha-Kohanim. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 5:271, 582) EMS

Letter of petition, draft, addressed to “our lord” Mevorakh during his first term in office, from the “holy community of Malij and its cantor.” Only the prefaratory laudes and the address on the back have been preserved. (Mark Cohen, Jewish Self-Government in Medieval Egypt, 167; and Marina Rustow, “The Diplomatics of Leadership: Administrative Documents in Hebrew Script from the Geniza,” in Christians and Jews in Muslim Societies: Jews, Christians and Muslims in Medieval and Early Modern Times: A Festschrift in Honor of Mark R. Cohen, ed. A. Franklin, R.E. Margariti, M. Rustow, and U. Simonsohn, 167) EMS Verso: Address, in 2 lines, and 4 lines of Hebrew script in a different hand and ink which have been crossed through. (Information from CUDL)

Letter draft in Hebrew, opening with the report of the writer that he had expedited the collection of the monies pledged for the poor on the Sunday following Purim.

Legal document. Court record (draft). This document concerns the settlement of an account between Abū al-Mufaḍḍal Netanel b. Yefet and Abū al-Ḥasan Ṭoviyya b. Avraham ha-Levi. Netanel brought a court-validated document specifying that Ṭoviyya owed him 65 dinars. Ṭoviyya claimed that he sent the amount via the agent Abū al-Faraj to be sold in Tunisia. It is unclear whether the 65 dinars is a partnership account or a debt owed Netanel by Ṭoviyya. However, that the commodities were sent to be sold in Tunisia suggests that Ṭoviyya has a financial interest in the sale. For the full details of this court record and the content of its final form, see T-S 8J4.14, PGPID 2098. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 177).

Legal document draft detailing that Makin, son of Moshe, the judge, was a proprietor of part of a sugar factory and agreed to sell his share to Ibrahim b. Abu Sa‘id. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 4:91, 373) EMS

Letter draft addressed to a Nagid who has two sons. The opening titles and blessings fill 12 lines. The remainder of the page is filled with the sender's deferential phrases craving indulgence for daring to address the addressee and excusing himself by appealing to necessity/want. There are 3 more lines on the other side. It is not clear whether there remain any clues to what the actual matter at hand is. This fragment also contains a Judaeo-Arabic tafsīr of Ezekiel 23:22–25, writing exercises of Psalms 119:195, and repetitions and variations of the name Yeshuʿa ha-Talmid b. Yosef. (Information in part from Davis I Catalog via FGP.)

State document, Mamluk period, 1442. Draft of a petition from the Jewish community of Fustat to the Mamluk government concerning the malpractices of ‘Abd al-Latif the physician, head of the Jews, who is reported to have sold portions of pious foundation properties and leased others below their value, imposed high fiscal penalties, and confiscated property of the Jews, among a litany of other harmful acts. The document requests his removal from office. (Mark Cohen, "Jews in the Mamlūk Environment: The Crisis of 1442 (A Geniza Study)," BSOAS, 1984, 431-4) EMS

Draft of document of Maimonides' installation as Ra'is al-Yahud.

Leaf from a court ledger. On recto, written at 90 degrees to the other text blocks: Draft of the deathbed will of Abū l-Ḥasan. Dating: ca. 1160. He gives sums of money to rayyis Abū l-Najm, his son Abū l-Nabaʾ, and to the Nezer. He gives 1/6 of a house in Fustat to his older sister, Sitt al-Ḥasab, the widow of the rayyis Abū l-ʿAlāʾ, and 1/12 to his brother's son. To his younger sister, Sitt al-Riyāsa, he gives two houses in the Zuwayla quarter of New Cairo. He also manumits his two female slaves, Gharaḍ and Kashf (still a minor, so she will remain with Sitt al-Riyāsa until she comes of age, at which time she can decide to stay or to leave). Written by Mevorakh b. Natan. Goitein's index card indicates that Abū l-Ḥasan was the son of Abū l-Faḍl Shela ha-Levi Sar ha-Leviim; another document relating to the same family is Sitt al-Riyāsa's trousseau list, found in Yevr.-Arab. I 1700.25r–26r (PGPID 2725). (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 456.)

Draft of a letter from Yefet b. Shekhanya, from Fustat, to Daniel b. Azarya, around 1053. Daniel did not reply to Yefet's requests to supervise the slaughter in the community. Yefet has heard that a rejection is already included in Daniel's letter to Avraham ha-Masos and feel like people harassing him. The community in Fustat gave Yefet the authority to be the supervisor in the markets. The letter is unfinished. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 2 p. 745-746, #401) VMR

Legal document draft. The undersigned witnesses attest to the appearance of a certain Yahuda ha-Kohen before a rabbinic court. The draft was left incomplete in line two following the mention of ha-Kohen. MCD.

Draft of an account for shipping flax, by Nahray b. Nissim and his partners. Around 1059. The account contains details about the purchase expenses, for about 1,200 kg of flax, and the expenses for their shipment, probably to Alexandria. The writer might be Abu Ali ha-Kohen (Nahray’s relative). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #839) VMR