Geniza Lab

Deed of sale for a male Abyssinian slave (ghulām ḥabashī) named Muqbil, a minor (dūn al-bulūgh), who was tattooed on a covered part of his body (malʿūṭ laʿṭ khafiyy). Location: Probably Alexandria (or potentially Damietta; a city on the Mediterranean). Dated: Wednesday, 9 Tammuz 4912 AM, which is 13 June 1152 CE. Seller: Abū l-Faraj Yeshuʿa b. Mevasser Ibn al-ʿAnī. Buyer: Moshe b. ʿIwāḍ b. Moshe Ibn al-Riqāʿī. Price: 10.25 dinars. All additional fees and taxes (samsara, maks, wājib, juʿl) will be paid by the buyer, according to a clause inserted between lines 17 and 18. (Information from Goitein's index card; for potential identification of Yeshuʿa b. Mevasser, see Friedman, Jewish Marriage in Palestine, p. 457.) EMS

Bill of sale for a female slave. Location: New Cairo. Dated: Tuesday, 15 Ṭevet 1416 Seleucid = January 1105 CE. Abū Saʿd Ḥalfon (lines 18, 20, 26 but spelled Khalaf in line 4) and Abū l-Faḍl Yosef, sons of Moshe ha-Kohen, a high government official (titled Saniyy al-Dawla), sell a Nubian female slave named Ḥidhq ("Dexterity") to their sister Zayn Sitt al-Dār for 20 dinars. Signed by Ṣedaqa b. Shelomo ha-Levi and Aharon b. Namir ha-Kohen. Validated by Avraham b. Natan Av Bet Din, who was also the scribe for the document. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 137.)

Elazar b. Yefet sells to Shelomo b. Sadaqa his female slave named Ṭā'ūs ('Peacock') and her 10 year old son, named Mubārak ('The Blessed') for 40 dinars. Dated Elul 1552/ August-September 1241. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 138, 434) On verso is a draft halakhic text on the laws of levirate marriage, in the same hand as the document on recto. (Information from CUDL)

Bill of sale in which a Nubian female slave named 'Salt' is sold for 15 dinars. Dated 24 Tammuz 1395/ July 1084. (Information from Mediterranean society, I, p. 137)

Deed of sale of a female slave named Shaʿal (or Shuʿl or Shuʿal). Written in the hand of Hillel b. ʿEli. Dated: Last third of Kislev 1420 Seleucid, which is 1108 CE. Seller: Abū l-Ḥasan Menashshe b. Seʿadya ha-Kohen known as Ibn al-Maṣmūda(?). Buyer: Ṣedaqa b . Yehuda. Price: 21 dinars. Signed by: Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel ha-Sefaradi, Yosef b. Yaʿaqov, Yeḥezqel b. ʿEli ha-Kohen he-Ḥaver. (Information from Goitein's attached notes.)

Recto: Deed of sale written by Natan b. Avraham Av. Location: New Cairo. Dated: Tuesday, 5 Kislev 1420 Seleucid, which is 10 November 1108 CE. Sitt al-Aqrān bt. Yosef ha-Kohen, the wife of Yehuda b. ʿAllān, sells her Nubian female slave Naʿīm to Sitt al-Munā bt. Natan/Hibatallāh, the widow of Nahray b. Nissim, for 20 dinars. There is a clause stating that Yehuda b. ʿAllān permitted (? amḍā li-zawjatih) this sale. Witnessed by Menaḥem b. Shemuel, Yaʾir b. Seʿadya ha-Kohen, and Ṣemaḥ b. Yaʿaqov ha-Levi. Verso: Subsequent deed of sale in Arabic script. Sitt al-Munā sold Naʿīm to the Christian physician ʿAbd al-Masīḥ b. Maqāra(?) b. Hārūn for 20 dinars. Dated: First third of Dhū l-Qiʿda 508 AH, which is March/April 1115 CE. Witnessed by Hibatallāh b. Ḥasan (=Netanʾel b. Yefet?). (Information from Goitein's index card, Aodeh, and Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, 918.)

Deed of sale of a female slave, signed by Avraham b. Shemaya and Ḥalfon ha-Levi b. Menashshe. Dated Av 1430/ August 1119.

Deed of sale of a female slave named Sa'ada. Dated Av 1501/ July 1190. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 139, 140, 434, and from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Abū l-Bayān either to his father or to a distinguished elder. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. The father is titled "rayyis" (in the address). The rayyis Abū l-Bayān is mentioned in ll.6-7 and may be identical with the sender, which would mean that a scribe is writing on his behalf. The letter is very long and mentions numerous family and business matters. Sitt Ihtimām is still in the same state as when the addressee departed: one week sick, the next week healthy. Another woman ('sittnā') had a brief case of colic (qawlanj). Abū l-Riḍā is still "in the same state" (presumably sick). A woman called ṣāḥibat al-dār sent him 30 dirhams for 2 weeks, and some olive oil, then paid for another 2 weeks (this sentence is not clear). Abū l-Mufaḍḍal is doing something (mutaṣarrif fī nafsih) in the same way that he used to do. The people of Damietta and Tinnīs were apparently clamoring for the addressee's presence—the sender tries to dissuade him by asking if it is right for him to exhaust himself on the nights of holidays and sabbaths just to satisfy others and sicken himself. But Abū l-Mʿālī Ibn al-Qasqās came and reported that the addressee's arrival in Tinnīs and Damietta was a great success. There are repeated references to the addressee's factotum and slave (ʿabd, khādim) Abū l-Ḥusayn. When the addressee's letter arrived about obtaining a (tax?) receipt (wuṣūl), Abū l-Ḥusayn went to the son of the Ṣāḥib al-Dīwān, gave him the ruqʿa, and obtained the receipt, "and later, we will give it to the ḍāmin of the quarter." The sender paid 8 2/3 dinars to Abū Naṣr al-Kohen on that day. There follow detailed and lengthy reports on business transactions. People mentioned: Abū l-Riḍā, al-Ḥayawānī, Ismāʿīl, Kātib Ibn al-Saqīl(?), the sister of Abū Manṣūr, Abū l-Mufaḍḍal, Abū l-Munā, the brother of the craftsman (al-ṣāniʿ), Masʿūd, the wife of Saʿd al-Rakkābī(?), Abū Saʿd al-Ṣāʾigh, Ibn Futūḥ, Benaya, Dhakhīrat al-Mulk, and Sharaf al-Dawla. Some of the commodities (there are also many more which are difficult to read): household furnishings, sugar, clothing, honey, raisins, something which was locked up with an iron lock, something that needs to be weighed properly, maybe hemp, sheep (khirāf), and a packsaddle (bardhaʿa). Then he conveys regards from various people ("in both households"), Abū Isḥāq b. Pinḥas, Abū Ṭāhir, and the slave Abū l-Ḥusayn. There follows a report involving Dhakhīrat al-Mulk and Sharaf al-Dawla, at least in part about a Jewish baker from Jerusalem and his son, working in the market of Ḥabs Bunān in Fustat, who were cheating their customers with bad weights (arṭāl), and who were discovered and arrested. It seems that Abū l-Ḥusayn the addressee's slave interceded with Sharaf al-Dawla and used the addressee's influence to have them freed—but now the Jews are worried that this will tarnish their reputation among the gentiles. The sender reports that Abū l-Bayān has not ridden the mules; that he has purchased a new saddle for his donkey; and refers to the arrival of 'al-Shams.' There are three more postscripts in the upper margin, discussing further business matters, mentioning Cairo and Ibn al-Qāḍī, and saying that the khādim Abū l-Ḥasan has gone to Tinnīs with a power of attorney. ASE.

Deed of sale for a slave. Dated: Thursday, 28 Tammuz 1571 Seleucid = 8 July 1260 CE. Seller: the Bilbaysī Mūsā b. Abū l-ʿIzz al-Kohen. Buyer: Abū l-Faḍl b. Abū l-ʿAlāʾ (both son and father are called "al-Rayyis"). Slave: An Abyssinian woman, unnamed, with leukoma of the left eye. Price: 266.5 nuqra dirhams. Unsigned (unless the signatures were on the lower part, now torn away).

Bill of sale for a female slave. Location: Fustat. Dated: 1470 Seleucid, which is 1158/59 CE, under the reshut of Shemuel b. Ḥananya. One of the parties is Abū l-Ḥasan b. Abū l-Karam. Signed: Berakhot ha-Kohen b. Shela; Avraham ha-Kohen b. Aharon.

Letter from Faraj, the emancipated slave of Barhun Tahirti, Qayrawan, to Yosef b. Awkal and his two sons.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Middle part of a long letter concerning the rent of one-fourth of a house belonging to a woman. The sender explains that it is not worthwhile going to court, as it would only lead to fines and financial ruin, and the 'ruler' (Heb. shaliṭ, corresponding to Arabic qāḍī? or perhaps wālī?) might turn out to be wicked, and in these parts there is a lot of ḥamas (oppression by the government). There follows a convoluted discussion of the rent of this property. The sender asked the landlady to come, but she said that she couldn't come, and the female slave couldn't come, and they would split the losses. In the closing greetings, the sender reports that the children are all well. Abū l-Mufaḍḍal intends to travel but delayed his departure until after the holidays. The sender conveys his congratulations to Abū l-Maʿālī and perhaps a woman and her son (or father?) Abū l-Najm. In the margin there is the beginning of a report about something that the wife of Abu l-Barakāt heard from the wife of Zikrī. Potentially the same handwriting as T-S 12.417, JRL SERIES B 2601, and/or ENA NS 2.40. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.) ASE

Letter requesting to buy through “Ibrahim, the slave merchant” a female slave for the Nezer (Diadem [an honorifc]). (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:452; and Goiten’s index cards) EMS

Deed of manumission of a female slave. Location: New Cairo. Dated: Wednesday, 18 Sivan 1421 Seleucid, which is 1110 CE. The owner's name is Ṭoviyya b. Yefet the physician. The slave's name is Thabāt, from the land of Greece (מארץ יון). The document is written, signed and witnessed by Avraham b. Natan Av Bet Din and Avraham b. Ḥalfon b. Avraham at the foot of recto and again on verso (attesting that the bill was given to her). (Information in part from CUDL.) VMR. ASE.

Deed of emancipation. Avraham b. Aharon frees his slave Nasiyya ('Youth') on Friday, October 8, 1176, Cairo. VMR Written by Mevotakh b. Natan. AA

Deed of manumission in which three daughters emancipate a female slave, Wafa, from Jan. 20, 1181. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:436; 2:449) EMS. Written by Mevorakh b. Natan. AA

Recto: Deed of manumission for a slave. Fragment, with a note in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic underneath.. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:436) EMS Verso: Short note in Judaeo-Arabic concerning a book. Two individuals, Yeshu'a and Rabbi Yosef, are mentioned. (Information from CUDL)

Autographed Responsum by Avraham Maimonides regarding the estate of a freed female slave. Written by MOshe b. Perahya, who was the muqaddam of MInyat Ghmar. AA

Letter from Alexandria to the family of Yeshuʿa b. Sahl in Fusṭāṭ. (Yeshuʿa b. Sahl might actually be the sender.) Mentions: "the wheat.... If you saw your sister, you would not recognize her... from the female slave, she threatens her with the judge (al-qāḍī) and the barracks (al-ḥujra)... three times, and her heart is not at peace... the thing which you said you sent with Fuḍayl has not arrived... do not deprive us of the maintenance (al-mawna)...." May mention legal actions. Umm ʿImrān sends greetings. (Information in part from CUDL.)