Geniza Lab

Fragment of a will in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe, dividing up a store. No names mentioned. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Minute fragment, most likely from a deathbed declaration. AA

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.)

Will in which a woman is donating a house for religious and charitable purposes while she stayed in an apartment she had acquired. Written by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe (ca. 1100-1138). (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 327)

ourt recorde. Abu al-Faraj al-Jubayli b. Menashshe Halevi the elder, the Head of the Congregation passed away without leaving anything to his son Abu 'Ali and he demand his share. Written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi (Date: 1100-1138). AA

Fragment of a will in which a gift is given to Abu al-Faraj, the brother, and to Abu Sa'd, of a part of a house and a warehouse including some books, probably written by Hillel b. Eli. AA

Will in which irdabbs of wheat were assigned to the heqdesh (pious trust) and another purpose. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, p. 543)

Beginning of a will (in the handwriting of Hillel b. Eli) of Hillel known as Sahib b. al-Sukkari b. Menashshe ha-Kohen. Made on 27 Kislev 1099. Verso in other (two) hands, four names without any other writing: Sittuna bt. Ḥalfon, Yonah b. Perahyah, Husnah bt. Perahyah, Avrah[am] b. Nissim. Information from Goitein's note card.

Statement originally accompanying a will belonging to Abu al-Baqa. The will has not been found, but from this document it is clear that it comprised 11 assets with a total value of 204 3/4 dinars and 140 dirhams. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 264; also Goitein index cards)

Will. In the hand of Hillel b. ʿEli. "No wailing women; and of garments in which I shall be buried, no more than these: two cloaks, three robes, a washed turban of fine linen—it is already wound up—new underpants (sarāwīl) of mine, and a new waist­band (zunnār) of mine." He wishes to be buried next to his paternal uncle or his wife. He has released his wife from the requirement of taking an oath before collecting her ketubba. (Information and translation from Goitein, Med Soc IV, 160.)

Will of a wealthy man in favor of his wife, concerning twenty-seven assets and liabilities. Dated: 1431 Seleucid, which is 1219/20 CE. (F. Niessen and A. Shivtiel, ed., Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic Manuscripts in the Cambridge Genizah Collections, 602) EMS

Upper part of a will in a hand that resembles that of ʿImmanuʾel b. Yeḥiʾel (active ca. 1231–65), in which the husband of Sutayt bt. Nadiv clarifies that half of the house in which he lives belongs to his wife, as well as the jewelry that has been given as collateral to Yosef Ibn Nufayʿ in Fustat against a loan of 150 nuqra dirhams; "it must be ransomed with the money of the orphans." Lastly, the female slave named Nasrīn [belongs to Sutayt]. (Information from Goitein's index card and from Med Soc III, p. 255 n. 35.)