Geniza Lab

Engagement (shiddukhin) agreeement between Avraham b. Yosef Mammon and Bayda (?) bt. Moshe ha-Levi known as ʿŪraybī. Currency: real. Dated 4 January 1797 (6 Tevet 5557), Fustat. See BL OR 5543.11 for the ketubba of Bayda's brother ~8 years later. ASE.

Ketubba for Yosef b. Aharon Shunina and Esther bt. Avraham Shunina. Currency: medin. Dated 22 May 1716 (1 Sivan 5476); the place is Damīr (identical with Damīra?). ASE.

Recto: Legal document involving Saadya ha-Kohen Me'ili (?) and Hayyim Luki (?) the Alexandrian, possibly dated Tammuz 1788 CE (תצמיח i.e. [5]548). Needs further examination for the content. Verso: acconts. ASE.

Legal document from Fustat, Elul 5500 (1740 CE), involving the division of profits between the three partners Avraham Serrano, Moshe Meyuḥas, and Avraham Ṣadīq and a fourth merchant, Avraham Revaḥ. The four businessmen are in the גֿוהאגֿיליך trade and they supply the princes and nobles of Egypt. This may be çuhacılık, which seems to be a type of weaving, but somebody who knows Turkish ought to examine it. Verso is also filled with text, in at least different hands, apparently a halakhic discussion. It is not clear if it relates to recto. A sum in reales is named. ASE

Letter in Hebrew dated 1778/79 CE (539 = ותקוה טובה) from the Jewish community of Jerusalem to the Jewish community of Pisa begging for financial aid. The sum of 75,000 arayot is named. Among other distressing events, there was a terrible famine in the preceding year. Their sheliḥim are Eliyyahu Ẓevi, Yaʿaqov Burla, and Yaqar Gershon. ASE.

Letter in Hebrew dated 1781/82 CE (542 = מבשר) from the Jewish community of Jerusalem to the Jewish community of Pisa begging for financial aid. A sum of 8,000 arayot is named. Their shaliaḥ is Yosef b. Robi (? יוסף ן רובי). ASE.

Letter in Hebrew dated 1791/92 CE (552 = וינטלם וינשאם) from the Jewish community of Jerusalem to the Jewish community of Pisa, begging for financial aid, naming a sum of 70,000 arayot. Their shaliaḥ is Mordekhai ha-Levi. ASE.

Letter in Hebrew dated 1726/27 CE (487 = בל תמוט), from the Jewish community of Safed to the Jewish community of Pisa, begging for financial aid on account of the heavy taxes imposed on them. Their shaliaḥ is Daniel Kafsuto (קאפסוטו). ASE.

Letter in Hebrew dated 1726/27 CE (487 = לך לאות), begging for charity from the Jewish community of Pisa. The writers, in Istanbul, call themselves פקידי א״י, and indeed it seems they are writing on behalf of the community in Jerusalem. Their shaliaḥ is Moshe Yisra'el. ASE

Letter in Hebrew dated 1735/36 CE (496 = קרן לעמו), from the Jewish community of Safed to the Jewish community of Pisa, begging for financial aid on account of a heavy tax of 10,000 גרושו׳ that has been imposed on them. Their sheliḥim are Ḥayyim Yaʿaqov and Me'ir de Segura (named 6 lines from the bottom). The Latin script on the final page (Zafed 5496 K. K.) may actually be original. ASE.

Letter in Hebrew dated 1747/48 CE (508 = בשרו), from the Jewish community of Tiberias to the Jewish community of Pisa, begging for financial aid on account of debts owed of 10,000 arayot. Their shaliaḥ is Masʿūd Bonan. ASE.

Letter in Hebrew dated 1759/60 CE (520 = תהֿלה לכֿל), from the Jewish community of Tiberias to the Jewish community of Pisa, begging for financial help. They include interesting details about political struggles and unrest in the Galilee and a month-long siege of Tiberias. ASE.

Letter in Hebrew dated 1766/67 CE (527 = וה(י)כינו את (אשר) יביאו) from the Jewish community of Safed to the Jewish community of Pisa, begging for financial help to the tune of 15,000 gerushim. They recount a fascinating tale of a Jewish man who 'purchased the tax' (=the tax farming rights under the malikane system) from the rulers for 6,000 gerushim. They knew this would turn out badly, but he refused to listen. Later, he was unable to render the full amount demanded by the rulers, so he was clapped in irons, "and died on account of the fright." It seems that now the rulers are demanding that the community itself make up the deficit. There is a somewhat mysterious episode about an evil man who wishes to bring his minions to live in a certain house. The "Italian congregation" of Safed (ק״ק איטאלייאנוס) is mentioned. Their sheliḥim are Yisrael Benveniste and Ḥayyim Mordechai Būnan (their power of attorney is the next shelfmark). Note that the gematriya in fact adds up to 537, corresponding to 1776/77 CE, but one of the yods should probably be ignored, because the power of attorney is clearly dated 527. An earlier cataloguer thought the same (see note on final page). Merits further examination. ASE. MCD.

Power of attorney (שטר הרשאה) in which the community of Safed appoints Yisrael Benveniste and Ḥayyīm Mordechai Būnan as their sheliḥim. See previous shelfmark. There are numerous signatures (or at least names written out by the scribe), including that of Masʿūd Būnan, perhaps identical with the shaliaḥ sent from Tiberias to Pisa nearly twenty years earlier (Bodl. MS heb. c 64/6). ASE.

Two pages of formularies for marriage-related documents, giving sample locations and dates as Fustat/Cairo, 1707 CE (Tishrei 5468). The scribe uses parentheses liberally

Recto: Several drafts of legal documents. Item #1: Legal document regarding a business partnership (but not the original partnership agreeement), from Fustat/Cairo, dated January 1790 (end of Tevet 5550), between Yiṣḥaq Aripol b. Shelomo who lives in Fustat/Cairo and Moshe b. Nehoray Torongi (?) who lives in Istanbul ["Costa"]. Item #2: Drafts of a document regarding a partnership between the same Moshe Torongi and Yaʿaqov Bibas. Item #3, at a right angle: Draft of a betrothal document for Seʿadya Angel (?) b. Avraham and Galiya (?) bt. Ḥayyim Madikhah (?). Verso: Contains some text from a legal document with 5 elaborate witness signatures (but at least two belong to the same person--perhaps someone is practicing their signature?). Also contains an account, a draft of a letter, and medical prescriptions for an infertile woman, all at different angles.

Letter in Ladino from Reʾuven Miris or Mires and addressed to Avraham Krispin (Crespin) who on the address section is listed as being in "Mitzraim" (Cairo). In the heading this letter is dated 1787 CE (Iyyar [5]547). A wide array of numerical figures are expressed in silver medin coinage, which appears here though the abbreviation " מאיי ". The author also mentions having received a letter from Shmuel Hanan ("חנן" l. 14r) via Izmir. The Mediterranean sea itself is also mentioned in the phrase "אי סוברי לה מאר" (l. 12r). The verso appears to have been reused for numerical calculations. MCD.

Another 28 folios from the ledger of donations collected in the years around 1800 CE. These entries are for the year 5559 (1798/99). ASE.

Legal document dated 20 March 1798 (3 Nisan 5558), Fustat, in which Me'ir ben Naʿim acknowledges an investment of 2000 muayyadis from Ṣevi Ḥayyūn.

Partnership agreement between Eliyyahu Palombo, Yaʿaqov [...], and Merkado [...], from Fustat/Cairo, dated 1796 CE (Av 5556).