Geniza Lab

Deed of remittance, dated 5316 (= 1556 CE) between Isaac b. ʿOvadya (possibly including his brother-in-law, Yaʿir) and Zephaniah b. Ḥayyim Saragossi (סרגוסי). The remittance is from business dealings and debts, including the proceeds of a sale of barrels of wine in Egypt. Signed by ʿOvadya ha-Levi the doctor and Nathan b. Makhlūf. (Information from CUDL)

Deed, written in 5318 (= 1558 CE) in Rashid (ראשיד, Rosetta), settling debts between Shelomo, Rahamim and Reuben. Signed by Abraham b. Shelomo Levi the judge (חקאן), Saʿadya Abū l-Khayr (בולכייר), Elyaqim Ashkenazi b. Shelomo, Menaḥem Delmedigo and Moses Benjamin b. לא״א (either לאדני אבי or לאהובי אבי) the holy, the humble, כה״ר Jacob. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document from Egypt dated 5323 (= 1563 CE), between Hoda b. Zeraḥ Damuhi and Moses, a repairer of books, known as מג׳מגם (on verso, מג׳מג׳ם). Signed by Abraham b. Isaiah the cantor and Shelomo Maʾazuzi (מאזוזי). Verso contains Moses’ name, written transversely in relation to the text on recto. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document from Jerusalem dated 417 according to ‘Pereq the lesser’ (= 1657 CE) concerning a disputed inheritance. Jacob Espadil (אישפדיל) made a statement before the court detailing how Kelaiah (כילייא), the wife of Isaac ʿOvadya, kept back some of the inheritance from her late sister Oro (אורו), widow of Shelomo Pesante (פיזאנטי), which had been left to the orphan Judah (יאודה). Words have been deleted and additions made between the lines and in the left-hand margin. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document from Egypt, dated 5562 (= 1802 CE), concerning Isaac Mizraḥi. (Information from CUDL)

Testimony of Abū Saʿd al-Ḥarīrī Ḥalfon b. Isaac, referring to Abū l-Ḥasan and Hiba b. Abraham. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. (Information from CUDL)

Fragment of a responsum (or a letter). In Judaeo-Arabic. EMS. On verso there is an ofan for Roš ha-Šana. The refrain is ה’ אלהים צבאות מי כמוךחסין יה, and a second strophe starts עליונים ותחתונים שמו. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: late legal document, detailing the financial arrangements between the woman Sitt al-Bayt b. Aaron the merchant (אל תאג׳ר), her husband Joseph the carpenter (אל נג׳אר), and her brother and mother. The document is unfinished and undated. Verso: different legal document involving the same parties, written in Egypt and dated 1st Ḥeshvan 5326 (= 1565 CE). (Information from CUDL)

Deed of partnership. In Hebrew. Dating: First half of the 16th century, based on the names and the hand of the scribe (who was prolific in this period). The parties are Yehuda b. Yaʿaqov Senyor (שיניור, not שיכור) and Moshe b. Yosef Bagilyer (באגלייר). The business is tanning (bi-l-madābigh / באלמדאבג). (Information in part from CUDL)

Part of a late legal document, c. 16th-17th century, from Egypt, concerning a property (אלקצר, ‘hall, ground-floor building’) in the quarter סוליימאן כ[א.]שה. The principal parties are Moses Abulafia (אבו אל[ע]אפיא), Jacob מטראטיל and Aaron Berav (בירב). The date is not preserved. (Information from CUDL)

End of a legal document from Egypt, dated 5337 (= 1577 CE), signed by Joseph b. (בכמה״ר) Moses Dammuhi (דמוהי). (Information from CUDL)

Fragment from a legal document signed by Shemuʾel. (Information from CUDL)

Letter recounting a dispute. The writer is scared that someone will kill him should he fall into his hands. Mentions Elʿazar the judge, Abū l-Ḥasan, Abū l-Ṭāhir, Fusṭāṭ and Cairo. On verso are accounts in Arabic and the rest of the letter, obviously written around the Arabic accounts. (Information from CUDL)

Note, written in the first person and addressing R. Abraham in the second person. It concludes with ושלומך יגדל (probably). The matter of ‘Joseph son of the beadle’ is mentioned. Late 12th-13th century. (Information from CUDL)

Introduction page for a book of praise ‘originally sung from the Temple’, translated into Arabic (possibly a translation of Psalms). On both sides are jottings in Arabic and Hebrew script. (Information from CUDL)

Responsum of Hai Gaon, on the management of orphans’ property. (Information from CUDL)

Draft (probably) of letter or letters in Hebrew (recto) and Judaeo-Arabic (verso), addressing a noble (‘throne of the Negidut’). It refers to the community of Alexandria (‘No Amon’). (Information from CUDL)

Letter written by a woman, introduced by Psalms 41:2, asking for assistance in a legal battle concerning the rights to a house. Both fragments at this classmark are part of the same letter. T-S Ar.18(1).107, T-S 13J13.6, and T-S 10J16.4 are all from the same woman concerning the same protracted dispute (connection noticed by Oded Zinger, "The Use of Social Isolation," footnote 37). (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Berakhot b. Shemarya, in Damietta, to his parents or at least elder relatives or in-laws (ואלדיה). The address is made out to his brother-in-law Abū Saʿid al-Bavli, in Alexandria. Written in vocalized Judaeo-Arabic in a crude hand with rudimentary spellings. Concerned with a number of business issues and future plans of moving to Palestine or Cairo. The writer reports that he is on his way to Acre, and mentions names such as Ibn al-Muqaddasī, Abū Kammūna and Abū Naṣr. Alludes to the dangers of traveling in the Rīf (פאן אלריף כולו חרפה וקלסה) (Information in part from CUDL.) This is a long and detailed letter—merits further examination.

Recto: one side of each fragment contains Hebrew liturgical poems. Verso: letter in Judaeo-Arabic *c This classmark unites three fragments, which all have Hebrew liturgical poems on one side, and remainders of letters in Judaeo-Arabic on the other. F. 2 and f. 3 appear to be in the same hand and perhaps from the same letter, whereas f. 1 is written in a different hand. f. 1 mentions ‘my master, the Av (Bet Din)’ , who apparently sailed off to Tripolis, and ‘our master’ Benjamin, ‘our master’ Mevasser and a certain Jacob, and is concerned with payment of wages and other matters. F. 2 mentions the state of a certain Yeshuʿa he-Ḥaver and letters sent to a certain Abū l-ʿAlā. F. 3 mentions a donkey sent with a certain Ḥasan b. Moses. (Information from CUDL)