Geniza Lab

Legal document, probably. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Names [...] b. Efrayim; Yiṣḥaq ha-Zaqen ha-Nikhbad; Isḥāq al-Nafūsī. Also Moshe ha-Nagid Sar ha-Sarim and a certain Dā'ūd. The former is probably Moshe b. Mevorakh (dates: 1112 to ca. 1126 CE).

Marriage document. Damaged and faded ketubah, written by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe Halevi. Only the end part of the dowry list, and some of the signatures survived. Signed by [...]הכהן בן שלה and [...בן] יצחק Hebrew, Judeo-Arabic, Aramaic. AA

Legal note, or less likely a letter. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. There is no formal introduction. The document has to do with an upcoming marriage, a sum of 10 dinars, and a gift to the girl. The name Sitt al-Sirr bt. Netanʾel appears on verso.

Legal document(s). Probably a draft. Small and damaged fragment in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi. Includes part of a partnership contract between Abū Saʿīd and another person for doing business in a shop. A sum of 200 dinars is mentioned. On verso there is additional text, likely the continuation. AA. ASE.

Legal document or documents in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Mentions a process of checking the qiyyum (validation of signatures) and the shimmush (court register). Also mentions Yiṣḥaq b. Makhlūf al-Nafūsī and a certain Fahd.

Probably a bill of sale for a female slave. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. No details preserved.

Legal fragment. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dealing with a husband and wife and an item of copper.

Legal fragment. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe.

Legal document(s) in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Maybe a draft of a deed (or deeds) of sale. Recto describes a house, its features, and its location: al-qāʿa al-muʿallaqa... khazānatayn... al-ṣaṭḥ al-ʿālī... mā bayna salālim hādhihi l-qāʿa... al-khashab al-kharṭ al-dāʾir... al-ḥāra al-maʿrūfa.... Verso refers to 'the boundaries mentioned in this document.' A house (perhaps one of the boundaries) was previously known by the name of Abū l-Surūr, subsequently by the name of Abū l-Faḍl Sahl, and probably ultimately by the name of [...] Ismāʿīl al-Isrā'īlī.

Recto (written later): Legal document written and signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Also signed by Mevorakh b. Natan. Dated: last decade of Tishrei 1428 Seleucid = 1116 CE. Settlement of a dispute over business in Yemen, stating that Abū l-ʿAlāʾ Ṣāʿid aka ʿUlla b. Yosef ha-Levi al-Dimashqī is owed 4 dinars and 1 qirat by Abū l-Afrāḥ ʿArūs b. Yosef al-Urjuwānī. 2 dinars will be paid right away and the remainder by the end of the year. Verso (written earlier): Legal document written by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Signed by Avraham b. Shemaʿya he-Ḥaver, Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel ha-Sefaradi, and a third person with bad handwriting. Dated: Last decade of Tammuz 1427 Seleucid, and the signing was delayed until the first decade of Av 1427 = 1116 CE (two months before recto). In which Abū l-Afrāḥ ʿArūs b. Yosef al-Urjuwānī acknowledges that he owes 2 dinars and 1 qirat to Abū l-ʿAlāʾ Ṣāʿid aka ʿUlla b. Yosef ha-Levi al-Dimashqī.

Legal fragment. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. First few lines only. Involves a female broker (al-dallāla).

Deed of sale, probably. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Fragment. "The large dār with the square door" in Qaṣr al-Rūm.

Bill of sale for a female slave named Waṣīfa. Fragment, containing the first half of 5 lines. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe.

Letter of appeal for help. In Judaeo-Arabic. Written on behalf of a woman, probably in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. "A divorced woman complains that her former husband constantly asks her to return to him. She has left for Alexandria and all the time he keeps asking her to return to him in Fustat which she is afraid to do. Even the Rabbi's servant continues to pressure her to comply (ghulām al-rav baqiya yulzi(mu)nī ʿalā al-safar) saying that “it might be good for you.” Information from Zinger's dissertation, p. 47.

Upper left fragment: Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Involves Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi known as Sayyid al-Kull. Mutual release or settlement of a dispute. May be an indirect join with Bodl. MS heb. d 66/112 + T-S 6J1.18.

Upper fragment: Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dated: 1437 Seleucid, which is 1125/26 CE. Involves Abū l-Surūr Peraḥya b. [...], Aharon b. Yefet, and the revered judge (qāḍī) Hibatallāh. Aharon may be [Abū l-Ḥa]san (l. 5). Sums of 11, 7, and 4, dinars are mentioned. A payment is agreed upon. This fragment is very damaged. Note that the small flap beginning in line 7 is misaligned (the left side should be raised one line).

Upper fragment: Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Involves Abū l-Munā and [...] b. David ha-Parnas and [Shelomo?] b. Ḥayyim ha-Sheviʿī. Cf. T-S 8J4.24, not a join but potentially involving some of the same people.

Legal document (or 2 documents) in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. The one on the right involves a marriage. The one on the left is signed by Avraham b. Shemaʿya.

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Large and well preserved. Release granted by Yaḥyā ha-Kohen to Abū l-Waḥsh Sibāʿ, the husband of his sister's daughter. Consists almost entirely of legalese, including 12 lines of wa-lā X wa-lā Y wa-lā Z.

Legal document. Small fragment. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe