Geniza Lab

Lease of an apartment to a parnas as settlement of a debt, AD 1029-1031. The qodesh owes Yaʿaqov b. Mevasser (whom we shall find six years later in charge of the properties of the qodesh) 10 dinars, apparently the balance of money borrowes from him to carry out repairs in the arba, the estates, belonging to the qodesh. The parnasim do not find any way to pay him this sum, and therefore it is decided to lease him the compound of the qodesh in the b. Khabisa lane for two years, for 5 dinars a year. The four parnasim receive permission to do this from Isaac ha-Kohen b. Haggay, who was apparently a member of the court, the whole community being witness to the act of lease. The compound seems to be Dar Sumana. Some special stipulation was added regarding the hikr, probably stating which of the two parties had to pay it. The verso, which was probably written two years later, includes a declaration, which apparently definitively absolves the qodesh from payment of the last five dinars still due to Yaʿaqov b. Mevasser. The recipient of the declaration, Isaac ha-Kohen b. Haggay, transfers the deed to Husayn b. Hillel (probably identical with Husayn al-Dhahabi). Samuel ha-Kohen b. Avtalyon, one of the leaders of the Palestinian congregation, is the signatory at the bottom of the deed. Written by Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 144 #4)

Legal document. Deed of dedication of a house in Damascus to the Great Synagogue, ca. 1090. A certain Meshullam, known as Ibn Shurayq al-Dimashqi, i.e. "the Damascene," dedicates his house to the Great Synagogue of Damascus, to which it is adjacent. The document is a draft written in the hand of Avraham b. Natan, one of the prominent members of the courts in Fustat and Cairo; it is unsigned, and as the name of the donor's father was not yet known, a space was left so it could be inserted later. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 214-215 #33)

Deposition in the Jewish Court of Tyre, ca. 1028. The rent of a compound in Aleppo has been dedicated by its owner, Hilla b. Joseph, to the Great Synagogue in that city; the sons of Hilla, Mevorakh and Mufarrij, now live in Tyre. They declare before the court that the allegations of a certain man from Aleppo, who claims that the house was sold to him by their father, are vain and unfounded. The brothers insist twice upon the fact that it is the rent that was dedicated. They also insist on the fact that the man cannot prove the purchase, since he holds no deeds of purchase. The intention of the brothers to sell that house is apparent enough, though the relevant passage in this matter has unfortunately been damaged. They seem to be insisting that the dedication of the rent was on condition that it lapses if the heirs decide to sell it. Had the house itself been dedicated, the heirs would not have had a word to say about deeds of purchase nor would the case have been discussed in court at all. As we have it, the story behing the document seems to be that the late Hilla actually received money from the purchaser, but died before the deed of sale had been concluded. The heirs now strive to prevent the man from collecting the rent of the house, in order not to create a legal precedent, and keep the right to sell it at a convenient opportunity. The community of Aleppo probably claimed that the house itself had been dedicated. As to the claimant, he seems to have taken some steps to gain possession of the house, perhaps with the aid of a Muslim court. We have the therefore three parties involved in the case, with conflicting interests. The deposition of the brothers, as recorded by the court in Tyre, is preceded by a lenghty verified introduction, in a very flowery style, which forms the first half of the letter. The first part of the introduction is a eulogy, alphabetically arranged, to the learned people of Aleppo and their leader, the head of the court, R. Yaʿaqov b. Joseph. The letter is written in the hand of Shemuel b. Moshe. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 127-128 #2)

Account of the Qodesh: building expenditures, ca. 1041. Most items in this account refer to building operations at the synagogue. Some other synagogue expenditures, such as oil, are also listed. Further details refer to a number of compounds belonging to the qodesh. It is written in a calligraphic handwriting and the account was probably intended ofr public display in the synagogue. The handwriting of Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya can be recognized. Since the document refers to oil used in the synagogue to the end of Elul 1351 Sel. (10 Sept. 1040), it was probably written in 1041. The verso of the document was used at the end of 1041 for an account written in Arabic characters. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 175 #12)

Account of the Qodesh: computation of total yearly revenue from rent, ca. 1041. A draft, written in Arabic characters apparently by Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya on the verso, probably after the recto had been display in the synagogue for several months. The parnas records the total yearly revenues, in gold and wariq (cash/silver). The revenue in gold was smaller than expected, and that in wariq bigger. Several additional revenue items and debts are listed. The account ended on 30 August 1041. (Gil, Documents, 179 #13) VMR

Record of a deposition in court, written in the hand of the scribe Hillel b. Eli, ca. 1095. The record states that Perahya b. Ya'aqov appeared in court and dedicated his compound to the two synagogues, of the Palestinians and the Babylonians. The rent of the compound is to be spent on oil for the two synagogues, in equal parts. Since there were too many errors in this document, the scribe probably decided to write it again, and that is perhaps the reason why the document is unsigned. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 217 #34)

Lease of a ruin belonging to the Great Synagogue of Ramla, ca. 1038. The "people of the Great Synagogue," i.e. the representatives of the congregation of the Palestinians, in Ramla, lease one half of a ruin owned by the synagogue, to a certain Sedaqa b. Yefet al-Shiraji. The lease is for a period of 20 years, at the price of hald a dinar yearly, to serve for repairs and other needs of the synagogue. The lessee intends to repair the ruin. His investments in stones and timber will be considered as covered after that period. He will then have to decide whether he wants to live there and pay rent at the prices then current or to live elsewhere; in either case, if there is a balance from his investment which will not have been covered, the congregation will return it to him. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 147 #5)

Document regarding claims made at court. Persons named as concerned (line 1) are Ibn Hadida and Abu al-Ala al-Halabi and in the body of the document, Aharon b. Moshe and Shelomo b. Hillel, regarding transactions made by the claimant's father. Dated Nisan 1409/ March 1098. Signed by Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel, Avraham b Shema'ya, and Nissim b. Nahray, and in the postscript adding more details, the same three plus Hillel b. Eli. Part of a notary's notebook, see also CUL Add.3422 a-b (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 601)

Karaite marriage contract of the groom Hezekiah and the bride Sarwa written in Shevat 1339/ February 1028 in Jerusalem. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 50, 376)

Private account written by Nahray b. Nissim and one of his partners. Around 1059. Account for shipping wood from Egypt to the Maghreb via Mayadiya. Also mentions accounts about shipping varnish and buying flax. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #288) VMR

Letter from Yosef b. Kulayb, Ramla, to the gaonic pretender (here titled ra's al-mathība) Natan b. Avraham, probably in Tyre, May 1041. He reports the struggle between Natan b. Avraham's adherents and those of Shelomo b. Yehuda and the question of whether Yehuda the ḥazzān or Ibn ʿAlī or both should have taqdima. Information from Goitein's note card (#12248).

Letter from a merchant in the Maghreb to his business partner in Fustat (might be a person from the Tahirti family). The beginning of the 11th century. Details about selling large quantity of flax and shipments of hundreds of dinars from the Maghreb to Egypt. Also mentions buying lead and other goods and details about the prices of different goods as indigo. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #137) VMR

Short letter sent from Yosef b Avraham to Ismail b. Yaʿaqov al-Andalusi, mentioning that the writer sent textiles marked with his name, and asking Ismail to buy sandals and a scarf for the writer's son. Dating: ca. 1055. (Information from Gil, Kingdom)

Letter from Yisrael b. Natan from Jerusalem to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. September 8, 1060. Several financial issues between Israel and Nahray. Also mentions copying books and the writer asks for a shipment of cinnamon. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 3, pp. 139-143, #470). VMR

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim to Abu l-Khayr Musa b. Barhun, asking him, among other things, to retrieve his capitation tax receipt for the year 441. See also ENA 2805.14 on the same matter.

Letter from ʿEli Ha-Mumḥe b. Avraham, in Jerusalem, to Efrayim b. Shemarya, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. Dating: ca. 1045 CE. In which ʿEli urges Efrayim to stop ignoring his letters and to give him an update about his earlier request concerning Abū l-Faraj al-Mawṣilī.

Fragment of a marriage contract concerning the remarriage of Moshe b. Yiṣḥaq and his wife Sittat, containing details about the dowry. Dated 1378/ 1066-1067. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, 391, and from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Musa b. Abi l-Hayy from Alexandria to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1055. Mentions details about changing coins and business between the two of them. Also mentions money that was sent to Alexandria to Yisrael b.Natan (Sahlun), Nahray's cousin. On the other side Nahray wrote a comment about a mistake in Musa's calculation. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, vol. 3, pp. 480-483, #446). VMR

Letter from the wife of Yehuda b. Moshe b. Sughmār, in Fustat, to her husband Yehuda b. Moshe b. Sughmār, in Alexandria. The letter was dictated to Abū l-Faraj, who gives his name toward the end of the letter (v9-10); Gil suggests that he is their son. The writer conveys her concern for what she heard of her husband's illness (wajaʿ). She describes her father's and her own misfortunes, and discusses the famine in Fustat. The sugar and the rose preserves that Yehuda said he sent never arrived. Dated September 26 (18 Tishrei), 1070 CE (Gil's suggestion based on the similarity between events described in the letter and those known to have transpired in 462H). ASE.

Letter from Moshe b. Yequtiʾel, Jerusalem, to someone from his circle in Fustat, approximately 1040.