Geniza Lab

Witness statement given on 25 April 1028. Mubārak b. Hiba, a beadle of the Babylonian community in Fustat, declares that he had caught a man on the last day of Passover and confined him in his house. Yaʿaqov Levi b. Yosef testifies that he saw the imprisoned man escape through a window of the beadle’s house. (Information from Goitein notes linked below.) Another court record from the same date is found in Bodl. MS heb. c 13/21 recto.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic on a bifolium in which the name Yaʿacov Ventura is mentioned at least three times across the recto and verso. Based on the paleography the dating may be 17th-18th-century. The figures are expressed alphanumerically and the clearest heading on the recto states "ועלם אלדי אנצרפ פי אל שהר / notice of that which was expended this month". The expenses which appear below this specific heading are diverse, with mention of "דגאג / chicken", yet may ultimately point to the communal nature of these accounts with mention of the posts of "חזנים / hazzanim" and the beadles "סלמון שמש" and "אלכהן שמש". Date: 17th c or 18th c. MCD.

Legal document recording acknowledgement, made through a Muslim notary, for the granting of a loan by a beadle of an Iraqi synagogue in Fustat, Eli b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Kohen, of 28 and one/sixth dinars that was delivered to the son of a Jewish judge - Yair ha-Shofet ha-Nadiv Pe'er ha-Kahal is a son the known family Ben al-Shofet, descendant of Abu al-Bishr Azhar Ya'ir b. Avraham (middle of 11th century). 'Our' Ya'ir was active in the early 12th century. MY. (S. D. Goitein, A Mediterranean Society, 1:251, 463) EMS On verso a different legal deed, unfinished.