Geniza Lab

A drash written by Shemuʾel Ben Sid on the occasion of the birth of his son (דרש שדרש החכם השלם מורי ורבי כמחה׳׳ר שמואל ן׳ סיד נר׳׳ו כש נולד לו בן). The fragment continues across eight folios and is dated on f.1r in the year 5375 AM which is 1614/15 CE. Based on the dating this may be the same Shemuʾel Ben Sid listed in a wide variety of other contemporary fragments such as: ENA 1822a.102 and ENA NS 39.14. (Fragment discovered by Prof. Eve Krakowski 08/18/22). MCD.

Court register fragment containing the remnants of 14 documents, most of which are fully intact. Dated Tevet-Kislev 5460 AM which is1699-1700CE. On the recto two partnerships were recorded, the first an isqa and the second perhaps a general commercial partnership in the coral trade for the duration of one year: במלאכת אלמרגאן לזמן י׳ב חדשים (l.18). The other court entries on the recto recount engagements that include pledges of marital gifts from grooms to brides. The verso includes two other fully legible entries related to marital arrangements, one an engagement the other an abridged ketubbah that was entered into the court register. The other entries recount payments, debts owed, partnerships, and an apprenticeship perhaps in the production of gold lace: להתלמד מלאכת הסירמקגי (l.7). Based on the suffix, the term in use here is certainly Turkish but the scribe's intended meaning with סירמקגי is somewhat unclear. It could transliterate as sırmakçı– although this term does not appear as an alternative to sırmakeş in the Redhouse dictionary (p. 1014). MCD.

Ketubba fragment. Only a small portion of the overall document is included but a portion of the bride's name Fāʾiza is legible. The groom's name appears solely as [...] b. Shelomo. MCD.

Bill of divorce formulary or draft. Location: Fustat. Dateable perhaps to the eleventh or twelfth centuries. Line one was left incomplete and undated perhaps as draft or formulary. Line two mentions a husband's name Masʿūd b. Yosef b. Nissim. The wife is named Sayyida. This document represents a rare instance in which a husband notes that he himself has drawn up the bill of divorce (ll. 12-13). MCD. ASE.

Ketubba or marital dispute resolution involving a Rabbanite wife and Karaite husband (Sarah bt. Efrayim and Yosef b. Avraham). Location: Fustat. Dated 24 Kislev 1364 Seleucid which is 1052 CE. The document states that the couple was married by means of a "Rabbanite ketubba" and that Yosef b. Avraham commits to respect the Rabbanite holidays. (Information from FGP). MCD.

Legal document related to remission of debts. Location: Fustat. Dating: 966-1011CE. The legal parties mentioned in the document include: Saʿa[dya], Ishmael, Salāma and Yefet. The attestation section mentions Nathan b. Manasseh, [Samue]l b. Jacob, Munīr b. [...]. The document is signed by Šemarya ha-Rav [b. Elḥanan ha-Rav], who served as the head of the Babylonian community in Fustat. (Information from FGP). MCD.

Legal document draft. The undersigned witnesses attest to the appearance of a certain Yahuda ha-Kohen before a rabbinic court. The draft was left incomplete in line two following the mention of ha-Kohen. MCD.

Ketubba fragment. Badly damaged yet line five confirms the document type in stating: "כתובתא דא". MCD.