Geniza Lab

Page of the record book of the rabbinical court of Fustat, in the hand of Hillel b. Eli. Trimmed at top, bottom and one side. Recto: a bill of sale or a quittance. Verso: Top contains last lines of a record dated last day of Nissan, 1472 Sel. = 14 April 1116, signed by Nissim b. Nahray; Avraham b. Shemaya he-haver. Main entry is a legal document also dated 1116 (4427), citing a document written by the chief rabbi of Aleppo, Barukh b. Yishaq, a power of attorney for Abu Surur Simha ha-Kohen, representing the brothers Abu l-Ma'ali and Abu l-Wafa, and Abu l-Ḥasan al-Halabi al-Sayrafi. (Information from Goitein's 8.5x11 notes; see attached scan).

Court record book of 1116 from the rabbinical court of Fustat, in the hand of Hillel b. Eli (OZ thinks it is Ḥalfon b. Menashshe). Trimmed at top, bottom and one side. Recto: a bill of sale or a quittance. Verso: Top contains last lines of a record dated last day of Nissan, 1427 Sel. = 14 April 1116, signed by Nissim b. Nahray; Avraham b. Shemaya he-haver. Main entry is a legal document also dated 1116 (1427), citing a document written by the chief rabbi of Aleppo, Barukh b. Yishaq, a power of attorney for Abu Surur Simha ha-Kohen, representing the brothers Abu l-Ma'ali and Abu l-Wafa, and Abu l-Ḥasan al-Halabi al-Sayrafi. (Information from Goitein's 8.5x11 notes; see attached scan).

Court notebook containing several documents. (i) Marriage contract (ketubba), segment discussing the groom's promises to the bride regarding her exemption from oaths. (ii) Record of an adoption in which a man "sells" his newborn daughter, 16 days old, whose mother had just died after childbirth, to a prominent lady for five dinars and promises that he will not interfere with the girl's upbringing. (iii) Legal document dealing with a business partnership between Yefet b. Wadʿa and Abū Zikrī, and also with a man who was married and divorced before consummation in Tyre and remarried in al-Mahalla.

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.

Court record, drawn up in Fustat, recording a gift. Given by: Sitt al-Bayt bt. Hillel ha-Zaqen, the widow of R. Ḥiyya ha-Mumḥe b. Ẓedaqa ha-Mumḥe. Given to: Abū l-Ḥasan b. ʿEli ha-Zaqen b. Yefet ha-Zaqen known as Ḥasān. This is the second entry on the page; the first seems to be an eschatological text. There is also a letter fragment on verso (PGPID 3117).

C1: Page from a court notebook dated Thursday, 26 Kislev, 1026, December, unsigned, because only one witness appeared, Eli ha-Kohen b. Yefet. He conferred the right from Mawhuba bt. Yusuf ha-Kohen b. Avraham, widow of Yusuf ha-Yadu'a b. Bikar, vouching (ḍaminat) for Shlomo (Sulayman) b. Yusuf, that he could marry her daughter Sitt al-Dar bt. Yusuf ha-Kohen any time between now and Passover. If it was prevented, she would have to pay 15 dinars. If he would not marry until Passover he would have no claim except in the case of illness. He had no claim on this מהר (mahr, pledge of a cash dowry usually divided into two portions).C2: Page from a court notebook dated Monday, 7 Tevet, 1026, December. Netanel b. Aaron ha-Shulhani (known as Ibn al-Qata’if) acknowledges the guarantee likewise that Mawhuba bt. Yusuf made the understanding (mentioned in 1, above) and adds that these 15 dinars were the ones which were claimed from the bride's brother. C1 and C2 are both written by Yefet b. Daud. At the end of page signs Shemuel ha-Kohen b. Avtalyon and Efrayim b. Shemarya. See also T-S 8J6.18 (a, b and d). (Information from Goitein's index cards). EMS and VMR

Court notebook from the year 1467 Seleucid = 1156 CE. 29 folios, ~66 documents. Also contains non-legal items. See individual PGPIDS for individual documents. "The largest preserved fragment of a record book is contained in the Firkovitch collection in Leningrad. It consists of twenty-eight consecutive folios comprising sixty-six items, all but one (the last) written by the judge Mevorakh b. Nathan during the months of April through August, 1156. The official character of such a record book emerges from the fact that the signatures are originals throughout, and not copies. On the other hand we find in this particular specimen also a medical prescription, indicating that the border line between public and private papers was not too sharply drawn at that time" (Goitein, Med Soc II, p. 343).

Court notebook from the Qaraite court of Cairo that was based in the Dar Simḥa synagogue. Spanning the dates 1560–75 CE. 69 pages. Contains 190 documents in Judaeo-Arabic, 6 documents in Hebrew, and 1 document in Arabic script. Discussed in depth with two sample transcriptions by Haggai Ben-Shammai in "New Sources for the History of the Karaites in Sixteenth-Century Egypt (A Preliminary Description)" (Hebrew), Ginzei Qedem 2 (2006), pp.85–97.

Court notebook, probably Qaraite. Many pages. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 1570s CE, based on the dates in individual entries. Needs examination.

Court notebook, probably. Bifolium. Entries in Judaeo-Arabic. Probably pertaining to the Qaraite court that convened in the Dar Simḥa synagogue (here called Dār Ibn Sameaḥ). Dated: Tishrei through Kislev 1751 Seleucid, which corresponds to the last months of 1439 CE. Includes entries on divorces, marriages, deaths. Also an curious entry documenting that there were rumors about the daughter of ʿAbd al-Laṭīf b. Bashīr(?), somehow connected to the bathhouse of Ibn al-Ashqar, and indeed the rumors were proven true by her pregnancy. "They did to him what was necessary upon the טפטיס (? = taftīsh?). Then, when the קצין told her "go to your father," she said, "No! I don't want to [go to] the religion of the Muslims." The entry is cryptic and these readings are tentative. Another entry mentions the ḥakīm ʿAbd al-Karīm, the head of the court (Av Beit Din). Needs further examination.