Geniza Lab

Letter in Hebrew and Ladino from Nehoray (?) b. Moshe Ṭoron[.]ah (?) to Shabbetay ʿAdda regarding a new business partnership between them. The date is given at top: 27 Shevat 5[.]57. The century digit appears to be a 5, giving a date of February 1797, but could conceivably be a 4 and therefore a century earlier. After an obsequious introduction in Hebrew, expressing gratitude to Shabbetay for bestowing the honor of this new partnership between them, the writer switches to Ladino (albeit with Hebrew mixed in throughout) and gets to the purpose of the letter. The writer has an existing business venture in mastic (אלמאסטיגה) that would violate the terms of the new partnership—namely that he and his agents are not to trade at all in מתא מצרים (= Fustat?) with the exception of business arising from his preexisting partnership with Ḥājjī Dāwud in Alexandria—and so he seeks dispensation to continue with the mastic venture, or perhaps he wants Shabbetay to buy him out of his share. One of the writer's partners in the mastic venture is Avraham Shimʿon and the other is [Yiẓ?]ḥaq Agi. These partners apparently have friends in high places (יען שהגבירים הנז״ל סון טוקאנטי למלכות). Other traders mentioned are Binyamin de Curiel and Moshe Pallache. A writ of power of attorney (sheṭar harsha'ah) is mentioned several times. Needs further examination

Letter in Ladino dated 27 December 1803 (12 Tevet 5564) from Moshe ha-Levi Karaso, Rashid, and Yaʿaqov ha-Levi to Yiṣḥaq de Curiel, Fustat/Cairo.

Letter or letters. In Ladino. Dated: 29 Tishrei 5548 AM, which is 11 October 1787 CE. There are two blocks of text in two different hands. The first is from Mordekhay (or Martin?) b. Mir(?) to Carmen(?) de Curiel. The second mentions shipments of goods to Thessaloniki, Izmir, and France (l. 20f).

Ledger of accounts in Judaeo-Arabic and eastern Arabic numerals. Dating: Late; the precise date must be written somewhere. 42 folios. Merits examination.

Partnership agreement. Location: Alexandria. Dated: 19 Tishrei 5575 AM, which is 3 October 1814 CE. Between Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi from Istanbul ["Costa"] who pitched in 10,000 gerushim, Yiṣḥaq de Curiel from Fustat/Cairo who pitched in 17,500 gerushim, Avraham Cesana & Company from Alexandria, who pitched in 17,5000 gerushim, and Eliyyahu Ayilion (?) from Fustat/Cairo, who pitched in 1,500 gerushim, yielding a total capital fund of 46,500 gerushim (it specifies "Egyptian gerushim").

Letter from Yiṣḥaq to Avraham Krispin. In Ladino. Mentions Yiṣḥaq de Curiel. Needs examination

Accounts. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 4 Jumāda al-Awwal '54. Probably 1154 AH (=1741 CE) or 1254 AH (=1838 CE). Perhaps belonging to a jeweler or to a pawnbroker. Nearly every row begins with 'in the name of X' (e.g. Eliyyahu Shtiwi, Sh. de Curiel, Ṣāliḥ Aḥmad, Ḥayyim Shaʿyā, Mordukh Bialobos), then it lists an item (silver candelabra, silver watch, pearl necklace, ring/seal), then abbreviations. Values of the items and sums are in the righthand column.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 18th or 19th century.

Short business letter in Ladino that appears to be dated 25 Shevat 5582 (16 February 1822), but this was a Shabbat, so perhaps the date needs reexamining. The writer is Shemuel Rubino (?) and the addressee is Yiṣḥaq de Curiel. The letters "C" and "SR" appear in the margin (the writer's initials?). ASE

Recto: Letter from Yiṣḥaq de Curiel. In Ladino. Verso: sums.

List of "מצרופ/expenses" related to food/household items that is dated in Cheshvan [55]97JC which is 1836CE. The fragment may have been folded and sent from Cairo to one Binyamin de Curiel in Alexandria. The hands on the recto and verso, however, are very distinct and therefore the address on the verso may be a remnant of an earlier letter that was reused for the recto's list. The latter expresses monetary figures in eastern Arabic numerals and Ottoman silver "قرش / kuruş" which stands as the only Arabic-script portion of the fragment at the top of the recto's right column. Among the items listed, there is mention of "מלח / salt" (l. 9r), "צאבון / soap" (l.11r), and many other goods. MCD.

Letter from Binyamin de Curiel and Avraham Krispin to Avraham Dayyan. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: the date is probably too faded to read, but these men are known from other fragments. Mentions Istanbul and a Venetia. Well-preserved: merits further attention

Contract of friendship between Elʿazar Maymūn and Yom Ṭov b. Sīd. In Hebrew and Aramaic. Dated: Sunday, 17 Tevet 5324 AM, which is January 1564 CE. As Mann describes, Yevr. II A 236/5 contains 10 (or more) leaves of various notes on Biblical and Rabbinic matters. On fol. 2, upside down relative to the main text, this document is to be found. The parties vow to treat each other as brothers, to help each other in all things, loan each other books, and pray together in the synagogue of Shemuel b. Sīd. (Mann: The synagogue of the Sevillians in Cairo was called by his name. Cp. about this scholar and Kabbalist, a refugee to Egypt after the Spanish expulsion, Sambari's Chronicle (in Neub., Med. Jew. Chron. I, pp. 145, 159, and 151–62)). If one is angry at the other, they will seek to appease each other within 24 hours. The document invokes three of the sages of Safed—Joseph Caro, Moses. b. Joseph di Trani, and Israel de Curiel—and Me'ir de Padova (=Meir b. Isaac Katzenellenbogen (d. 1565)) and Yiẓḥāq b. Sīd (perhaps the son of Shemuel b. Sīd and perhaps the father of the signatory Yom Ṭov b. Sīd; see Mann's notes for these identifications). ASE.