Geniza Lab

Fragment of an Arabic debt acknowledgment (iqrār) by Mūsā b. Yehuda.

Business letter in Arabic script from Avraham ben Khalaf, probably from Alexandria, to Abū al-Faḍl Sahl b. Ḥasan b. Salāma al-Sukkarī in Fustat. Datable to ca. 1062 on the basis of a reference to cotton turbans, which are mentioned in other letters written ca. 1062. Discusses the balance of a debt of Mūsā b. Yaḥyā al-Majjānī for the goods of the addressee. The writer asks the addressee to make some purchases for him, but not having received the goods he requests that the money be given to Mūsā b. Abī al-Ḥayy instead. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 320.) Mentions that seven cotton turbans for the price of eighty quarter-dinars have been sent to the addressee with Abū Zakariyā Yehuda b. Menashshe. (Information from S. D. Goitein, Index cards.)

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)

Court record in which Abū Sulaymān Dāʾūd b. Abū al-Khaṣīb Zurʿa confirms to owe to Abū al-Maʿālī al-Tājir b. Abū al-Ḥasan al-Tājir, aka Shemuʾel b. Judah Ben Asad, 100 dinars which he will return in two yearly installments. If he were to be late in doing so, he owes a fine of 10 dinars to the poor of Egypt to be collected for them by the Court. This debt was originally made before a Muslim court. Here it is prolonged. Fustat, Marḥeshvan 1153, written but not signed by Natan b. Shemuʿel. (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below and Goitein, MedSoc, Vol. 3, p. 9, Vol. 2, p. 110.)

Court record about the settlement of various claims between Shela ha-Kohen b. ʿAyyāsh and Tiqva b. ʿAmram. Fustat, dated 1099. Describes a dispute over a debt. The defendant paid part of the debt at the time of becoming engaged to a sister of the complainant. An oath was to be given by one party declaring to have meddled with wine adjudicated to the other party by a previous decision of the court. Receipt of sums adjudicated. In the hand of Nissim b. Nahray (Goitein). In the hand of Iṣḥaq b. Shemuel ha-Sefaradi (Ashur). Verso is blank. See also T-S NS 324.30 in relation to this document. (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below, Goitein, Med Soc, Vol. 2, p. 513, Ashur, Engagement and Betrothal Documents from the Cairo Geniza (PhD, Tel-Aviv, 2006). p. 14.)

Legal document. Partnership dissolution. Dated: 1152. Location: Fustat. Under the authority of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya. Hiba al-Abzārī b. Abū Isḥaq al-Tawwazī and Abū l-Faḍāʾil Yaʿqūb al-Raffāʾ release one another from a partnership, leaving Hiba owing Abū l-Faḍāʾil 6 dinars, to be repaid according to a schedule. The separation of the partners also leaves the two partners returning what seems to be a debt to their investor Abū l-Ḥasan Ibn al-ʿUrs; Hiba will pay 60-70 dinars and Abū l-Faḍāʾil will pay 13 dinars. Interestingly, each of the partners is left with a separate debt to Abū l-Ḥasan, distinct from the assets of his partner; thus, following the separation, the parties are no longer jointly liable even for debts which were accrued during the life of the partnership. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", pp. 279-280; Jacob Mann, "The Jews in Egypt and in Palestine under the Fatimid Caliphs," 1:230, 2:237; and Goitein's index cards.)

Register, legal: biofolio of a notebook with legal and communal entries. In the first entry Abu al-Faraj al-Saigh b. Abu Ishaq Ibrahaim al-Maghrebi allows his wife to give thier son 10 shares of a house that belonged to her father. Signed are Ḥalfon ha-kohen b. Elazar and Shemuʾel b. Mevasser ha-Melammed. The year 27 is written and going by the script I assume 1527 is meant, i.e. 1216. In the next entry Barakat b. Munajja testifies that she owes Abu al-rida ha-levi 160 dirhams on top of a previous debt of 134 and a half dirhems. The third entry is a sale of a slave by Abu al-Faraj to Banat b. Yaaqov. On the back are accounts of communal collections.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragmentary (horizontal piece from the middle). Mentions a woman going up to Fustat and litigating over 20 dinars. "And if her travel is delayed to pay him the 20 dinars that is part of his merchandise (? raḥluh), she is excused, because her daughter died and she herself became mortally ill, and illness annuls debts." Then the letter, confusingly, appears to address the woman: " go up (iṭlaʿī), and if there is no going up and no payment...." The text in the margin suggests that this letter is a query addressed to a legal authority. On verso there is an unidentified text in a crude hand that includes words in Hebrew, Aramaic, and maybe Judaeo-Arabic.

Unsigned copy of a contract between Abū l-Bahāʾ b. Abū l-Mufaḍḍal and Abū l-ʿIzz (all called 'al-rayyis,' probably meaning physician here). Concerning 91 + 9 = 100 jars of laṭaf wine and 657.5 "broken" dirhams of Egyptian currency. In the damaged part, something about becoming vinegar when clay seals are not broken. Dating: ca. 1220 CE. Handwriting of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu? (Information in part from Goitein's index card and Ekaterina Pukhovaia.)

Letter from Yosef b. Yehuda b. Simḥa (Alexandria) to Abū Zikrī Yaḥyā b. Nissim (Fustat), ca. 1050. The writer mentions a number of deals in beads and pearls. He is worried about owing money to a number of people including Yaḥyā b. Nissim and, although they do not demand payment, is anxious to settle the issue. He also mentions having heard about diseases (amrāḍ) that have spread in Fustat. The address is written in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script. (Information from Gil.)

Letter from Yosef b. Labrāṭ al-Fāsī (Qayrawan) to Yaʿaqov b. Yosef b. ʿAwkal (Fustat). The writer apologizes for a delay in returning a debt of 10 dinars that Yaʿaqov b. Yosef b. ʿAwkal lent him and explains that the delay is due to difficulties that he encountered when selling the merchandise bought with this money. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 291.)

Legal document. Partnership record. Dated 1125. Settlement of a dispute of two partners in a bakery concerning the repayment of depleted partnership capital. The creditor, Abū al-Riḍā ha-Shomer, loaned funds to the partnership as a corporation but not to the partners as individuals. Although the two partners contracted to work the same amount and to share profits and losses equally, the partnership lacks sufficient funds to repay the loan. Abū al-Riḍā asks the partners to demand the “oath of partners” each from the other, and himself demands that each pay half the loss, but one of the partners (Hiba) seems reluctant for unclear reasons. Pressured by Hiba's refusal to pay his share of the debt, the other partner (Mūsā) brings Hiba to court. The result of the court’s action was mediation (“tawassaṭū”), and Hiba agreed to pay Mūsā a single dinar, to which the latter would add the balance of three dinars. The initial loan amount and the repayment amount were both four dinars, and that it seems that Abū al-Riḍā did expect to garner profit from the loan directly. Signed by Natan b. Shelomo ha-Kohen. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 54-56)

Recto: Partnership record. Dating: 1096. Written in the hand of Hillel ben Eli. Describes a settlement between Yaḥyā and Abū al-Barakāt Mevorakh. Abū al-Barakāt Mevorakh loans 210 dinars to and places some agricultural commodities with Yaḥyā. Yaḥyā agrees to take upon himself the maintenance of the poor of Fusṭāṭ for a year in the event of nonrepayment. The repayments do not appear here because this would have been recorded only on the debtor’s copy of the loan agreement. Yaḥyā’s testimony that he paid his debt wouldn't be accepted without these records, but testimony by Abū al-Barakāt Mevorakh (the creditor) is to be accepted without such condition. Verso: Court record. Dating: 1116. Part of a court record detailing a different partnership. Abū al-Surūr Simḥa ha-Kohen brings a power of attorney to pursue the claims of the brothers Abū al-Ma‘ālī and Abū al-Wafā Tamīm b. Yeshu‘a regarding a partnership held by their dead brother Mevorakh, with Yaḥyā (the same Yaḥyā from the recto) and Abū al-Ḥusayn the money-changer. The structure of the partnership is unclear, but it seems likely that Mevorakh was an investor and Abū al-Barakāt had always been the active partner. Upon Mevorakh’s death, Yaḥyā and Abū Ḥusayn claim 2/3 of the partnership assets, leaving Simḥa to collect the remaining 1/3 for Mevorakh’s heirs. The verso is written in a different hand from the recto, likely that of Nissim b. Naḥray. Signed by Barukh b. Yiṣḥaq, the chief judge of Aleppo. The connection between the two documents is Abū al-Barakāt and Yaḥyā. Per Goitein, this Abū al-Barakāt is not the Mevorakh mentioned on the recto but rather Abū al-Barakāt Mevorakh b. Shelomo al-Ḥalabī, and Yaḥyā is Abū al-Ḥasan Yaḥyā ha-Kohen b. Shemuel ha-Kohen al-Baghdādī. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 56-60)

Legal document. Mainly in Judaeo-Arabic. Location: Minyat Ashna. Dated: first decade of Av 1456 Seleucid, which is 1145 CE, under the authority of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya. Abū Sahl Shela b. Meshullam the judge will repay a large debt of 138 dinars to Shemarya ha-Kohen in 6 monthly installments of 23 dinars from Elul 1456 through Shevaṭ 1457. Signed by: Mordekhay b. Yefet; Yeshuʿa b. ʿAmram. The qiyyum also lists Yosef b. Yaʿaqov ha-Mumḥe as one of the witnesses and is signed by Menashshe b. Seʿadya. On verso there is a receipt for all but one installment—115.5 dinars—dated 1457 Seleucid and signed by Shelomo b. Zurʿa and Yefet b. Aharon.

Fragment from a legal manual or formulary discussing protocol for the writing of conditions attendant to a debt agreement, including procedure when a debt document is lost. Includes a slightly-modified citation from the Mishneh Torah, Laws of Debts 23:11.

Fragment from a legal manual or formulary discussing protocol for the writing of a receipt for payment of a debt.

Legal document. Partnership agreement. Dating: Late 13th century CE. Location: Fustat. Moshe ha-Talmid b. Ṭahor partners with Abū Saʿd b. Abū l-ʿAlā al-Ṣabbāgh in an apothecary shop. Moshe is paid 6 dirhams a month agrees to work for a year and a half. His wage is guaranteed by Abū Sa‘d’s father Abū al-‘Alā’ (ll.7-8). Because of the guarantee of Abū al-‘Alā, three qinyanim are performed: Moshe's agreement to work, Abū Saʿd’s agreement to pay, and the guarantee of Abū al-‘Alā’. Although the parties’ relationship is described as a partnership, Moshe's wages being fixed suggests an employment agreement, though likely not an apprenticeship, both because Moshe is not a youth (line 5 alludes to his five sons) and is said to manage or set up the store. The date and signatures are missing from the document in its current state of preservation, though T-S NS J405 (PGPID 26473) reveals Abū Saʿd agreeing to repay a debt of some eight hundred dirhams from November 1275. Perhaps Abū Saʿd had come upon difficult times and needed the guarantee of his father in order to convince Moshe to manage the apothecary shop. Note: Abū al-‘Alā’'s guarantee is for fulfillment of the obligation “to the store”, suggesting a sense of corporate identity ascribed to the store and its creditors. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Society", 100)

Legal document. Mainly in Judaeo-Arabic. Location: Minyat Zifta. Dated: last decade of Tammuz 1467 Seleucid, which is July 1156 CE, under the authority of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya. David b. Zurʿa will repay a large loan of 183 dinars to Shemuel b. Yehuda ("the Pride of the Enlightened") in 12 half-yearly installments of 15.25 dinars each, beginning in Av 1467 and ending in Tammuz 1473. The debt came from former dealings between the two, based on testimony before a Muslim court, i.e., there is already at least one debt contract against David b. Zurʿa drawn up in a Muslim court. Shemuel b. Yehuda the creditor also testifies that he will stand security for his partner Shemarya b. Sheʾerit ("Kelil ha-Yofi") in everything to do with this arrangement; this Shemarya is not previously mentioned (except perhaps in the missing beginning of the document), and his role in the debt is not clear. Signed by: Avraham b. Musāfir; Avraham b. Yakhin; ʿAmram b. Shemary ha-Kohen; and Yefet b. Yosef. The qiyyum (validation) is signed by: the judge and muqaddam Shabbetay b. Avraham ha-Ḥaver; Mevorakh b. Natan ha-Gevir; and Peraḥya b. Shemuel ha-Melammed. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.)

Bifolio of a court register in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe consisting of four pages and containing four court cases. 1r: Legal document concerning a quittance of debt, dated 1440 Sel. (1129 CE), written under the authority of the gaon Maṣliaḥ ha-Kohen. Mentions Abū l-Maʿālī b. Yūsuf (known as Ibn Tamar) and Yeshuʿa b. Ḥananya. Signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe and Natan ha-Kohen b. Shelomo. 1v: Will of Kulla b. Shabbat, mentioning Yehuda Ibn al-Sofer, the daughter of Kulla’s brother Abū ʿAlī al-Kohen and Yeshuʿa ha-Kohen b. ʿEli. 2r: Legal document concerning a quittance of debt, dated 1446 Sel. (1135 CE). Signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe and Elʿazar b. Yosef. Mentions Yaʿqūb Abū l-Maʿālī b. Yūsuf, known as Ibn Kujik (כוגך, Kushek, Persian 'Small') and Abū ʿAlī b. Shemuʾel b. Shelomo, known as Ibn al-Dustarī. 2v: Legal testimony declaring that Hassun of Ascalon was the father of Abū Saʿd, the illegitimate son of Wuhsha the Broker. Mentions Abū ʿAlī al-Parnas Yefet b. Maṣliaḥ, Ibn al-Sukkarī, Ḥalfon ha-Kohen b. Yosef and Abū Naṣr al-Kohen Ibn al-Kamūkhī. (Information in part from CUDL)

Bifolio of a court register in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe consisting of four pages and containing four court cases. 1r: Legal document concerning a quittance of debt, dated 1440 Sel. (1129 CE), written under the authority of the gaon Maṣliaḥ ha-Kohen. Mentions Abū l-Maʿālī b. Yūsuf (known as Ibn Tamar) and Yeshuʿa b. Ḥananya. Signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe and Natan ha-Kohen b. Shelomo. 1v: Will of Kulla b. Shabbat, mentioning Yehuda Ibn al-Sofer, the daughter of Kulla’s brother Abū ʿAlī al-Kohen and Yeshuʿa ha-Kohen b. ʿEli. 2r: Legal document concerning a quittance of debt, dated 1446 Sel. (1135 CE). Signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe and Elʿazar b. Yosef. Mentions Yaʿqūb Abū l-Maʿālī b. Yūsuf, known as Ibn Kujik (כוגך, Kushek, Persian 'Small') and Abū ʿAlī b. Shemuʾel b. Shelomo, known as Ibn al-Dustarī. 2v: Legal testimony declaring that Hassun of Ascalon was the father of Abū Saʿd, the illegitimate son of Wuhsha the Broker. Mentions Abū ʿAlī al-Parnas Yefet b. Maṣliaḥ, Ibn al-Sukkarī, Ḥalfon ha-Kohen b. Yosef and Abū Naṣr al-Kohen Ibn al-Kamūkhī. (Information in part from CUDL)