Geniza Lab

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya, approximately 1028.

Fragment of a letter from Yoshiyyahu Gaon to Efrayim b. Shemarya, approximately 1020.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya, approximately 1035.

Letter from Avraham, son of the Gaon, to Efrayim b. Shemarya, approximately 1029.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya, 1040.

Letter from Qayrawan to Efrayim b. Shemarya in Fustat. 23 July 1035.

Letter: draft(s) in the hand of Efrayim b. Shemarya (11th century), in Fusṭāṭ, probably to the Gaʾon Shelomo b. Yehuda, in Jerusalem. One draft contains a report, in Hebrew, on a joint Karaite-Rabbanite collection made in the capital of Egypt on behalf of the Jews of Jerusalem to assist them with their taxes. Ezra b. Yishmael b. Ezra is mentioned, and the document refers to Yusuf ibn ‘Awkal with his honorific title ‘Rosh Kalla’ (‘head of the assembly’ of students at the biannual scholarly convention in Baghdad). (Marina Rustow, Heresy and the Politics of Community, 196, 278; From a Sacred Source, 309-10; S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:472) Another draft explains that, contrary to the malicious and false accusations made against him to the gaʾon by some members of the Jewish community in Fusṭāṭ, he will indeed be sending a generous donation for the Jerusalem academy in response to a fundraising mission by the gaʾon’s son Avraham. Efrayim also mentions that he retains the support of an influential Fatimid official, the Qaraite David ha-Levi b. Yiṣḥaq, who will also be sending a donation. Written on the verso of an Arabic -script letter discussing philosophical theology and mentioning the raʾs al-mathība (see PGPID 33676).

Legal document. Partnership record. Dated: October 1039.Location: Cairo. In April 1039, the parties Tuviyah b. Yefet ha-Levi and ‘Allūn b. Faraj (and perhaps Salāma ha-Kohen b. Nissan) came to the home of Suleymān b. Isḥāq b. Meir in Cairo. Suleymān was involved in a partnership (mufāwaḍa) with Tuviyah and ‘Allūn. The other partner to the agreement is Khalaf b. Ibrāhīm. When Tuviyah and ‘Allūn demand a payout from the partnership, to be distributed by Suleymān (evidently the senior partner), Suleymān disputes this, explaining that Tuviyah and ‘Allūn have received their final settlements, and Khalaf is free from his obligations to them. Suleymān and Khalaf terminate their relationship, and the April document is given to Khalaf as proof. ‘Allūn's attestation that Suleymān and Khalaf had “a joint enterprise (mu‘āmala) and not a qinyan”, complicating the understanding of partnership models in this period; the difference between a mufāwaḍa and a mu‘āmala (or between either of these and a qinyan) is unclear Immediately below, in different handwriting, appears the testimony of Salāma b. Nissan ha-Kohen to Suleymān that he (Salama) has made the same statement in a different location, at the home of an elder. Goitein believed that the Khalaf b. Ibrahīm mentioned in this document was the same one that appeared in T-S 18J1.6 (PGPID 3523); Lieberman disputes this. In yet another handwriting, the document validates the signatures of Tuviyah and ‘Allūn in the permanent court in Fusṭāṭ some months after their initial testimony was recorded in the home of Suleymān in Cairo. The signatories are the three judges Efrayim b. Shemarya, Avraham b. Mevaser, and Yefet ha-Ḥazan b. David. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 281-284)

Petition to the caliph, draft in the Arabic handwriting of Efrayim b. Shemarya. Dating: January 1039. Concerns the closing of a synagogue in Fustat, following the requests of Natan b. Avraham and his family members.

Verso: Power of attorney (שטר אורכתא) in the hand of Efrayim b. Shemarya. A certain Yaʿaqov appoints Abū Saʿd b. Zandavir (?) ... al-Amani as his agent. On recto there is a document in Arabic script (see separate record).

Small letter fragment, seems to be written by Efrayim b. Shemaryah. AA

Letter from Josiah (Yoshiyahu) Gaon, apparently to Efrayim b. Shemarya, ca. 1015.

Verso: Letter from Efrayim b. Shemarya to Natan b. Avraham. Dating: ca. 1034. Relates to the early stages of a conflict between Natan b. Avraham and Shelomo b. Yehuda. Efrayim b. Shemarya gives his support to Natan b. Avraham. Mentions regular correspondence between the writer and the addressee. Mentions a person who arrived from Babylonia, possibly Daniel b. ʿAzarya, who was elected to the Palestinian gaonate after Shelomo b. Yehuda. (Information from Bareket, The Jews of Egypt, p. 99.) On recto there is a document in Arabic script (see separate record).

Letter of condolence from Daniel Nasi b. Azarya on the death of Ephraim b. Shemarya, addressed to his son-in-law Ghalib.

Court record written by Efrayim b. Shemarya. Sitt al-Dār bt. Ḥusayn, the wife of Khalaf b. Isḥāq, claims from her husband 10 dinars given to him as a loan. Her husband claims that they agreed that she would get the money only in case of a divorce. Bishr b. Efrayim represents Sitt al-Dār in this lawsuit. (Information from E. Bareket, Yehudei misrayim, p. 185)

Agreement made by Abu al-Faraj Yaʿaqov b. Avraham b. Allan with his business partner Efrayim b. Ismail al-Jawhari, who takes care of his commercial interests in the Maghreb, containing details about the partner's wage and the goods. (Information from E. Bareket, Shafrir misrayim, p. 53 and Yehudei misrayim, p. 198) In the hand of Efrayim b. Shemarya (MR)

Legal document. Partnership agreement. Dating: 1007-1055 (speculative). This document records a partnership agreement between Manṣūr b. Israel ha-Levi and Mas‘ūd b. Mevorakh, who placed 200 gold pieces and 10 gold pieces, respectively, in a common purse. It is unclear whether both parties, or just Mas‘ūd, engaged in active trading, though line 19 and the fact that they were both active in trading suggests an unlimited partnership between them. Profits are to be split equally despite the fact that one of the partners has provided over 95% of the partnership capital, a division which violates the Ḥanafī mufāwaḍa model (see Udovitch 1970, p.48). The full date is not preserved, only the month and the first two digits of the year remain. The signatures suggest that the document may date from the period of Efrayim b. Shemarya, 1007-1055. Signatories: Avraham b. Ghālib, Moshe b. David ha-Levi, ‘Ezrōn b. [?] ha-Kohen, and Hussein Efrayim b. Shemarya. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 78)

Quittance, draft in the hand of Efrayim b. Shemarya in which a mother obliges herself to release her son from any lawsuit filed by herself or her daughter from a previous marriage. Dating: ca. 1038 CE. (Information from Bareket)

Verso: Letter or letter draft in the hand of Efrayim ben Shemarya (d. 1055). In Hebrew (possibly with Judaeo-Arabic toward the bottom). Dating: During or shortly after the range 1019–29 CE. Apparently addressed to 'the community' (ha-qahal) and mentioning the 'standing court' (beit din qavuaʿ).

Recto: Legal document in Arabic script. Small fragment from near the bottom. Dated: 41[.] AH, corresponding to the range 1019–29 CE. Mentions a power of attorney (wakāla) and that this document was drawn up in triplicate. Portions of ~5 witness statements are preserved, including one from Mufarraj b. Faraj.