Geniza Lab

Deed of manumission for Ashu, an Indian female slave, written by Avraham Ibn Yijū, Mangalore, October 17, 1132. On the verso and on the margins of the deed Ibn Yijū copied drafts of 3 poems for Maḍmūn b. Ḥasan of Aden (See II, 40). Both Goitein and Friedman suggest that Ibn Yijū bought Ashu so that he could release her and then marry her. This deed is especially important for the 'reshut' clause, written in India, and mentioning both Daniel b. [Ḥ]isday, the Exilarch in Baghdad and Maṣliaḥ b. Shelomo, the head of the Palestinian Yeshiva residing in Cairo.

Deed of manumission written by Mevorakh b. Natan in which Sitt al-Hasab, daughter of Shela ha-Levi 'the sar', manumits a female slave, named Salaf, who was probably given to another lady as a marriage gift. Dated Kislev 1469/ November 1157. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 138, 433; IV, pp. 325, 456)

Instructions for manumission of a female slave written by Avraham Ibn Yiju. III 40a is the top of the page. III, 40b is the bottom of the page. III, 40c is the verso, a draft of a letter written by Avraham b. Yiju for another man and having nothing to do with the India trade, and therefore not edited in Goitein-Friedman. It is, however, edited in Assaf, Texts, 149-51.

Deed of manumission of a female slave. Location: New Cairo. Dated: Wednesday, 18 Sivan 1421 Seleucid, which is 1110 CE. The owner's name is Ṭoviyya b. Yefet the physician. The slave's name is Thabāt, from the land of Greece (מארץ יון). The document is written, signed and witnessed by Avraham b. Natan Av Bet Din and Avraham b. Ḥalfon b. Avraham at the foot of recto and again on verso (attesting that the bill was given to her). (Information in part from CUDL.) VMR. ASE.

Deed of emancipation. Avraham b. Aharon frees his slave Nasiyya ('Youth') on Friday, October 8, 1176, Cairo. VMR Written by Mevotakh b. Natan. AA

Deed of manumission in which three daughters emancipate a female slave, Wafa, from Jan. 20, 1181. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:436; 2:449) EMS. Written by Mevorakh b. Natan. AA

Recto: Deed of manumission for a slave. Fragment, with a note in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic underneath.. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:436) EMS Verso: Short note in Judaeo-Arabic concerning a book. Two individuals, Yeshu'a and Rabbi Yosef, are mentioned. (Information from CUDL)

Small fragment (lower left corner) from a deed of manumission of a female slave. Only a few words are preserved, including part of a signature ([...]rya). AA

Deed of manumission of a female slave. Location: New Cairo. Dated: Monday, 5 Kislev 14[0]8 Seleucid, which is 1096 CE (if indeed there is no decade digit in the missing lefthand margin). The owner's name is Menashshe b. Yaʿaqov. The slave's name starts with תוכ or תומ. Witnesses: Avraham b. ʿAmram and Aharon b. Yaʿaqov ha-Levi. On verso there is an attestation that she received it before witnesses (but this attestation is not itself signed). There are also several more lines of unidentified Hebrew script on verso. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, V, p. 547 and from Goitein's index cards).