Geniza Lab

Two copies of a poem by Avraham ben Yiju, praising Maḍmūn and cursing his enemies. T-S 8J16.23 is written in the hand of Ben Yiju himself, while the AIU fragment is written in the calligraphic square hand of a scribe. The poet signs his name in an acrostic: ABRHM ḤZQ YJW. The poem is about how Maḍmūn's enemies requited his kindness with treachery. But these enemies were ultimately compelled to acknowledge Maḍmūn's titles Sar and Nagid. Dating: ca. 1140–44 CE. (Information from Goitein and Friedman, India Book II.)

Draft or notes of court proceedings (legal document) regarding a sale of half a house for 300 dinars. Abu Sahl, Menashshe b. Yehuda, sold half of a house that he inherited from his mother to Abu al-Faraj, Amram b. Yosef. Apparently the second half was sold by Menashshe to Yosef Lebdi in a transaction which was probably a cover for a loan with interest. In order to remedy this situation, it was decided that Amram would buy Lebdi's share while permitting Menashshe to continue to dwell in the house and even to rent it to others. The document is written in the hand of Hillel b. Eli and is dated to January 22, 1102. At the end of the document there are the remains of a legal opinion, in another hand. Apparently the draft of the agreement was shown to a rabbinic authority who gave his opinion regarding how it should be formulated to remedy the appearance of taking interest from a fellow Jew. The document is full of interesting corrections and additions.

Letter from Madmun b. Ḥasan to Avraham Ibn Yiju: first pick of merchandise for Bilal b. Jarir. Aden, between 1136-1138 or 1145-1149.

Letter from Avraham b. Mu'ti Tilimsani, having arrived safely in Aydhab, to Abu Sa'd b. Azhar, in Fustat. He provides an update on a matter concerning Yizhaq b. Khalfun. Avraham has sent something with Yusuf b. Sulayman to Abu Zikri for him to sell. He sends regards to Abu Rida and his son Abu Sa'd, the in-laws of the recipient, as well as his father Azhar. He asks him to help the above-mentioned Yusuf in selling the pearls.

Part of a copy of the same letter that is preserved in full in T-S 16.345, a letter from Mahruz to Sulayman b. Abu Zikri Kohen before sailing back to India. Aden, ca. 1137-1147.

Legal document. Dated: Monday, 2 Iyyar 1398 Seleucid, which is 1087 CE. Location: Fustat. Moshe b. Elḥanan comes before the court and declares that he has appointed Abū Saʿīd Ḥalfon b. Shelomo ha-Levi ("known as Ibn Levi") as his agent for his affairs while he is Yemen. The agent is to look after his compound (rabʿ) in Fustat in Sūq al-Baṭṭāṭin, which consists of two houses. There are a few words in Arabic script on verso referring to a deposit (wadīʿa). (Information from Goitein's attached notes.)

Letter fragment. In the hand of Abū Zikrī Kohen (according to Goitein's notes). Mentions Sayyidnā, al-Shaykh Maḍmūn, Ismāʿīl al-Majjānī; the kārim fleet (which travelled between Egypt and India); a letter from the sender's in-law Maḥrūz in Sawākin about 3,000 loads. A complete list of the Jews who left with the kārim is Maḥrūz [b. Yaʿaqov], Zikrī b. Sar Shalom, Ibn al-Dabbāgh; al-Maḥallī; Ibn Junūn(?); Nahray; and Ibn al-Baqqāl.

Copy of a court record from Aden. Dating: Summer 1131 CE. Concerning a controversy over Jewish communal leadership in Yemen. Goitein thought that this copy was made in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Netanel ha-Levi, but Friedman doubts this. It is not a direct continuation of T-S 20.37, but it concerns the same controversy. Namely, a Persian Nasi who was a cousin of the Exilarch in Baghdad had come to Aden, and the Yemeni public received him with respect and handed over to him the synagogue and religious affairs. He annulled the practice of mentioning the authority of the head of the Palestinian Yeshiva (at that time Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon, based in the Egyptian capital) in prayer and legal documents. The foreign merchants, such as Ḥalfon b. Netanel, opposed this. (Information from Goitein, The Yemenites, pp. 67–68 and Goitein and Friedman, India Book IV; Hebrew description below.) VMR

Letter from Nahray b. ʿAllān in ʿAydhāb to his son ʿAllān b. Nahray in Alexandria concerning shipments. Based on a letter from another India trader (ENA 4020.8) and the fact that the date on the letter is for the 8th of Sivan, the letter was probably written on May 16, 1141 CE. Nahray is frequently mentioned as a contemporary and associate of Maḍmūn, the merchant representative in Aden, and Abū Zikrī Kohen, the equivalent in Fusṭāṭ. Nahray writes that he is traveling with both Muslim and Jewish on the boat of al-Dībājī ("the brocade dealer"). In ʿAydhāb , the merchants sold part of their goods and otherwise traded them for products from eastern markets. He describes that they were nearing the time when they needed to set sail, and so the merchants broke up into two groups to cover more ground, with the Muslim traders making purchases at the pepper and brazilwood bazaars and the Jewish traders at the lac bazaar and otherwise selling off some of their goods for cash. Nahray purchased 330 pounds of lac (resin from the lac insect used in varnish, wax, and red dye), paid two dinars needed to arrange packing, canvas, and ropes, and made a few other purchases, including a sari that was to be a gift; all of this ultimately left him without cash for further shipments. Additionally, he paid Abu ʾl-Faḍl b. Abu ʾl-Faraj al-Dimyātī ("from the Egyptian seaport of Damietta") a dinar for expenses for the lac. al-Dimyātī was to deliver the lac, a copy of the account, and the distribution list to Abū Zikrī Yehuda, the Kohen, who will sell the shipment and distribute his portion to his partners before delivering the remaining balance and the account to ʿAllān. Nahray also mentions that Yaḥyā b. Sar Shalom ("Prince of Peace") was carrying a second shipment consisting of two bales of brazilwood weighing two bahārs (equivalent to 600 pounds) and 70 pounds, two bales of cowrie shells measuring one mudd (likely the Jerusalem mudd or similar, which was equivalent to 100 liters), five manā (equivalent to about two pounds) of ashbāh wood, and half a manā of old camphor. There were also ten Qaṣṣī robes that would be sold to cover customs dues and other related expenses. Yaḥyā was to write an account, deduct customs and other expenses, and then to sell as much as seemed appropriate, but then inform ʿAllān , who was to instruct as to whether they would sell the entire shipment or only part of it; he mentions, for example, that they might sell the cowrie shells in Spain. Nahray sends regards to ʿAllān, his grandsons, his own wife, ʿAllān's wife, his brother, and his nephews, and urges ʿAllān to take care of the family. He tellsʿAllān to hold onto letters that he had left behind, as they contained accounts. Nahray concludes by saying that he didn't expect the voyage to produce much profit; he ultimately sent 100 dinars to Maḍmūn with the hopes that it might more successfully return gains. He instructs ʿAllān to set aside 15 dinars for when he returns, and then to take a tenth of profit from the above shipments and use it to make further profits. (Information partially from Goitein's index card and partially from Goitein's Letters of Medieval Jewish Traders)

Letter of thanks from Ḥalfon ha-Levi b. Menashshe to Khalaf b. Yiṣḥaq. Fustat, ca. 1120s.

Legal document. Partnership record. Dated: 1140. Location: Fustat. The brothers Abū al-Faḍl and Abū al-Riḍā Yosef b. Berakhot, owners of a sugar factory, take on Yosef b. Peraḥya and Peraḥya b. Nissim (possibly Ibn Yiju, great-grandson of Avraham Yiju, the India trader) as investors, investing 400 and 200 dinars respectively. There is a reference to "Arabic documents" which record the dimensions and location of the factory, and the fact that the brothers inherited part of the factory and purchased the balance from their father. The investors allow the brothers to pursue other investments outside the partnership with partnership funds. Withdrawals from the partnership capital are recorded as a transfer of a share of the ownership from the brothers to the investors, and any rent on this share goes to the investors. The investors are required to return the partial ownership of the factory when the funds are repaid. The Arabic documents record the sale of the factory (and presumably the transfer of the shares) as a "fixed" purchase. The brothers remain active partners in the five-year partnership. Partnership profits are divided equally, despite the unequal investments. The brothers will account for their expenses by subtracting from partnership profits 2 dinars per molded block of sugar. Per Goitein, a document at shelfmark T-S NS J215 describes the eventual sale of the factory discussed in this document. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 23-25)

Letter from Madmun b. Ḥasan to Abu Zikri Kohen. Aden, 1130s.

Legal testimony concerning a partnership release from a commenda. Dating: 1098. Abū al-Ḥasan Yaḥyā ha-Kohen b. Shemuʾel ha-Kohen al-Baghdādī and ʿUlla ha-Levi b. Yosef ha-Levi al-Dimashqī release Abū al-Barakāt Mevorakh al-Ḥalabī b. Shelomo from any further claims on their partnership — called shirka, mu‘āmala and muḍāraba (commenda) variously throughout the document, though some of those terms are used in the course of legal indemnification clauses, so don't necessarily reflect the exact structure of the partnership. Abū al-Ḥasan Yaḥyā ha-Kohen b. Shemuʾel ha-Kohen al-Baghdādī and ʿUlla ha-Levi b. Yosef ha-Levi al-Dimashqī testify that they gave Abū al-Barakāt Mevorakh al-Ḥalabī b. Shelomo 100 dinars, which he took to Yemen as the active partner; on his return, he gave them back their capital and the profit he accrued. This is one of three documents in Lieberman's corpus involving Abū al-Ḥasan Yaḥyā ha-Kohen b. Shemuʾel ha-Kohen al-Baghdādī and ʿUlla ha-Levi b. Yosef ha-Levi al-Dimashqī; the others are T-S 8J4.11 and T-S Misc. 27.4.29. Lieberman additionally points to CUL Or. 1080 J73 as concerning the same business partners, as well as ENA 4020.2, also a partnership release. One source of the investment capital of Yaḥyā and ‘Ulla could be a money-changing stall (dukkān al-ṣarf), mentioned in TS Misc 27.4.29, and one of Yaḥyā’s partners in ENA 4020.2, verso, is a money-changer (l.16). Possibly in the hand of Hillel b. Eli, but not in Weiss's corpus. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 27–32)

Letter from Shemuel b. Yosef Yiju, in Mazara, to his brothers, Perahya and Moshe, in Alexandria or Fustat. Around 1156.

Letter from Khalaf b. Yiṣḥaq to Abū ʿImrān Mūsā b. Ṣedaqa Ibn Nufayʿ. In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender sent previous letters with Sālim b. Efrayim, including a power of attorney for the collection of goods shipped with Tamīm. If a certain commodity has been 'liberated' from ʿAydhāb, he has sent (or will send?) wax and Indian costus. Abū ʿUmar should sell these items in Egypt, purchase linseed oil and wheat, and send them to Khalaf (in Yemen). Mentions Karīm Ibn [Yi]ju(?) the tax farmer; Abū l-Maʿālī al-Qaysarānī; Aḥmad b. Ghūrī(?). See Goitein's attached notes for a transcription.

Legal document. Commenda. Dated: November 1132. Abū Zikrī Yehudah b. Yosef ha-Kohen and Ḥananel b. Nissim partner in a shop. The active partner performs a regular reckoning, the details of which are trusted without witness testimony. Profits are split evenly after expenses. The active partner is specifically prohibited from lending funds on to another partner; if he does so, those funds will be taken directly out of his share of the partnership. The laws of unlimited investment partnership (mufāwaḍa) permit a loan to be granted with both partners' permission, and the even split of partnership profits or losses is also reminiscent of the mufāwaḍa agreement. However, while the qinyan provisions here are mutual, the provisions concerning the work itself suggest that one of the partners is significantly senior. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 32-34)

Only the lower part of this document has survived. It is written in the form of a letter and contains a commercial account and also a court record of legal proceedings. The hand is that of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. It seems that on his way to India, Abu Barakat met Issac al-Nafusi in Aden and the latter gave him some merchandise to sell for him there. It is probable that the lost part of the document listed the selling of this merchandise in India. Next we have an account of what Abu Barakat bought for al-Nafusi in India. Then he lists the expenses (taxes, rent of warehouse etc) of his dealings in Aden. The last part consists of a copy of legal proceedings where Abu Barakat declares that he spent the rest of al-Nafusi's money that remained with him on the recently purchased house of al-Nafusi in Fustat. He did this according to the instructions of Ḥalfon ha-Levi b. Nethanel, al-Nafusi's appointed representative.

Letter from Mahruz to Abu Zikri Kohen in Broach, Mangalore, India ca. 1145-48.

Letter from Khalaf b. Yiṣḥaq, in Aden, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel ha-Levi, in ʿAydhāb. Dating: after autumn 1131 CE. Mainly in Hebrew, with some Judaeo-Arabic. The location of Ḥalfon and the dating can be deduced based on the mention of the great storm at sea, also mentioned in ח10 (T-S Ar.48.270). This is a letter of gratitude for Ḥalfon's halakhic responsum on matrimonial matters concerning one Abū l-Ṭāhir, who needed to return to Aden from India. Ḥalfon had been asked to write his expert opinion with regard to a man who died without male offspring, in which case his widow was obliged to marry one of his brothers, normally the eldest (levirate marriage). It is reasonable to assume that R. Yaʿaqov, mentioned in l. 22 as someone who admired Ḥalfon's responsum, is Yaʿaqov b. Salīm, who wrote ח5 (CUL Or.1080 J225), who was close both to Ḥalfon and to Khalaf. The greetings at the end confirm the closeness of Khalaf to Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon and to the family members of Ḥalfon (and they shed light on some questions, such as how many brothers Ḥalfon had). (Information from Goitein and Friedman, India Book IV; Hebrew description below.)

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. David b. Yiṣḥaq Ibn al-Ṣafaṭ (? אלצפט) acknowledges receipt of a sum of money from Abū l-Barakāt Berakhot b. Yaʿaqov to conduct business with it abroad. When he returns to Egypt, 1/3 of the profit will go to the investor and 2/3 to the active partner. The same David b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi appears in T-S Misc.27.4.28.