Geniza Lab

Report about selling merchandise in Qayrawan, from the beginning of the 11th century; probably for Ya’aqov b. Yosef b. Awkal. Mentions several different products, including indigo, food, wax, and pearls. It is not clear who are the owners, but mentions the names of Abu al-Bishr and Salah. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #114) VMR

Letter from Natan b. Nahray (Alexandria), probably to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat). Ca. 1062. Talks about business links with Spain. Mentions a number of commodities: indigo, lead, turbans from Susa and cloves. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 416.)

Partnership release. Dated: 1091. Location: Fustat. Verso: Avraham b. Yeshuʿa ha-Kohen irreversibly releases Abū al-Faḍl/Abū al-Mufaḍḍal Netanel b. Yefet from any obligations concerning a partnership. Avraham had purchased two baskets of indigo and silk as an investment on behalf of his Alexandrian partners – the silk was damaged on its initial journey to Fusṭāṭ and Avraham liquidated it completely, settling the balance with Nathaniel and terminating the partnership. Abraham’s partners include Nathaniel’s mother and sister (see lines 23 and 27-31). The recto is another partnership agreement (for which the verso is possibly a draft), which reveals Abraham to be an investor (not the active partner), investing funds with Peraḥ/Peraḥya ha-Kohen, who also adds funds and takes the total to Damascus to import goods to Fusṭāṭ. The partnership is to last the duration of a single trip to Damascus, and Peraḥ is to receive half of the profits to Abraham’s capital as well as all profits to his own capital. Peraḥ is liabile for losses, as with the isqra. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 65-66)

Fragment of a letter from Isma’il b. Barhun al-Tahirti to Efrayim b. Shemarya, Fustat. After a disagreement that happened because of a business of selling indigo (it is not clear what the disagreement was about). The writer informs Efrayim, the judge and leader of the Jews in Fustat that Rav Hayya Gaon sent his answer and he supports the Tahirtis side. The writer writes his Hebrew name – Shemuel b. Rabbi Avraham. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #124) VMR

Letter and bills from Sicily, probably to Yosef b. Ya’aqov b. Awkal, Fustat. Some of the bills are directed to b. Awkal for washing fabrics, and it seems like the other bills and the letter are addressed to him as well. Mentions selling linen and indigo in Palermo. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #201) VMR

Letter from Yosef b. Yaʿaqov b. Yahaboy, probably in Amalfi, to a partner, in al-Mahdiyya. Dating: ca. 1040. Describes a long sea voyage that lasted about 70 days on board a Christian ship. The journey probably started in Alexandria and went through Constantinople, Crete and Amalfi. Yosef b. Yaʿaqov b. Yahaboy asks his partner to sell some flax and indigo and instructs him what to do with the money that he will receive. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 390.)

Accounts in Arabic script for three types of indigo. See Goitein's index card for further information.

Recto: A letter in Arabic script regarding a suftaja (bill of exchange) and mentioning Abū Saʿd al-Tustarī and [...] b. Yaʿqūb al-Tustarī. Verso: Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic for three different types of indigo: jūdī, sindānī, and ʿamtānī. Information from Goitein's note card.

Multifragment. Fol. 2: Mercantile accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. On parchment. Dating: Probably 11th century. A vast sum of 2,033 dinars is cashed in Qayrawān for consignments of indigo, sugar, and silver (vessels or disused coins). Also mentions al-Mahdiyya. (Information from Goitein's index card and Med Soc I, 216n31.) Both fragments are written on parchment.

Mercantile letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The sender and addressee are unknown. Dating: Probably 11th century. Mentions people such as Abū Yaʿaqov the brother of Tamra(?); a poor old man (shaykh suʿlūk); Ibn al-Fakkāh. Mentions goods such as: pepper, cinnamon, brazilwood, wheat, oil, and Kirmānī indigo. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #835.) VMR

Legal document: deed of sale in Arabic for the purchase of part of a house. Abū l-Faraj Ṣemaḥ b. Ṣedaqa b. Ṣemaḥ the money-changer buys part of a house in Qaṣr al-Shamʿ in Fustat from his uncle Dāwūd b. Ṣemaḥ the indigo dealer. The house abuts the former church of St Michael, the oven of al-Jalāl, and the house of Maymūn b. Dāwūd. Dated 10–20 Shaʿbān 448 (October-November 1056 CE). On verso there is a liturgical text in Hebrew. (Information from Khan.) It is unusual that the document is written on a bifolio; it may be a court copy, which would also explain what seems to be an archival annotation on verso summarizing the document (which Khan deciphers in part but doesn't discuss). MR

Legal document. Partnership agreement. A deal between an investor, possibly named Ibrahim, and three unnamed indigo dyers opening a workshop in Damietta. The active partners agree to behave according to industry norms and business practices in Damietta. The active partners will receive two-thirds of profits and losses (except for the first ten dinars of losses due to ordinary business operations). The investor is responsible for the daily maintenance of the active partners and assumes responsibility for losses due to force majeure, though in such cases the active partner is required to swear an oath disclaiming negligence. Notably, the partnership structure is a hybrid of both the partnership model ("torat ʿisqa") and the commenda model. The active partners’ testament to “ward off treachery and fulfill good faith” indicates that the investor isn't present in Damietta, but he retains a modicum of control over their business activities. If the assets of the shop are found to have declined in value, the partners are to communicate with Ibrahīm and to follow his orders; if he fails to respond, they are free from liability for misconduct. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 245-246)

Letter from Hārūn b. Yaʿqūb, in Tiberias, possibly addressed to Mūsā b. Ismāʿīl b. Sahl. Dating: Likely 11th century. Dealing with the indigo trade. Needs examination.

Legal document. In which Moshe b. Yehuda ha-Ḥazzan acknowledges receipt of a number of goods from [...] b. Salmān the broker. These include 13 dinars' worth of indigo, 35 1/2 dinars' worth of something else, and cinnamon. On verso there is very faded Hebrew text, likely literary.