Geniza Lab

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)

Sub-leasing agreement of a tax farm of silk production for the town of Bush and its surroundings, which was worth 3.5 dinars. Dated Tammuz 1458/ June 1147. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 606, 607)

Sub-leasing agreement written in Damietta in 1106 in which the farmer of the dues from dyeing and selling silk in the district of Damietta sub-leases his rights regarding a small town named Ibwan to three partners for the duration of one year against a payment of two dinars per month. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 361, 362, 606)

Lease of a ruin belonging to the Great Synagogue of Ramla, ca. 1038. The "people of the Great Synagogue," i.e. the representatives of the congregation of the Palestinians, in Ramla, lease one half of a ruin owned by the synagogue, to a certain Sedaqa b. Yefet al-Shiraji. The lease is for a period of 20 years, at the price of hald a dinar yearly, to serve for repairs and other needs of the synagogue. The lessee intends to repair the ruin. His investments in stones and timber will be considered as covered after that period. He will then have to decide whether he wants to live there and pay rent at the prices then current or to live elsewhere; in either case, if there is a balance from his investment which will not have been covered, the congregation will return it to him. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 147 #5)

Lease contract for an entire top-floor apartment rented by Abu al-Ḥasan Shelomo ha-Kohen b. Menashshe. from Abu al-Fadl Mevorakh b. Yefet. The place is described in great detail. (Information from Goitein's index cards). Written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi (Date: 1100-1138)

Lease of land belonging to the Qodesh, ca. 1180. Written on the surviving upper part of a leaf, this is a draft of a deed leasing a parcel of land belonging to the qodesh to Avraham ha-Levi (B. Yahya) al-Najib (al-Watiq). The parcel (saha) is in Dammuh, near the synagogue. It had been dedicated to Yesha'yahu ha-Levi b. Misha'el (Maimonides' brother-in-law) who, in a previous document, was appointed general administrator of the qodesh. The lessee is granted the right to build on the land and also to cultivate it and operate the saqiya on it. The lease is for a period of 30 years, for 180 dirhams, i.e. six dirhams a year; it is apparently a small parcel. In 30 years, it will revert to the qodesh. The purpose of the deal, from the point of view of the qodesh, might have been the revival of the Dammuh area, to prevent it from falling into decay. This was a practice known in Egypt during many centuries, taken over by the Muslim administration from the Hellenistic-Roman-Byzantine emphyteusis, meaning lease for a symbolic price, and sometimes exeption from taxes, in order to revitalize abandoned land. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 319 #75)

Recto: Lease of a compound in Ascalon, ca. 1120(?)-1147. A compound in Ascalon is leased by the representatives of the qodesh to to Shelomo ha-Zariz b. Ḥalfon. Verso: Record of the yearly rent paid to the elders of the Heqdesh, kept by the tenant. The yearly rent was one quarter of a dinar or 8.5 wariq dirhams, which covered the rent from Tishri to Elul. The payments were generally made several months after the end of the year. Records of ten such parments are preserved, from a period extending from 1131 through 1147. The lease itself bears four signatures, whereas the yearly payments are confirmed by two members of the court. The document includes writing in three different languges: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic. Confirmations of the payments are listed in chronological order. (Information from CUDL and Gil, Documents, pp. 277 #57)

Lease of a plantation owned by the Qodesh, ca. 1150 CE. A deed of lease is drawn up by the court, by which a plantation of date palms is taken over for cultivation by a certain Hiba. The plantation belongs to the qodesh, and is probably located near the synagogue of Dammuh. The tenant will pay the qodesh 88 dinars, in annual payments of 11 dinars each, for eight years, i.e. the period of the lease. Out of the 11 dinars, 1.33 dinar will be paid in eleven monthly installments, whereas 9.67 dinars will be paid in the month of Tishri (when the harvest is over). The tenant will also have to carry 1000 palm branches to the Nile (apparently also in the month of Tishri, intended for the feast of Sukkot). The tenant agrees to run the ox-driven irrigation water wheel continuously, and will not cut down any plants aside from necessary pruning. The deed is written in the hand of Judge Natan b. Shemuel. (Information from CUDL and Gil, Documents, pp. 262 #50)

Deed of lease. In Arabic script. Dated: 539 AH, which is 1144/45 CE. The lessee is the trader (tājir) Dāʾūd b. Ḥasan al-Yahūdī (though his name is written دواد instead of the usual داود). Complete document; needs further examination. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.)

Legal document concerning the lease of a house by ʿAbd al-Bāqī b. Aḥmad the preacher, from Mūsā b. ʿAdī, the Jew, in the district of al-Khawlān in Fustat. Dated: 13 Muharram 424 AH, which is 19 December 1032 CE. (Information from Khan.) The transcription appears below along with the transcriptions for several unrelated documents, which were all glued together to form a large sheet. EMS

Rental contract of some kind. In Arabic script. The bottom 19 lines are preserved. Involving an agent named Abū l-Ṭāhir Ismāʿīl (l. 1), a drug store (al-ʿiṭr wa-l-ʿaqāqīr, l. 4), and describing the boundaries of a property. Dated: Dhū l-Ḥijja [..]5 AH (the full year should be legible with further examination). Signed by ʿAbd al-Khāliq b. Ismāʿīl. On verso there is a calendar in Hebrew script for the 263rd and 264th cycles (maḥzors), corresponding to 1217–55 CE. Needs further examination.

Legal deed, apparently settling accounts at the end of a lease. Probably from a Rabbanite court. In Hebrew. Dated: Sunday, 5 Av 5404 AM, which is 1644 CE. Scribe: Yaʿaqov Abī Zimra (a descendant of the Radbaz?). Signed by: Yaʿaqov Abī Zimra; Moshe Uzilo; and perhaps a third person whose name is sideways. Lessors: Moshe b. ʿAbd al-Karīm Berakaha; Naṣrallāh Yūsuf b. ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ha-Rofe; Avraham Qudaysī b. Yaʿaqov al-Qayyim known as Muqriʾ(?). Property: "the large qāʿa in Darb al-Midwār(?) where Moshe used to live." Lessees: Moshe b. Yiṣḥaq Uzilo; Avraham b. Yaʿaqov Marāḥa(?). Period of lease: 4 years, beginning Adar 5401 AM (the original deed of lease was drawn up on Thursday, 11 Adar 5401 AM, which is 1641 CE; apparently they drew up the lease in both Jewish court and Muslim court, as there is also reference to a ḥujja sharʿiyya—unless this phrase is redundantly referring to the Jewish legal document). Rent: 1 Abū Kalb gurūsh per month. The lessees also gave a loan (security deposit?) of 60 sharīfī peraḥim to the lessors (or perhaps each lessee gave 30 peraḥim?). Avraham Marāḥa previously transferred his share in the remainder of the lease to Shelomo Abū Qāya (in a document dated 10 Sivan 5403 AM). Now, Moshe Uzilo is transferring his share in the remainder of the lease to the same Shelomo. Moshe Kanpanton is also mentioned as a witness in the body of the document. Some of these details are unclear and will likely be revised upon further examination of the document.