Geniza Lab

Legal document. In Hebrew with one phrase in Judaeo-Arabic. Location: Fustat. Dated: Thursday, 16 Av 53[3]7 AM, which is 1577 CE. Reconciliation of a marital dispute between Yosef Pico and his wife Esther bt. Shelomo קאגיגי. The agreeement is that Yosef will no longer beat his wife for any reason whatsoever, or insult or curse her or her parents. If he reneges on this, she will have the right to demand her ketubba payment in full in the Muslim courts "in the capital" (? פי אלעצמה). And he will have to give her the bill of divorce within 24 hours.

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. Reconciliation between al-Muʿallim Manṣūr al-Dajjājī (same as in T-S NS 297.76?) and his wife, in which Manṣūr submits to various conditions concerning his wife's property. Mentions the 'waraqa' that is 'against him' in the Muslim courts. The name Shemuel al-Amshāṭī appears in the margin. Signed: ʿOvadya b. Shemuel; Yehuda b. Moshe.

Responsum in a literary style concerning a dispute between husband and wife, written in the hand of Yeḥiʾel b. Elyaqim (active 1213-1233 CE). (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Ṭoviya b. Moshe, in Jerusalem, to his daughter, in Fustat, April 1040 or 1041. "The following description of the writer's well-being is altogether exceptional: 'I am completely comfortable in my body and all my affairs. My clothes do not hold me for all my happiness and success.' The story was indeed complicated. A Byzantine Jew had married a Muslim woman, certainly a captive whom he had ransomed. When the couple moved to Palestine they separated, and the wife took residence in Egypt with her daughter, who had meanwhile grown up. The mother fell on bad times, and in this letter the father tries to persuade the girl to return to him and the Jewish fold, pointing out that he (in contrast to her mother) was in excellent health and enjoyed material prosperity and thus was able to provide for her" (Goitein, Med Soc V, 47-48).

Petition from the wife of Abu'l-Faraj the Silkweaver, to Shemuʾel ha-Nagid b. Ḥananya (in office 1140–59). She is an "unprotected woman" (marʾa munqaṭiʿa) whose father could not support her and whose brother was a young boy with no connections. She explains that she “got stuck” with a man who was not ashamed of the bad things people had said about him (or maybe of the bad things of which he himself speaks?). The petition was written after a legal proceeding in which the Nagid ordered the husband to restore the ketubba to its original wording (apparently the husband had decreased the sum stated in the ketubba). However, now the husband has taken an oath that he would restore only ten dinars, a lower sum than previously agreed upon. The husband apparently managed to ignore the Nagidʼs commands by finding someone who supported him in his claims. The wife had been getting advice from her congregation and from the local judge, but, she writes, she is fed up with words and no action. The judge, for example, told her brother to leave the matter until Sunday, but “Sunday came and nothing was done for my issue except postponement.” She complains that she is treated “as if it was I who has done something unpermitted” (ḥattā ka-annī qad ʿamiltu shayʾ lā yanṣāgh (!) – for the last word (=yanṣāgh) see Blau, Dictionary, 379). Even a ruling of the Nagid was subjected to a process of negotiation at the local level until it was watered down to ineffectiveness. The same matter is also mentioned briefly in T-S 10J17.22. (Information from Zinger, "Women, Gender and Law" (PhD diss), 248n139, lightly revised by MR.) Alternate description based on Goitein's notes: Complaint to Shemuel ha-Nagid (his titles occupy 7 lines) by the wife of Abū l-Faraj, the silkspinner (qazzāz). Her husband had left her and her little daughter without provisions, however, he was not without means. His female slave she claims had been adjudicated to her, but was kept by her husband in his sister's house. The judge, to whom the complaint was made first was not effective in securing her rights. (some corrections by AA)

Letter from a communal leader to a Nasi. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer reports that he fulfilled what had been requested of him in the letter that the addressee had sent him with a certain woman. He accompanied her to the two synagogues and informed the two congregations about an error in a recent court session (majlis al-ḥukm). It seems that a ban of excommunication placed on this woman is being retracted, and that she is owed 4 sanja dinars from public funds. The writer accompanied her to the ṣarf, where it turned out that the money the Nagid (sayyidnā) had given her was 5 qirats short of the 4 dinars, and the writer had no money, whether rubāʿīs or dirhams, with which to pay the balance. Her brother-in-law and David al-Najjār then accosted the writer in the market and 'cried out' (istaghātha) against him, saying that they won't pay a penny until they see the woman's documents. The writer asks the addressee to send the documents with her—and possibly the remaining 5 qirats (verso)—so that everyone will be spared "their evil" (of the brother-in-law and David al-Najjār; this reading is not completely clear). Merits further examination.

Letter from a woman to a communal official. In Hebrew. The purpose of the letter is to advocate for herself in her marital dispute that has already come before the addressee in court. "They brought [...] to my master and said, 'Here are some of my possessions that she has destroyed,' but my master knows that when we came before you in court, he did not mention that I destroyed this shawl, and all of this is 'Perversity is in his heart, he devises evil continually, he sows discord' (Proverbs 6:14)." She flatters the addressee (חכם כמלאך האלהים) and reminds him that her (ex?)-husband is just trying to return to his divorcee, and that he hates her daughter.

Legal deed. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably late 11th century, based on the presence of the witness Ṣāliḥ b. Yivḥar, who signed T-S 10J26.8 in Tripoli (Lebanon), in 1079 CE. Concerning a dispute between Abū Yaʿqūb Yequtiel b. [...]h ha-Rofe and his wife Munā. Sums of 70 and 20 dinars are mentioned. Witnesses (names written in the hand of the scribe): Ṣāliḥ b. Yivḥar; Yaʿaqov b. Shelomo; Yiṣḥaq b. Elʿazar.

Legal deed. In Hebrew. Location: Fustat/Cairo. Dated: 1 Shevat 5578 AM, which is 1818 CE. Declaring that Rica bt. Avraham ha-Kohen טרייקלי is "rebellious" (moredet) against her husband Yosef Castile, and she therefore forfeits her right to her ketubba or any alimony.

List in Judaeo-Arabic of at least seven of the "blemishes" (ʿuyūb) a woman can have, such as a bad odor, a propensity to sweat, a coarse voice, and at least two having to do with the breasts. Of documentary interest not least because there are a number of documents in which a man complains about the "blemishes" of his wife (e.g. T-S AS 147.17) or a female slave (e.g. T-S Misc.23.8). On verso is a medical text (literary) in Arabic script, and there are additional jottings in Arabic script filling the margins of each side. ASE.

Right fragment: Small fragment of a ketubba written in the Palestinian style. In the hand of the ḥaver Shemuel b. Moshe, the same scribe as ENA NS 77.354. Location: Probably Tyre. Dating: ca. 1028–54. See M. A. Friedman's edition for further information.

Left fragment: Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. There is an address: to [...] al-Dawla Moshe ha-Zaqen ha-Sar the tax farmer (ḍāmin), in Damīra. But it is not entirely clear that this address belongs with the note on the other side, which is a letter of recommendation. The addressee is asked to help reconcile the bearer, al-Shaykh al-Makīn, with his wife "and listen to his complaint (shakwā), [because] he is a good boy and his father is a good man. . . and you know his intellect and his piety." The writer later states, "Maybe I will come to Fustat," implying that the addressee of the letter of recommendation is in Fustat (rather than Damīra). But needs further examination. (Information in part from Oded Zinger's forthcoming edition.)

Note addressed to al-Talmid al-Jalīl. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer reports that exactly what a certain ḥaḍra knew would happen with Abū Saʿd and his divorcee has happened. Namely, Abū Saʿd had committed to paying his divorcee a certain sum of dirhams every week as maintenance payments. But now two weeks have passed, and he has not paid a penny. The addressee is to obtain the amount that Abū Saʿd owes for the last two weeks and to bring it with him. ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Apparently describing the situation of an ʿaguna (a woman abandoned by her husband without a divorce). "Their summoning to the court. . . " It seems she has also been deprived of access to her athāth (=qumāsh=dowry?) and any money with which to feed herself (tataqawwatu bihi).

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably early 13th century. Might be from a family member of Sitt Ghazāl to Shelomo b. Eliyyahu (cf. Bodl. MS heb. c 28/64 + CUL Or.1080 J125 + DK 357 and ENA 2808.36). "You write to me that you are in distress from her character (akhlāq). I want you to write to me and tell me exactly what the problem is, because I don't know what the problem is. Tell me what it is so that I can take care of it for you... for you are dear to me, greater than my brother and like my father in nobility. Whatever good you treat her with, God will reward you for it and you will earn reward." Greetings to 'the dear sister,' to Isḥāq and his wife, to al-Ḥedvat (cf. ENA NS 53.5, ENA NS 58.14, T-S NS J420, T-S NS J76), Bū Saʿd, others, and Bū l-Faraj al-Makīn b. Bū l-Zakkār(?). On verso there is a calendar.

Letter from the office of Yehoshua Maimonides to Avraham ha-Sar (for the same addressee, see T-S Misc.28.64 and T-S 8J40.2). He reports that he met with ʿAbd al-Karīm and that they 'parted ways in peace.' The addressee is to take the 'awrāq and ḥujaj' from Ibrāhīm and give them to ʿAbd al-Karīm. The upshot of the meeting is that if ʿAbd al-Karīm insults or beats his wife again, he will be excommunicated. Also, the Nagid learned that the synagogue was without a cantor for Minha and Maariv of Shabbat. The cantors Faraj Allāh and ʿAbd al-Karīm are to report to the addressee and declare a ban of excommunication against themselves (!) if they miss the prayer service without an urgent reason, and even then, the other one should substitute. If either one refuses to accept this condition, he will be fired, and if either one gives trouble, he is to be brought before the Nagid. Join by Oded Zinger. ASE.

Letter from the wife of Khalaf b. Harūn to Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon, seeking help against her cruel husband, written in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. (Information from CUDL). Avraham the cantor and the wife of Abu 'l-Ma'ali Khalaf b. Harun, describing her husband's mistreatment of her and petitioning the Gaon to look into her plight.

Legal record of the same case on the recto, which offers us an alternative vantage point against which we may evaluate the narrative imposed on this woman’s actions in the communal leader’s letter. Apparently, the wife (we now learn that her name was Saʿīda bt. David) was discontent with the handling of her case in her home town and travelled to the capital seeking justice. (Information from Oded Zinger, Women, Gender, and Law (PhD diss), 65–66).

Letter in Hebrew from the communal head of Ṣahrajt, a small Delta town, reporting on the local communityʼs handling of a particularly problematic case of marital strife. A man married the sister of his deceased wife, but the marriage was not a success, and, as the letter narrates the events, the wife appealed to a Muslim court to divorce her from her husband. (Information from Oded Zinger, Women, Gender, and Law (PhD diss), 65–66).

Legal document. Location: Sammanūd. Dated: 1445 Seleucid, which is 1133/34 CE, under the reshut of the Gaon Maṣliaḥ. Names [...] ha-Kohen ha-Zariz b. Yosef ha-Kohen. The testimony is about a woman who "cries out and writhes in pain (tastaghīth wa-tataḍawwar) from her husband's beating of her with his foot." A group of Alexandrians then enters the story. The rest of the document is missing. ASE.