Geniza Lab

The main document is a liturgy. On the margin a strip from another document- a ketuba written by Mevorakh b. Natan (1150-1181 CE) was bound together. AA

Record in a court notebook. Written and signed by Mevorakh b. Natan. Two complementary fragments, not providing a complete document. A venture on behalf of an orphan named Abū l-Ghayth, undertaken by Abū l-Maʿālī Shemuel b. Asad together with his son ʿEli. The orphan had reached maturity, but was not yet regarded by the court as able to manage his estate. An amount of 56.5 dinars was entrusted to Shemuel and his son, who stood security with their own possessions (in Minyat Zifta Jawād(?)), real estate and movables. The document itself is dated 147[5] Seleucid, which is 1164 CE, under the authority of the Head of the Jews the Gaon Netanel ha-Levi. Following the end of the document (after Mevorakh's elaborate signature in ENA 4011.23), there are multiple addenda in which the orphan confirms sums received. The note in the margin states that he received one payment of 8 dinars in Shevaṭ 1478 Seleucid, which is December 1166 / January 1167 CE. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, III, 296, 492.) NB: Goitein refers to ENA 4011.23 as ENA 4011.22. To add to the confusion, the current ENA 4011.22 is an unrelated legal document also in the hand of Mevorakh b. Natan.

Legal document from 1145 in the hand of Mevorakh b. Natan. Sitt al-Tujjar comes to court to collect her ketubba. the cort examines her ketubba and finds that she is trustworthy. The rest of the document deals with the sums she is owed and what she receives from the court and the orphans - since a third of the deed is still missing it is hard to understand the exact details. Join by Oded Zinger.

Legal document. Dated: Monday, 9 Nisan 1469 Seleucid, which is 1158 CE. Sitt al-Dalāl bt. Seʿadya the widow of Abū ʿAlī Yefet b. ʿEli agrees with her elder son Abū Saʿd to receive from her two sons her delayed marriage payment to the amount of 30 dinars and to renounce her dowry and maintenance worth 20 d dinars. Since the younger son Makārim was a minor, Abū Saʿd agreed with his mother to pay her his share of 15 dinars and to deposit the other 15 dinars until Makārim would be a major, in which case either the latter would also free his mother of the obligation to give an oath, or, after her oath, pay her his share in both delayed marriage payment and dowry, i.e., a total of 25 dinars. The court ordered a ḥerem setam in presence of the widow because rumor had it that the estate had been tampered with. (Information from Goitein's index card.) At the top of recto there is a note for an unrelated legal document, concerning the marriage of the bride (a divorcee) Diyār bt. Yefet and the groom Abū [...] b. Avraham Levi. NB: Goitein refers to this fragment as ENA 4011.5. (Information from Goitein's index card.) (Written by Mevorakh b. Natan. AA)

Letter from Mevorakh b. Natan to Thiqat al-Mulk. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mevorakh describes his financial difficulties and asks for help obtaining wheat. He complains that al-Shaykh al-ʿAfīf Masarra had failed to provide wheat to Mevorakh's family during his absence on a journey (r9–11). When Mevorakh returned, he found his family sick and perishing of hunger (r6–7). (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, pp. 243, 439)

Fragment of a partnership document (per FGP), involving R. Shemuel, Abū l-Faraj al-Yatom, Yiṣḥaq ha-Dayyan, Abū l-Bishr. Written by Mevorakh b. Natan, during the reign of Shmuel b. Hananya ha-Nagid, so we can date it to 1150-1160 (AA).

Letter from Mevorakh b. Natan to Elazar ha-Kohen expressing sympathy at the death of his father. The writer notes that he had already sent a letter to the same effect but was afraid that it had gone astray. He excuses himself for not attending the funeral because of his poor health. Second half of the 12th century. (Information from Goitein's index cards and CUDL)

Letter from the office of the Gaʾon Sar Shalom b. Moshe ha-Levi (in office ca. 1176–95) to a certain community. Mainly in Judaeo-Arabic. Written by Mevorakh b. Natan, with the signature of the Gaʾon at the bottom. Dated: Iyyar 1497 Seleucid, which is 1186 CE. Concerning two teachers, saying that both of them would continue to receive "ṣibbur" (pledges for public charity), but that one of them was permitted to act as a teacher and as a slaughterer, while the other was only entitled to receive fees for writing marriage and divorce contracts and other legal documents, and for performing circumcisions. Lines 1–6 can be found on T-S 10J 29.4, lines 7–16 on T-S 10J 24.7. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 122, and from Goitein's index cards.)

Legal document. Agreements on prepayment of rent ca. 1180-81. Twenty years after agreements on repairs to be made jointly were signed between the qodesh and al-Nadiv, Abu'l-Makarim, we have such agreements now with Judge Shemuel b. Saadya, and three elders signing for the qodesh. These are three consecutive agreements covering together a period of four years. Again, the matter of repairs made jointly is settled. Abu'l-Makarim first advances the rent owed by him for a period of two years for the lease of al-Burj; this compound, as shown by its name, was probably originally some stronghold and was no completely owned by the qodesh. Abu'l-Makarim rents it both as a dwelling place and for the purpose of his business, which is mainly rose water. The first of the three agreements is for a period from June 1180 to June 1182; the third is from May 1183 to 1184. The second of the three is missing, but certainly covered the lunar year from June 1182 to May 1183. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp.314 #74) (Probably written by Mevurakh b. Nathan. AA)

Deed of gift, signed by Breakhot b. Elazar. The other signatures are not preserved. The parties Abu al-Muna, and Tamim ha-Parnas. This Tamim is known from other document relating to the pious foundations: TS 8J11.7d (from 1182, published Gil, Pious foundations, no. 82) and TS 8J11.7a-b (Gil, ibid. no. 88). In the bottom what has left from the establishment of the deed, only the name Tiqva b. Yefet survived. Written by Mevorakh b. Natan (1150-1181). AA

Recto: Last lines of a legal document, probably pre-nuptial agreement. Party issuing: Abū ʿAlī b. Abū l-Faḍl. written by Nathan b. Samuel and signed by Beraḵot ha-Kohen b. Shela, Mevorakh b. Sar-Shalom. Attested by the Bet Din and signed by Menaḥem b. Beraḵot, Ja[cob] b. Joseph. Written by Mevorakh b. Natan (1150-1181). Verso: Judaeo-Arabic note. AA

Six pages of court records in the handwriting of Mevorakh b. Natan (b. Shemuel ha-Ḥaver). Fol. 1, recto (doc. a): After the death in Sicily of Abū l-Surūr b. Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥibrī, his brother Futūḥ claimed his inheritance and the court establishes that as their third brother (Abū Saʿīd) has already died, Futūḥ is indeed the only known heir. Fol. 1, verso (doc. b): Abū Saʿīd Khalaf/Ḥalfon (aka "Segulat ha-Nedivim" or simply "al-Segulat") received 18 dinars from Abū l-Maʿālī Shemuel the trader, who had been guarantor on behalf of the banker from al-Maḥalla Abū l-Maʿālī b. ʿOvadya for the orphan Bayān b. Ḥashīsh(!). The court orders Ḥalfon to keep the money as a deposit for the orphan. Dated: Adar 1470 Seleucid, which is 1159 CE. Fol. 2, recto and verso (doc. c): Trousseau list (taqwīm). Bride: Sitt al-Maʿālī bt. Mevorakh ha-Kohen. Groom: Netanel b. Aharon ha-Kohen. Dating: Between Nisan and Sivan 1470 Seleucid, which is 1159 CE (based on the records that appear before and after). The marriage gifts amounted to 30 plus 80 dinars. The ornaments and dressing table objects brought to the bride were evaluated as worth 155 dinars. Both spouses were Kohens and probably cousins. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 4:343, 466.) Fol. 3, recto (doc. d): Two entries, unclear if they are related. Above, the court orders Abū l-Faraj Ibn al-Shofeṭ to provide sustenance (mezonot) for his wife Sārra for a period of 30 days Dated: Wendesday, 9 Sivan 1470 Seleucid, which is 1159 CE. (An earlier description on PGP said that this is probably a payment for the deferment of a marriage.) Below is another trousseau list (taqwīm). Bride and groom are not named, which is perhaps an argument for connecting this to the entry above. Payments are 5 + 17. Fol.3, verso (doc. e): Dated: Wednesday, 9 Sivan 1470 Seleucid, which is 1159 CE. Sitt al-Sāda bt. Sayyid al-Ahl b. Naḥman appears before the court and claims her property and her ketubba of 30 dinars following the death of her husband Abū l-Ḥasan. She specifies the household goods left by the latter and is asked about her income from her work. Afterwards she marries. Signed by Efrayim b. Meshullam and Hillel b. Ṣadoq. (Information in part from CUDL and Goitein's index cards.) 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

One of four pages from a legal notebook containing a detailed query about a case of inheritance, mostly providing details about silk. (Information from Goitein's index cards) EMS Written by Mevorakh b. Natan. AA

Conditional bill of divorce. In the hand of Mevorakh b. Natan. Dated: Av 1480 Seleucid, which is 1169 CE. The trader Bū Saʿd Moshe b. Yefet gives this conditional divorce to his wife before setting out on a journey to Yemen. Signed by: Mevorakh b. Natan and Shemuel b. Seʿadya. See also T-S 12.585 recto and verso. (Information in part from S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 3:192, 467; Amir Ashur and Ben Outhwaite, “Between Egypt and Yemen in the Cairo Genizah,” Journal of Islamic Manuscripts, Vol. 5 (2014), 213.) EMS.

Legal document, probably a bill of release from a woman. Written by Mevorakh b, Nathan (Date: 1150-1181) and signed by [...] b. Ḥalfon ha-Melammed. Verso: Arabic jottings. AA

Fragment from a legal deed written by Mevorakh b. Nathan, from the year 1170 (only the two last digits ae preserved), under the authority of Sar Shalom Halevi. The deed is damaged, so the actual context is unclear. A lady appeared in court and declared that she gave someone what she had to give. AA

Dowry list, probably part of a ketubah, written by Mevorakh b. Nathan (Date: 1151- 1181). Much faded and damaged. AA

Very damaged and faded marriage agreement written by Mevurakh b. Nathan (Date: 1150-1181). Some lines from the dowry list is visible, and also few of the commonly found conditions such as the trustworthy and the monogamy clause. AA