Geniza Lab

Legal document. In the hand of Shemeul b. Seʿadya ha-Levi. Location: Fustat. Dated: Iyyar 1480 Seleucid, which is April/May 1169 CE, under the authority of an unidentified Seʿadya, during the lifetime of the Gaʾon Netanʾel b. Moshe ha-Levi (see line 16; he may have even signed this document, but this needs to be checked against his handwriting elsewhere). Statement about an oath to be given by the executor of a will, Abū l-Maʿālī (aka Shemuel b. Asad). He had had to spend 220 dinars in order to get back a property belonging to the orphans under his responsibility from the hands of some state officials. He was then able to sell the property for 300 dinars. The uncle of the orphans bore the title Raḍiyy al-Dawla ("Pleasing the Government"), and the father of their guardian was a kātib, or government official. Signed by Shemuel b. Seʿadya ha-Levi; Netanʾel b. Moshe; Moshe b. Yeshuʿa ha-Kohen; and Shemuel b. ʿOvadya. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 299, 493.)

Testimony in the Jerusalemite synagogue regarding an estate of a Maghribi pilgrim to the Holy Land. Dated: Av 1652 Seleucid, which is July 1341. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Legal document. Location: Fustat. Dated: 27 Tammuz 1472 Seleucid, which is 1161 CE. The widow of Bunyān(?) b. Durra(?) testifies that she received 10 dinars collected on her behalf by by a well-known tājir, or big merchant, Abū l-Maʿālī b. Bū l-Ḥasan b. Asad. The contributions: 2 dinars from the Nagid Netanel ha-Levi; 2 dinars from Abū l-Maʿālī of al-Maḥalla; 1 dinar from Abū Naṣr; 1 dinar from Bū l-Faraj al-Ṣūrī; 2 dinars from Sālim al-Parnas Ibn al-Jubaylī; and 2 dinars from Ṣāf(ī) the ghulām/slave/business agent of the tājir on the very day on which the document was written. "The participation of the slave seems to indicate that the dead merchant had been connected with his master by partnership or otherwise. In any case, such a collection also represents some form of mutual help" (Information from Goitein, Med Soc I, 204 and 451 n. 65, where he erroneously cites the document as MS heb. d.66/76). Although the scribe is different, this shelfmark may belong together with the preceding 2 shelfmarks.

Legal testimony. Dated: Wednesday the 6th of Ḥeshvan, which Goitein identified as October 1231 CE, based on the surmise that this document belongs together with Bodl. MS heb. e 101/14. The testimony describes how Shamun b. al-Muzanjir was attacked by his brother, ʿImrān, while sewing in the store of Simḥa. Shamun didn't lift his hand against his brother for this happened in the presence of Jews, Muslims and Christians. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p.47; V, pp. 305, 306)

Record of a deposition regarding donation of parts of a compound, ca. 1160. Sitt al-Riyad, al-Na'iha, who owns seven qirats of a compound, donates a third of her part to the Karaites and a little less than that (7.5 qirats) to the Rabbanites. This is recorded on the left part of a leaf detached from a notebook, apparently belonging to a 'adl, a "righteous witness," or notary. Three witnesses, inclusive of the writer, are mentioned at the beginning, but their signatures are not preserved. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 294 #63.) See also Goitein, Med Soc II, Appendix A, #164.

Court testimony from Bilbays in which Sulayman ha-Levi b. Shelomo states that his brother Barakat made his will at the beginning of Shevat and died on the 26th of Tevet, and that his widow had agreed to a reduction of the late marriage gift to thirty dinars, probably because two minor daughters had to be provided for. Dated Kislev 1530/ December 1218. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 390, and from Goitein's index cards)

Testimony of woman, Sittuna bat Hayyim about her husband, Farah ibn Banuqa who left her 'a widow in his lifetime.' She is indigent because he had sold part of her dowry and pawned the rest, and this was many years ago.

Fragment of a court testimony in which Bishr b. Ibrahim sues Zayn concerning items in the estate of his deceased paternal uncle, Sadaqa b. Khalaf. Dated Tevet 1453/ December 1141. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Legal document: testimony on the date of a bill of divorce written by Yaʿaqov b. Avraham, Yosef Lebdi's travel companion. The document is dated to April 5, 1095.

Petition to the caliph, draft in the Arabic handwriting of Efrayim b. Shemarya. Dating: January 1039. Concerns the closing of a synagogue in Fustat, following the requests of Natan b. Avraham and his family members.

Testimony in Arabic script. Fragment (top cut off). Dated: first third of Jumādā I 528 AH, which is 1134 CE. The bottom is divided into two columns, each with its own witness statement. On verso there is a column of script on the right completely blacked out (appears to be Hebrew script, but this is not certain). Mentions several people by name, including the broker in Dār al-Tuffāḥ (line 3). Needs further examination.

Testimony (shahada) written in Jerusalem during the gaonate of Daniel b. Azarya (1051–62), October 1057. Draft.

Testimony dating to 1107 CE regarding a house, which is now a wreck, located near the 'house of the shofet' and (belonging?) to the daughter of Abū Naṣr b. Dāʾūd al-Ṣayrafi. Dealing with whether the proprietor of the ruin is entitled to dispose of his rubbish there. The fragment contains 4 consecutive testimonies by different people: [...] b. Yeshuʿa ha-Kohen, Abū ʿAlī Ḥasan b. Menashshe. Signed by Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuʾel, Yosef b. Saʿadya, ʿUlla b. Yosef ha-Levi, Sar Shalom b. Hiyya. (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, 23.)

Legal document draft leaving the date blank, written by Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Talmid. On verso part of a rough draft record of testimony by Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq Ha-Talmid. Contains the trustee stipulation for a woman, and the end of the stipulation regarding the wife's earnings. The husband is taking upon himslef not to marry another wife, nor to act violently against his wife. Written by Avraham b. Aharon ha-mumhe.

Legal document. Damaged. On recto title: זכרון עדות (= bill of testimony) in square Hebrew script. On verso, in different hand, a refutation of a certain legal ruling, might be related to gentile courts or to a school of scholars. Hebrew. AA

Testimony regarding bridal consent to marriage. Two manuscripts that deal with the marriage of a bride named Karam. The two manuscripts contain the bride's consent to the marriage, her receiving the initial marriage gift (Muqaddam) and an appoint of a representative on her behalf. The first manuscript, ENA NS I.95a, from the 3rd of Nissan (Monday, the 14th of March) year 1244, is a testimony of witnesses that the bride gave in their presence her consent to the marriage to the aforementioned Groom, and that she received the initial marriage gift (Muqaddam) and accepted the sum of the delayed marriage gift (Me'ukhar). The story takes an unexpected twist in the second manuscript dated two days afterward. While the wife testified in the previous document that she received the initial marriage gift and accepted the sum of the delayed marriage gift, in the second document she appoints her brother to receive the initial marriage gift and to set the sum of the delayed marriage gift. Since the ending of the first document did not survive it is impossible to determine what took place in those two days. The wife might have wanted to testify that she received the muqaddam but things did not turn out the way they should have (the two sides might have fallen into dispute and the agreement was not signed?) Thus, direct involvement of the bride's wife was required. Another option is that the brother's appointment as representative was carried out informally before receiving the initial marriage gift, but only later was this formalized in court. [NB volume number in shelfmark is roman numeral I, not Arabic numeral 1]

Verso: Informal note, instructing the scribe of the court to write a promissory note on 96 dirhams—obviously the outcome of former litigation. Writtnen in Judaeo-Arabic in an oriental cursive hand, preserving seven lines. Avraham is asked to testify that Abū al-Faḍl owes Yaʿqūb b. Abū al-Surūr ninety-six dirhams. (Information from Halper Catalogue of Dropsie Geniza and Goitein's index card.)

Witnesses testify that Khasib the son of Sheikh Abu Nasr, known as Ibn Alma, appeared in the court of the Nagid with a claim against Moshe al-Shiraji (Siraji?). The document is signed by Mevasser ha-Kohen b. Avraham, Avraham b. Moshe ha-Melammed, Avraham b. Natan. (Information from Halper Catalogue of Dropsie Geniza)

Testimony in Arabic script probably meant to accompany an investiture petition from the gaʾon Shelomo b. Yehuda to the newly appointed caliph al-Mustanṣir billāh, listing the prerogatives the gaʾon has enjoyed for the past eleven years of his tenure. If this interpretation is correct, the document dates to 1036 CE. Goitein writes that the script and style are identical with those of T-S NS 320.45, and also that Halper 354 "is the most important Geniza document found thus far illustrating the official position of the Jerusalem Gaonate within the Muslim state."

A three line fragment of a draft of a legal testimony. The other side of the page contains a fragment of what is probably a different case written in the same hand (for example, notice the BH combination in the first line in this document and in line 4 on the other side).