Geniza Lab

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe, mentioning Abū Manṣūr b. Naḥrīr and Moses Abū ʿImrān, dated 1441 (= 1130 CE) in Fusṭāṭ. (Information from CUDL)

Probably a court record, in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. It mentions the names Abū ʿImrān and Abū l-Ḥusayn. (Information from CUDL)

Bottom part of a ketuba of Wahish b. Eli and Khibara d. Yosef. Written by Yefet b. David the Cantor. Signed by Yefet b. Mansur, Yosef b. Nehemya and Shemarya b. Avraham. AA

A bill of debt between Shmarya b. She’erit Hakohen and Abu al-Fadl Shilo. Written in Minyat Ashna, under the Jurisdiction of Shmuel b. Hannanya Hanagid, from the year 1149. Signed by Yeshua Hakohen b. Avraham ha-Galilee, Ishaq b. Moshe and Mevurakh b. Perhaya. AA

Fragment from a 13th century ketuba. Verso is decorated. AA

Un-conserved, so no numbers allocated to each fragment yet. Among the five minute frgaments in this folder there is one legal document written by Efrayim b. Shemarya, in which Shlomo b. Yosef al-Dim[yati] approved as a representative for an orphan. Signed by Yefet b. Shlomo, Aharon Hakohen b. Moshe. Another minute fragment from with Arabic and Hebrew script, and another one probably from a legal deed. AA

Un-conserved, so no numbers allocated to each fragment yet. Among the five minute frgaments in this folder there is one legal document written by Efrayim b. Shemarya, in which Shlomo b. Yosef al-Dim[yati] is approved as a representative for an orphan. Signed by Yefet b. Shlomo, Aharon Hakohen b. Moshe. Another minute fragment from with Arabic and Hebrew script, and another one probably from a legal deed. AA

Long vertical strip from the top of a ketuba written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi, from 1130, under the jurisdiction of Masliah Gaon. The groom is Yehuda ha-rofe and the bride Sitt al-Nas. AA

Partnership agreement, likely in the hand of the clerk of Yehoshua Maimonides, involving a certain [...] b. Sulaymān known as al-Ashyāfī (seller of ophthalmics) and Faraj Allāh b. Ibrāhīm. ASE

End of a declaration written and signed by Abraham b. Ishaq ha-talmid and signed by Eli Hakohen b. Yahya. AA

A bill of release from a son named Moshe to his father Hayyim. AA

Legal document written and signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Also signed by Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel ha-Sefaradi. Dating: 1127–38 CE. The case involves Abū l-Faḍāʾil b. Shemuel and [Saʿadya] b. Shelomo ha-Kohen, known as Salāma b. [...] and the rental value of a property. (Information in part from CUDL)

Fragment of a late legal document involving Elazar Skanda (?) and Yehuda Marājī (?).

Recto: Legal document in Arabic script. Verso: Legal document(s) or draft documents in Judaeo-Arabic. Written in two different sections, with a gap in between. The lower section mentions Efrayim, a power of attorney, and half a house. (Information in part from CUDL)

Legal document in Hebrew. Dated: Monday, 8 Adar I [5293 AM] = 3 February 1533 CE. The specific case was identified by אביחיל מנצורה on FGP in December 2021 as a famous case from the responsa of the time, "the girl from Tripoli." The following summary is based entirely on Shlomo Zalman Havlin, תשובת ר׳ שמואל ב״ר משה הלוי בן חכים / בן חקאן, Yeshurun 31 (2014), 41f. Yāqūta bt. Sulaymān Būza of Tripoli (Libya) was married at the age of 9 to her cousin Pinḥas b. Baʿdās Būza in 1510 CE, a few months before Tripoli was conquered by Spanish forces (who remained there until 1530). Pinḥas was taken captive, and Yāqūta remained an ʿaguna for 12 years. In the meantime, it was rumored that Pinḥas had converted. Yāqūta and some of her family immigrated to Egypt. Around 1522 CE, they approached the court in Cairo and sought to annul her marriage by bringing witnesses to testify that she was married as a minor without the consent of her father. On the basis of these testimonies, R. Moshe al-Ashqar, R. David Ibn Abi Zimra, and R. Shemuel ha-Levi Ḥaqqan/Ḥakim annulled her marriage to Pinḥas, and she remarried and had children over the following years. In 1525, R. Shemuel Ibn Sid obtained new testimonies from Tripolitans who claimed that the marriage had taken place with her father's consent, and therefore her second marriage was invalid. R. Moshe al-Ashqar claimed that Ibn Sid's receipt of testimony was invalid (it was received at night, Yāqūta was not present, there was no cross-examination, the judges were relatives, and the judges were boors and made an error in writing the date)—so he upheld the second marriage. In 1530/31, Yaʿaqov Beirav obtained further testimonies in Gaza and Jerusalem from Tripolitans and held (no later than 1533) that despite the flaws in Ibn Sid's testimonies, indeed there was no coercion in the first marriage, and her second marriage was invalid and her children illegitimate. R. Shemuel Haqqan and R. Moshe al-Ashqar countered this responsum, and Yaʿaqov Beirav countered their counter-responsum. In 1533, R. Moshe al-Ashqar traveled to Jerusalem and obtained additional testimonies from Yaʿaqov Beirav's new witnesses, together with R. Levi Ibn Habib. They were warned in the strongest possible terms to testify truthfully—and they retracted their earlier testimonies. Al-Ashqar returned to Egypt and declared victory, and Yaquta's second marriage was upheld. R. Eliyyahu b. Binyamin ha-Levi of Istanbul also wrote a responsum on the same issue (in support of Yaquta and her second marriage) and sent it to Moshe al-Ashqar. The Geniza fragment preserves only the lower right corner of the document and two signatures, but the details match perfectly: "... on the night of the wedding, that the elder Avraham took her out.... and married her to the aforementioned Pinḥas, on the night of the wedding, against the will of... and it was all against the will of her father and not... and we signed on Monday, the 8th of Adar I...." Based on the calendar date and the day of the week, the year can only be 5293 AM / 1533 CE, which means that this testimony belongs to the final phase of the controversy. It is signed by none other than Moshe Ibn al-Ashqar and Shemuel (Haqqan/Hakim?) ha-Levi. See also T-S NS 180.17, published by Shmuel Glick, Seride Teshuvot of the Ottoman Empire Sages, vol. 3, doc. #8. (Information mainly from Avihayil Mansura, Shlomo Zalman Havlin, Liran Yadgar, and CUDL.) ASE

Part of a lease. (Information from CUDL)

- needs examination. Image not available?

needs examination. Image not available?

Marriage contract from the year 1301 A.D., under the authority of Avraham Nagid. Bridegroom: Jephthah b. Avraham.

A draft of a legal claim issued by Avraham b. Hayyim to the Jewish court in Cairo against his partner, whose name is not mentioned, regarding a debt owed by him in a transaction involving export of a rubin gemstone. This kind of stone was manufactured in the far east and was in a very high demand in Europe. 3 persons were involved in this partnership - the writer, the defendant and a person addressed as Itstafnin. Published by Avraham David in Ginzey Qedem 16. See image there. (Data from A. David publication). AA