Geniza Lab

A letter begging for help from a distinguished addressee, in elegant and vocalized script. The writer intends to travel but lacks a covering. On verso there is a quatrain about how he kissed the letter when he put it in the hand of the messenger

Replacement ketubba from Ṣanʿāʾ, Yemen, for Sālim ibn Hārūn al-ʿUzērī, known as Zuhra, and Ḡinā bat Sālim b. Shakir al-Tām, dated 6 Tammuz 2210 of the Seleucid era (= 14 June 1899 CE). Written and signed by Levi ibn Yaḥyā al-Najjār. The deed, a replacement for a ketubba that was lost, was written in the Jewish quarter, Qāʿ Bīr al-ʿAzab. Verso contains an additional legal note concerning the arrangements for the repayment of a debt owed by the husband to his wife. (Information from CUDL)

Small fragment, probably from a legal document, mentioning Sanīy al-Dawla. Someone of the same title is mentioned in several other mid-12-century documents. For instance, Frenkel identifies the Abū l-Makārim mentioned by Abū Naṣr b. Avraham in T-S 12.290 as אבו אלמכארם סני אלדולה משה בן יפת הלוי. The present document may also be in the hand of Abū Naṣr.

Testimony stating that Abu al-Fadl al-Sayrafi Masliah b. Meshullam informed Nahray b. Nissim that his wife had vacated the room on the floor (tabaqa) belonging to Shemuel b. al-Kohen, Nahray's in-law. Dated Iyyar-Sivan 1407/ 29 April 1096 - 27 May 1096, in Fustat. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Fragment from the end of a legal document, signed by Avraham ha-Levi b. Moshe ha-Levi and Ṣedaqa b. Yeshuʿa (?).

Legal document. In Hebrew. Location: Fustat/Cairo. Dated: Monday, 26 Ḥeshvan 5342 AM, which is 1581 CE. In which Budayrī acknowledges that he owes ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn al-Ḥimṣī a debt of 12 gold Venetian ducats (peraḥim), which he will repay within 2 months. Signed by Yosef b. Meir Somekh ha-Kohen alongside another elaborate signature. Verso contains confirmation of receipt (of only 6 ducats?), written transversely in relation to recto. The note on verso is dated: first decade of Nisan 5342 AM (so well beyond the two month repayment that was agreed upon). (Information in part from CUDL.)

Fragment of a legal document mentioning a divorce and Mawlāy al-Nezer.

Recto: geṭ dated Nisan 1581 of the Seleucid era (= 1270 CE). The couple are ʿAzīz ha-Levi b. Ḡanāʾim and Muwaffaqīya bat Joseph ha-Levi from Fusṭāṭ. A space has been left for the husband’s home town, and the deed is unsigned. Verso: draft of a document in Judaeo-Arabic with many jottings. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Beginning of a legal document. Location: Fustat. Dated: 6 Shevaṭ 156[7?] Seleucid, which is 1256 CE. (Might also be 1564 Seleucid = 1253 CE.) Drawn up under the authority of a leader with many titles including דגל הרבנים; this is presumably David b. Avraham Maimonides. One of the parties is Abū ʿAlā b. [...] and another is Amīn al-Dīn. (Information in part from CUDL)

Fragment containing copies of two different legal documents. The second involves a loan from Abūl-Maʿālī to a certain Yeshaʿya.

Court record dealing with a dispute between Saʿadya and ʿEli ha-Levi over a sum of 8 dinars. It refers to the price of honey. (Information from CUDL)

Financial agreement (partnership?) between Daniel b. Eliyya and Yaʿaqov b. Avraham, dated 1512/13 CE ([5]273) and citing sums in peraḥim.

Bifolium of legal records, one of which is dated 1519 CE (Sivan 1830).

The end of a legal document, preserving only a number of signatures: Joseph b. Abraham b. Sa[ul], Shemuʾel b. [...], Ibrahim b. Moses, Sahl b. Khalaf the teacher and Joseph b. Khalaf. (Information from CUDL)

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).

Court testimony. Dating: 13th century. Abū l-Faḍāʾil b. ʿAbdallāh b. Shemuel attests that the estate, consisting of cloths, textiles and other things, of the late husband of Sitt al-Ahl bt. Elʿazar has been deposited with the widow Sitt al-Milāḥ bt. Seʿadya al-Muʿallim. Signed by: Aharon b. Peraḥya. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 200, 563, and Goitein's index cards)

Power of attorney granted to ʿEli ha-Kohen b. Yaʾish, and referring to the woman Malk bat Moses. Three witnesses sign, Moses ha-Levi b. Shela ha-Levi, Mevorakh b. Yeshuʿa and Saʿadya b. Mevasser. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: record of the testimony of Zerubabel and Nisan b. David, and referring to Isaac b. Zerubabel. Verso: list of the quoted authorities in Pirqe Avot with talmudic cross-references, starting with Yehoshuaʿ b. Peraḥya. (Information from CUDL)

Agreement between Sitt al-Baqāʾ and her husband Tahor ha-Levi the astrologer (al-Munajjim) b. Namir concerning money owed from the ketubba. Signed by Moshe b. Yehuda and Hillel b. Yosef, and dated Marḥeshvan 1460 of the Seleucid era (= 1148 CE). (Information from CUDL.)

Get (bill of divorce) dated November 1041 CE (Kislev 4802), from Dam[sīs]. Yosef b. Sūq[..] divorces Sutayt bt. Aharon. Signed by Shemuel b. Avraham and Seʿadya b. Maymūn.