Geniza Lab

Legal document, small fragment. Contains remnants of some signatures.

Long and narrow damaged fragment written by Efraim b. Shemarya. Probably court records. Not much text has survived (two entries on recto, one on verso). AA

Draft of a legal document, notably made in a mixed Qaraite-Rabbanite court. Agreement by two parties in a complicated inheritance case stipulating obligations should one of the parties bring the case before a Muslim court. Location: Fustat. Dated: Tammuz 1366 Seleucid, which is July 1055 CE. Two women, Rayyisa bt. Tammam and Raḥma bt. Tammām, leave estates to their two brothers' sons, Mevorakh b. Yisrael and Shemuel b. Yehuda. A court of three (Avraham b. Shelomo, Nahray, and ʿEli ha-Kohen) will decide what will be sold and what divided between the two nephews. The new house of Raḥma bt. Tammām will be offered for sale. The verso contains Hebrew verses, rhymed piyyuṭ, headed ז׳ לשמעו. (Information from CUDL and Goitein's index cards.) Join: Oded Zinger. Probably an indirect join with ENA 2727.13a.

Instructions for writing legal documents, in particular those dealing with debts, with formulaic examples in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document. Dated: [14]96 Seleucid = [5]81 AH, which is 1185 CE. Signed: Menashshe b. Yosef, Elʿazar ha-Kohen b. Shemarya, and Shelomo b. Natan.

Court record concerning mint management. Dated: 1513 CE. Issued in the court of the Nagid Yiṣḥaq Sholal. Witnesses include Yaʿaqov Beirav and Nissim Biba. The issue centers on an oath that the Nagid took when he was running the mint (dār al-ḍarb) to the effect that Avraham Talmid would not do business with anone in the world for as long as Sholal remained at the mint. There are mutliple sections to this document, some of which are testimonies from witnesses. See Avraham David's edition on FGP for further information.

Legal document. Location: Al-Maḥalla. Involves [...] b. Yefet ha-Zaqen and [...] b. Peraḥya ha-Levi ha-Zaqen and contains the curious phrase "I have leased myself to him (akraytuhu rūḥī) for the whole year for 1 dinar." Needs examination. See also Goitein's notes.

A rental agreement with Joseph ג׳לדיטי, priced in Venetian ducats (peraḥ zahav Veneziano). It is dated לצור according to the Pereq Qaṭan, which is probably [5]326 AM (=1566 CE). (Information in part from CUDL.)

Legal testimony. Involves someone who lives in Damsīs, a woman named [...] bt. Ghulayb, and someone who defamed her (shanaʿahā).

Legal document in Hebrew. Location: Fustat/Cairo. Dated: Middle of Av 5579 AM, which is 1819 CE. Involves Eliyyahu b. Ṣahal; Me'ir b. Shalom b. Naʿim; Nissim Ṭawīl. Concerning a partnership and a sum of 15,000 gurush. Very long; needs further examination. No signatures.

Legal document in the hand of the court scribe Yosef b. Shemuel b. Seʿadya ha-Levi (c.1181–1209).

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe concerning payments; it includes a date, Sivan 1434 (= 1123 CE). (Information from CUDL)

Part of a legal document, with references to the court and witnesses, but no names preserved. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document (possibly a deed of sale) describing a house. Fusṭāṭ and Mamṣūṣa (a Jewish quarter of Cairo) are mentioned. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document or documents (there is text on both recto and verso). Mentions the groom ʿOvadya b. Ḥalfon.

Legal document or documents. Very faded. Dated: 4[..]4 AM, which only narrows it down to 1234 CE at the latest. It looks substantially older.

Recto: Legal document. Dated: Thursday, 17 Iyyar 5316 AM, which is 27 April 1556 CE. May be a copy or a version of a document originally produced in a Muslim court: mentions "the Mālikī court of al-Ṣāliḥiyya" in line 2. Yosef Qalʿī owes Sar Yiṣḥaq 2000 medins every month. Eliezer Ashkenazi is involved as a guarantor. On verso there are additional notes, probably related to recto. At the bottom of the page it appears that the Sar acknowledges receipt of one of the monthly payments. Information in part from A. David's edition on FGP.

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Involves an Abū l-Faraj. Otherwise consists entirely of elaborate release formulae.

Recto: Document in Arabic script. Five lines, well preserved. The phrases seem more suited to a legal document than a letter, but needs examination. Verso: Note probably in the hand of Avraham Maimonides. Ends with the legal phrase והכל שריר ובריר וקיים. Maybe this is summarizing the document on recto? There is also a list in Arabic script, naming various items (building expenses? e.g. nails and wood) and numbers. ASE

Bill of divorce (geṭ). Location: Fustat. Dated: 26 Shevaṭ 1[5]40 Seleucid, which is 22 January 1229 CE. Wife: Maʿānī bt. Karīm. Verso contains the receipt, including a note in Arabic script. CUL Or.1081 J40 is documentation of her remarriage to her ex-husband 8 months later. (Information in part from CUDL.)