Geniza Lab

Certificate of manumission of a slave, dated 591H. (?) [1194-5]. [Described on a separate small piece of paper as: "letter from a noble man asking from another generousity and finishing his letter with poetry praising the bonifactor (bienfaiteur)" [Linked to item 26 (?)]. Oversize.

Legal document, record of testimony (?)

Recto: Legal deed. Iqrār mentioning Aḥmad ibn ʻAbd Allāh, dated 500 H. (?) [1106]. Verso: Letter. Arabic script.

Recto: Legal document: iqrār. Verso: Legal record of testimony. Arabic script.

Legal deed: iqrār. Arabic script.

Legal document concerning the marital status of the daughter of Sayf al-Dīn, dated 15 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 808 H. [1406]. [Described on the paper wrapper as : "Acte de divorce de prince Al Togan avec sa femme" ; on a separate small piece of paper: "An act of giving liberty to a slave dated A.H. 591"; [next line] : "Important"]. Oversize.

Document regulating the inheritance of the estate in Sana'a, next to the synagogue, that was left behind by Meri Daud. The house was split and the document details all the different parts of the house. (Information from Goitein, The Yemenites, pp. 152-156). VMR

Document that is a continuation of Sassoon 1055A. Aharon al-Araki, who received a part of a house in Sana'a, sells his part to his brother Salam and his niece Badra for 150 Rial (75 for each); 1667. (Goitein, The Yemenites, 157-158) VMR

A testimony of a person who received 47.5 "Harf" (each of them equal to 40 "Vuksha" silver) for selling his part of the house in Sana'a. Around 1603-1628. (Goitein, The Yemenites, 150-152) VMR

No Image. Description from FGP: A bill of partnership between Avraham b. Moshe known as al-Marjani, and Hillel al-Attar b. Avraham known as al-Fuqa'a. AA

Ketubba in the Palestinian style. Only the recto was photographed. Dated: Heshvan 1440 Seleucid, which is 1128 CE, under the reshut of Maṣliaḥ Ga'on. Location: Probably Damascus or nearby. Groom: Sasson b. Yefet ha-Zaqen. Bride: Kulla, a virgin and a "divorcee from a betrothal." The bride appoints her brother Ghālib b. Berakhot ha-Zaqen as her representative (lit. "guardian"). Likely the same scribe as Moss. VII,67.2, which is a document from Damascus written prior to 1138 CE. First identified by Ronny Vollandt. Information from Amir Ashur, “A Ketubah in the Palestinian Style with the Permission of Maẓliaḥ Gaon, from the Damascus Geniza” [in Hebrew], Peʿamim 135 (2013), 163–170.

Deed of sale of a house. Only the recto was photographed. Dating: Likely c.1170 CE, based on the reference to “our [mast]er Sar Shalom, the av beit din of the whole of Israel." Location: Damascus ("which dwells on the rivers Parpar and Amana," as in 2 Kings 5:12). The document records the sale of a house owned by Elʿazar ha-Zaqen (the elder), the member of the yeshiva, to the "heqdesh (pious foundation) of our master Ezekiel the prophet (and) priest, peace be upon him”. The sum mentioned is sixteen dinars, and the money is to be paid in Ḥadrakh, not far from Damascus. (Information from Gideon Bohak, "The Jewish Texts from the Qubbat al-Khazna," in The Damascus Fragments, ed. d'Ottone Rambach et al.)

Deed of sale of real estate. Only the recto was photographed. Location: Tyre. Dated: 4[.]60 AM, which could be 999/1000, 1099/1100, or 1199/1200 CE. Of these options, the most likely year is 1099/1100, based on the reference to the Great Sanhedrin (=yeshiva), as the Palestinian yeshiva moved from Jerusalem to Tyre in the early 1070s, and left Tyre around the time of the First Crusade. The seller is Efrayim b. Menashshe (ZL), the member of the Great Sanhedrin known as Ibn al-Bunduqī. The buyer is Binyamin ha-Levi b. Shemarya ha-Zaqen ha-Levi b. Yosef ha-Levi (ZL). The property itself, which consists of half a house, is described at great length, but the price paid for it, “in the coinage of the kingdom”, is lost in a lacuna. (Information from Gideon Bohak, "The Jewish Texts from the Qubbat al-Khazna," in The Damascus Fragments, ed. d'Ottone Rambach et al.)

Recto: Two legal queries addressed to a certain Efrayim. In the first, Reuven claims that Shimon owes him money but that he has lost the contract. Does Shimon have to swear on pain of the ban that there was no debt and no contract? In the second, Reuven gave Shimon a house but claims that the scribe forgot to include an important condition about Reuven's continued access to the house ("all the days of my l[ife]"?). Does Shimon have to swear that there was never such a condition? Verso: The responsa. The first one is quite effaced but may just say that Shimon has to swear. The second one says to summon the witnesses and ask if they remember that the parties agreed to Reuven's condition. If they don't remember, Shimon must swear that he never agreed to such a condition. ASE.

Formularies for marriage-related legal documents (get, halitzah, yibbum). ASE.

Legal document: Bill of indemnity or deathbed declaration; fragment. Begins in Hebrew and continues in Arabic script. The subject declares that he has no assets, and has received sustenance from his nephew Yosef b. Yiṣḥaq. According to Goitein the deed was drawn up as a defense against potential government claims that the nephew had inherited something from the uncle, and thus should be taxed; exemplifies how common it was for uncles to bequeath to their nephews. (Information from CUDL and from Mediterranean Society, 2:126, 547) This transcription, probably by Goitein, was entered into PGP before the days of unicode and is thus entirely in Hebrew script.

Legal document between Maḵlūf b. Jacob and Sitt al-Riḍā bat Mufarraj b. Ḵalaf. Record of testimony concerning the sale of a female slave for the price of 17 dinars. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 138, 433, 434 and CUDL)

Legal document. Record of an agreement between the Heqdesh and Abū l-Ṯinā the banker b. Abū Saʿd the cantor. On leaf 2 are drafts of documents. (Information from CUDL) Abū l-Ṯinā and his father are to rebuild the compound known as Sitt Ghazal, which is in a state of decay. The qodesh will invest 200 dirham and some timber the reconstruction. As usual, the investment made by Abū l-Ṯinā and his father is to be repaid by according them free lodging in that house. After covering their investment, they are to pay rent at the accepted rate. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 467 #140)

Legal document with testimony concerning orphans and Isaac Horoshban (הורושבן), who died. Mentions various people including Isaac Shanji (שאנגו). Dated 1st Tammuz 1586 CE. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document. Various draft legal documents on recto and verso (possibly from a court notebook), including one completely crossed out. People mentioned include Menaḥem Ṣarfati b. Moses and Ḥanuna wife of Shemuʾel [..], Jacob ha-Levi b. Rahamim and Isaac Reuben b. Jacob. A commodity is mentioned (14 raṭls of sikilianus (שכילייאנוס)). Dated Kislev 5455 (= 1695 CE) in Egypt. (Information from CUDL)