Geniza Lab

Legal document. Dated: January, 1144 CE (1455 Seleucid). Location: Al-Maḥalla (probably). Goitein's description: "This short document is an excellent illustration of the administration of justice in a provincial town. The presiding judge is assisted by elders, two of whom sign with him, in order to constitute the legal quorum of a court of three. A Muslim document is admitted as proof without much ado. The judge rules according to strict Jewish law and imposes a heavy fine in the case of non-fulfillment of obligations. No opposition to the rulings of the judge on the side of the parties is noted. The sessions of the court are held on Mondays and Thursdays as in the capital. The judge is Zakkay b. Moshe, who also wrote and signed Bodl. MS heb. d 65/41 (ed. Assaf, Tarbiz 9 (1938), p. 34), dated 1143 CE, and T-S 13J3.6v, dated 1147 CE. Both of the other documents are also from al-Maḥalla. Therefore, there is little doubt that our document (which is written less carefully than the two others and does not contain the name of the place of issue) also originated in al-Maḥalla like the documents preceding and following it in time. Three types of oath are referred to here. One of the Torah, i.e., mentioned in the Bible, namely that to be sworn by a debtor who acknowledges part of the sum claimed by the creditor; secondly, a statutory oath, created by the rabbis of the Talmud to be given by a debtor [...] the entire claim made against him; finally, a "rider," which might be imposed by any party on another obliged anyhow to swear a legally acknolwedged oath."

Ketubba in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. The bridegroom is possibly Is[aac b. ...]. The name of the bride and further details are not preserved. May belong with T-S 12.604. AA

Fragment from a decorated Ketubbah of Menaḥem b. [...] (groom) and Rayna b. [...] (bride). Dated 21st Iyyar 5372 (= 1612 CE). AA

Recto: Legal document regarding a loan given by the banker Munajjā. In the hand of Mevorakh b. Natan. Dated: 1491 Seleucid, which is 1180 CE. Signed by Shemuel b. Ṣedaqa, and Shemuel b. Yosef. Verso: another document in the same hand, which mentions Abū Manṣūr, Shemuel b. Yosef and Elʿazar ha-Kohen b. Natan; signed by Shemuel b. Seʿadya ha-Levi, Elʿazar b. Michael and Mevorakh b. Nathan. (Information from CUDL.) See also Goitein's attached notes.

Two fragments, probably from the same ketubba (marriage contract) showing elements characteristic of North African custom, perhaps as early as the 9th century.

Legal document. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. An agreement between two contractors concerning a drainage pipe. Date not preserved. On the right-side margin three crossed-out lines appear. "As far as the fragmentary state of the document permits, the following are the facts underlying it: an agreement was reached (istaqarra) (l. 2) between two persons (l. 2) according to which one of them was permitted to inspect the drainage pipe once a month which probably was running through the other party's property, since it was feared that something might happen (l. 3) (i.e., lest the pipe be barred). The pipe went through a qāʿa (l. 11), a yard, belonging to the other party; these pipes were regularly cleared and often were jammed. It was essential to include the heirs of both parties (l. 11) to the contract in order to secure a continuous permission of inspection in the future. Two documents were issued to both contractors. No signatures are extant." (Information from Gershon Weiss.)

Deed of sale of a part of a house. In the hand of Yosef b. Shemuel ha-Levi. Location: Fustat. Dated: 1514 Seleucid = 1202/03 CE. Names: Abū l-Riḍā al-Levi al-ʿAttar, [... b.] Tamīm ha-Levi, Sitt al-Karam bt. Abū Saʿīd al-Levi al-Tājir, Shemuel ha-Talmid b. [...]. Sitt al-Karam evidently sells the quarter of the house which she owns. AA. ASE.

Fragment of a legal document (upper right corner). Location: Fustat. Dated: 1554 Seleucid = 1242/43 CE. Involves Faḍlallāh known as Shela b. Berakhot. AA.

Ketubba fragment. Bride: Sitt al-Ahl bt. Yosef. Bridegroom's name is not preserved. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. May belong with T-S 12.595. AA

Legal document in the hand of Natan b. Shemuel he-Ḥaver. Dated: [14]57 Seleucid, which is 1145/46 CE. Abū l-ʿAlāʾ gives to his wife Sitt al-[...] bt. [...] Aluf ha-Binot half of a house located on Darb al-Kutub (the street of books). (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Legal document. Partnership record. Dating: 1085 (per Goitein's index cards). Written in the hand of Hillel b. Eli (probable, per Goitein). This document is the end of a deathbed declaration in which the dying man accounts for the assets due a partnership in a lead foundry. Apparently the dying man kept an account book; while some assets were held jointly between the dying man, his brother Abū ‘Alī, and one Abū al-Khayr, other assets (including a claim against someone named Yāqūt for 11.5 dinars) were held only between the dying man and Abū al-Khayr. Although Abū al-Khayr may not have been the sole active partner, the document declares trustworthy concerning profit and loss, a phrase often applied to the active partner in a long-distance partnership. Perhaps he had to relinquish some control of the enterprise in his final days as he was ill. His death is recorded on lines 9-10. Although the death of a partner is a sufficient condition for termination of a partnership in Jewish and Islamic law, the typical termination clauses are absent. Rather, the dying man’s brother is to take his place and the partnership is to continue, suggesting an inheritable or transferable, quasi-corporate aspect to the partnership. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 113)

Bill of release written by Halfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi. The parties are Moshe b. Nissim and Berakhot b. ʿAmram ha-Kohen. AA

Recto: Judaeo-Arabic bill pf release to Yaḥyā b. Joseph possibly by Abū l-Ḥasan. Verso: Aramaic/Hebrew confirmation of the document on recto by the Bet Din to [...] b. Yaḥyā, on the confession of [...] bat Abū l-Ḥasan. Signed by Moses b. Saʿadiah ha-Kohen. AA

Fragment of a will (upper left corner). Testator: Abū l-Faraj Wahb al-Muʿallim (aka the teacher and ḥaver Natan b. Avraham). No details preserved. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Fragment of a deathbed declaration of Sedaqa b. Mevorakh for his sister and brother, signed by Hillel b. Eli (1066-1107). (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Trousseau list. Written in huge letters. No numbers for the individual items, except in last line (perhaps 43 dinars). (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Legal document. Partnership contract. In the hand of Hillel b. ʿEli. Location: Fustat. Dated: 1100. This court record notes the reorganization of a business venture after one of the partners absconded with some of the partnership capital. Abū Mansūr Aharon b. Mevasser al-Zayyat contracted a partnership in an oil and legume shop in Ḥamām al-Faʾr (the "Rat" bathhouse), also known as the shop of Ibn Shahrayn al-Jazzār, with Abū ʿImrān Moshe b. Mordekhay ha-Kohen and Abū Saʿd b. Abū l-ʿAlāʾ, the latter of whom may have been Aharon's brother. Moshe was likely the senior investor, collecting 5/12 of the profit; Abū Saʿd, an investor and the active partner, was to collect a third; and Aharon was to collect a quarter. When, to Aharon and Moshe's shock, Abū Saʿd absconded with the partnership assets, Aaron took Abū Saʿd's place. Aharon and Moshe reconfigured the partnership and agreed to split profits evenly. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 45-46)

Legal document in Hebrew. Location: Fustat. Dating: before 1032 CE. Fragment (lower left part). In which Aharon b. Yiṣḥaq (=Aharon b. Fuhayd?) the glazier undertakes to pay to his divorcee Malka bt. Avraham 27 dirhams per month as alimony for his daughter from her, Ḥassāna. Signed by: Avraham b. Sahlān (d. before 1032); Shemuel b. Avṭalyon ha-Kohen (aka Ismāʿīl b. Ṭalyūn); Shelomo b. Seʿadya. (Information from Goitein's index card.) On verso there are accounts in Arabic script.

Legal document concerning an inheritance(?) dispute. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. The case is complicated. Hillel conducts a family partnership with his two minor stepsisters & consent of his stepmother. Before his death his father had arranged that he should be 'trustworthy' (neʾeman), which is confirmed by the widow. They now conclude the partnership (sharika). The sisters receive 8 dirhams per week, he 14 dirhams. The partnership must pay to the mother of the two sisters, a widow (ll. 10 and 2) all that (her husband?) had left her (and what probably was invested in the partnership). The widow was introduced by her son Zayn. See Med Soc I, p. 183. (Information from Goitein's index cards.)

On recto piyyut. On verso fragment from a ketubbah contains mostly the dowry list. AA