Geniza Lab

A damaged Ketubbah of Joseph b. ʿEli (groom), dated [...] Kislev [...]. No other details preserved. Probably written by Halfon b. Menasheshe Halevi. AA

Damaged Legal document on vellum, with few details preserved. Signed by [...] ha-Kohen b. Ahuv? AA

Recto: Bill of release of Abraham and his brother [...], sons of Isaac, to [...]. Witnessed by Menaḥem b. Nathan, Abū l-Ḥay b. Hezekiah, Nissim b. Maymon Majani, Yeshua b. Sayyid. Attested by the court: Joseph b. Josiah, Nissi[m] b. Sime[on], Moses b. Joseph, Menaḥem b. Isaac. Verso: manuscript has been re-used as the cover of a book: ופר[...]רש דרבי אלעזר. AA

Small fragment from the top of a ketubba.

Legal document. In Hebrew. ʿEli b. Ḥasan ha-Levi the dyer gives to his youngest son Shemuel part of a building near the synagogue of the Palestinians. The building bordered on another bought by Shemuel. On its north side, the building borders the house of the Christian Abū l-Yusr. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Deed of gift, signed by Breakhot b. Elazar. The other signatures are not preserved. The parties Abu al-Muna, and Tamim ha-Parnas. This Tamim is known from other document relating to the pious foundations: TS 8J11.7d (from 1182, published Gil, Pious foundations, no. 82) and TS 8J11.7a-b (Gil, ibid. no. 88). In the bottom what has left from the establishment of the deed, only the name Tiqva b. Yefet survived. Written by Mevorakh b. Natan (1150-1181). AA

Bottom of a Ketubbah, signed by Yeshuʿah b. [...] and Saʿadiah b. Solomon. We find here remnants of the immersion enactment issued by Maimonides in 1176. Written by Moshe b. Perahya, who served as a muqaddam of Minyat Ghamar (active 1220-1238 ca.). This Moshe was Abrham Ibn Yiju grandson from his daughter Sitt al-Dar. AA

Qaraite contract of betrothal (erusin). In Hebrew. Bride: Mubāraka. Groom: Yiṣḥaq b. ʿEli. He paid the first installment of 30 dinars at the time of betrothal. Seven witnesses: Bābār b. David ha-Kohen (the name means "tiger" in Persian); Yefet b. ʿEli ha-Kohen; Yehuda b. Nisi ha-Melammed ha-Levi; Yosef b. Yehuda ha-Levi; Shemuel b. Yosef al-Baṣrī; Ṣedaqa b. Moshe; Yosef b. Aharon ha-Levi. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Ketubbah of Meshullam ha-Kohen (groom). Few words from the beginning of travel stipulation survived. No further details are preserved. AA

Verso: Fragment of a detailed report about the colors and development of crops, as part of a will. Relevant to Karaite law for intercalculating a thirteenth month. (Information from Goitein's index cards and Mediterranean Society, IV, 418)

Legal document: will, fragmentary, of the Qaraite mother of two girls, before delivering another child. Concerns in particular her valuable jewelry. Goitein surmised that the document was Qaraite based on the style, the script and the text in the same hand on verso, which refers to the intercalation of the calendar according to Qaraite law. He dates it to the first half of the eleventh century. (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 418, and from Goitein's index cards)

From the book of contracts of Saadya Gaon. On parchment. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Ketubba fragment. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. This portion contains only part of the trousseau list.

Legal document. Written and signed by Natan b. Shelomo ha-Kohen. Dated: Middle third of Shevaṭ 1441 Seleucid, which is 1130 CE, under the authority of Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon. Settlement between Ibrāhīm Ibn al-Bārūtī of Qalyūb and the daughter of his late brother Abū l-Faḍl who was also his business partner. Ibrāhīm retains his apartment and his store but leaves to his niece and her mother the large house above the store. The assets will be divided according to the deed of partnership. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Fragment of a ketubba (upper left corner). In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dated: 1444 Seleucid, which is 1132/33 CE. Groom: Ismāʿīl b. Yosef. Bride: name missing, not a virgin. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Request for judgment in a case involving two partners, one of whom traveled to Malīj in the Rīf. The partners' dispute concerns transport costs, specifically, a donkey worth 5 dinars. It was lost on the trip to Malīj. The borrower wanted to pay only 2 dinars. After his death, his son who inherited his father was supposed to pay. Information from Goitein's notes.

Fragment from the top-right of a ketubah. The bride's name is Sitt-al-Bayt. Part of the dowry list is preserved. AA

Qaraite marriage contract. Some details of trousseau are preserved. Bride: Malika/Malka. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Ketubba, Metropolis, probably 927/8 or 1027/8.

Legal document. In the (late) hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Shela ha-Levi gives a part of a house to his wife against her renouncing all her marriage portion. Detailed description of borders shows that the house is neighboring buildings owned by Muslims (e.g., al-qāḍī Thiqat al-Dawla Abū ʿAbdallāh al-Ḥusayn b. Ṣadaqa b. Abī l-Raddād al-Muʿaddal) and Christians (e.g., Abū Malīḥ who owns the renovated funduq). The house seems to have 4 doorways, opening on 4 different directions. Refers to ḥammām al-zayyātīn (the bathhouse of the olive oil maker/sellers). On verso there is a (filing?) note in Arabic script mentioning Abū ʿImrān. There are also further jottings on verso and in the margins of recto ("Galen said..."). (Information from Goitein's index card.)