Geniza Lab

Marriage contract (ketubba), Palestinian-style, for the bride Dallāl bet Yefet and (the groom's name is lost), written in Tinnīs, Egypt, probably 1085 or 985.

Legal agreement between spouses on the issue of second wife, in the hand of Natan b. Shemuel Ha-Ḥaver, Fustat. The groom, Saʿadya b. Siman Tov, known as Abu l-Ḥasan, states that if his wife permits him to marry another woman, if she should then desire a divorce, he will divorce her, and she will have access to her delayed settlement throughout the marriage. The document also states ‘Her mother is present and hears all this’. (Information from CUDL)

Fragment of an old court record in which a divorcee, Mubaraka bint Atiyya, is promised 3 dinars per month by her husband, Azarya b. Benjamin, but the reverse side shows a payment of only half a dinar. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, 267)

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi, dated 1449 (= 1138 CE). A tax-farmer (ḍāmin), Abū l-Surūr Peraḥya b. ʿUlla (known as Abū l-Munā the perfumer b. Ḥasan), grants Abū Isḥāq Avraham b. Yaʿqūb a license to sell and dye silk for 18 dinars per month in a certain quarter of Fustat for the duration of Abū l-Surūr’s tenure in office. Abū l-Surūr promises not to accept any higher offer or to discontinue the lease (paying a fine of 100 dinars if he does so). Abū Isḥāq may subcontract the labour to others if he wishes and Abū l-Surūr agrees to use his influence with the police if any subcontractors evade payment of their dues. Abū l-Surūr reserves for himself the right to employ female brokers (bayyāʿāt, "saleswomen") in the quarter in question. Signed by [...] Kohen, descendant of Yosef Kohen and Natan b. Shemuʾel, and written under the authority of Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon (1127–1139 CE). On verso are a few lines in Arabic.

Recto: opening lines of a legal document dated Thursday 1st Shevet 4746 and 1297 (= 986 CE) in Fusṭāṭ, in which Shelomo b. Isaac gives testimony to the court. Verso: poem or sermon in Hebrew, continuing in the right and upper margins. (Information from CUDL)

Lease of a plantation owned by the Qodesh, ca. 1150 CE. A deed of lease is drawn up by the court, by which a plantation of date palms is taken over for cultivation by a certain Hiba. The plantation belongs to the qodesh, and is probably located near the synagogue of Dammuh. The tenant will pay the qodesh 88 dinars, in annual payments of 11 dinars each, for eight years, i.e. the period of the lease. Out of the 11 dinars, 1.33 dinar will be paid in eleven monthly installments, whereas 9.67 dinars will be paid in the month of Tishri (when the harvest is over). The tenant will also have to carry 1000 palm branches to the Nile (apparently also in the month of Tishri, intended for the feast of Sukkot). The tenant agrees to run the ox-driven irrigation water wheel continuously, and will not cut down any plants aside from necessary pruning. The deed is written in the hand of Judge Natan b. Shemuel. (Information from CUDL and Gil, Documents, pp. 262 #50)

Calligraphic document in which the witnesses testify that a bill containing an obligation by Menashshe b. David to Yehuda b. Yosef, Ibn Januni, is correctly copied in order to be sent to Egypt. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Long piece from a deed of sale of a female slave. Abū l-Faraj Yeshuʿa ha-Levi sells his slave Jaḥūn to Abū l-Riḍā. In the hand of the scribe Ḥalfon b. Menashshe (1100-1138 CE). (Information from CUDL)

Responsum quoting Ishaq al-Fasi (1013-1103), among other Spanish and Andalusian religious authorities. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Legal document. Record of release; partnership renewal. Written in the hand of Hillel b. ʿEli. These two fragments are part of single document, which contained a partnership release (T-S 16.23) and renewal (lines 23-39 of T-S 16.23; and T-S 10J5.2). Amat al-Qādir, widow of Shela, and her son Yefet (likely a minor), release ʿArūs b. Yosef from a partnership he had with Shela. Shela’s investment of three hundred dinars is to remain on account with ʿArūs. Amat al-Qādir seems to be acting as trustee for her son, but also seems to have a financial interest in the partnership; since she would not have ordinarily inherited from her husband, her equity in the partnership may represent payment of her ketubba. The widow and son are to receive two thirds of the profits from the investment, and ʿArūs is to receive the balance "as a claim for his service". Following the commenda model, ʿArūs assumes no responsibility for loss. Yefet is to travel between Fusṭāṭ and Yemen with the funds and has discretion in choosing the commodities he trades; he promises that he will work "with caution ... as if [he] were working with [his] own assets." (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 122)

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Fragment (long vertical strip from the middle of the document). Dating: ca. 1135 CE, according to CUDL. Settlement about the cost of medical treatment for a young wife. Names mentioned: Abū l-Riḍā M[...], Abū l-Faraj Netanel, and Abū Saʿīd (the husband). Involves a ketubba payment of 100 dinars and a dowry of 50 dinars; possibly the husband agrees to pay for the treatment and in return the ketubba payment will be reduced by half. But many key details are missing. (Information in part from CUDL and Goitein's index card.)

Last few lines of a legal document, containing an attestation from the Bet Din. Date and location are not preserved, but the witnesses are Yaʿaqov b. Abraham, Nathan b. Shemuʾel he-Ḥaver, and Moses b. Shelomo, placing it in Fusṭāṭ in the second quarter of the 12th century. (Information from CUDL)

Fragment of a Karaite marriage contract of the groom Mevorakh b. Yahya and the bride Mubaraka, containing the trousseau. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Middle fragment of a legal document, written by judge Meir b. Hillel b. Sadoq Av. A widow, Sitt A'da'ha daughter of Hillel ha-Kohen, releases a debtor of her late husband, after having received from him 31 dinars. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 336, 502)

Marriage contract, fragmentary and damaged, in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe, in the later period of his activity as scribe (dated documents: 1100-1138), in which an Indian female slave worth 20 dinars formed part of a dowry. (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, pp. 325, 326, 456)

Left side of a Hebrew release for an Avraham b. Yaʿaqov. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter addressed to a jurisconsult, containing six questions with the answers on the reverse side. One of the questions deals with a father who died after having fulfilled his paternal obligations toward his daughter and firstborn, but before he was able to provide similarly for his 3 younger children. Another question is whether a man, vowing a gift 'to the poor in general' has fulfilled his pledge by distributing gifts to a number of indigent individuals. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 244, 479)

Legal document written by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe dealing with an oath. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 601, and from Goitein's index cards)

Marriage contract, fragment. Location: Fustat. Dated: Tuesday, 13 Nisan 1326 Seleucid, which is 1015 CE. Groom: Ghulayb. Bride: Mu'ammala, virgin.

Recto: Marriage contract, fragment. Groom: Abū l-Faraj Yeshuʿa b. Berakhot. Bride: Milāḥ bt. Abū l-Faraj (from verso). Dating: Under the reshut of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya (1140–59). Witness: Yehuda b. Shelomo ha-Sofer. None of the monetary details are preserved, though we learn from verso that the delayed marriage gift was 5 dinars. Verso: Legal document written on the verso of the torn marriage contract. The husband and wife from recto remarry after the wife promises not to leave the house without her husband's permission. The husband still owed her one dinar which would have to be paid if they quarrelled again. Goitein's note card names Natan b. Shemuel ha-Ḥaver—is this written in his hand? Witnesses: Seʿadya b. Natan, Yehuda b. Shelomo ha-Sofer, and Mevorakh b. Natan. Information from Goitein's note card.