Geniza Lab

Legal document in Arabic script. Dating: mentions the end of Dhū l-Qaʿda 563 AH = 1168 CE. Seems to be a commercial contract involving a shop and specifying the goods to be sold. Mentions "bayʿ al-ḥiṣṣa" "sale of the share". Needs further examination. It was cut up and glued into a rotulus configuration to be reused for piyyuṭ on the other side (an interesting Hebrew poem in the voice of Moses, addressing God). In the margins of the original document, there are another few lines in Arabic script (different hand/document), probably the beginning of a letter starting with a basmala and a Judaeo-Arabic recipe involving rosewater and boxthorn (ʿawsaj), perhaps a medical prescription.

Legal document. Partnership record. Dated: 1140. Location: Fustat. The brothers Abū al-Faḍl and Abū al-Riḍā Yosef b. Berakhot, owners of a sugar factory, take on Yosef b. Peraḥya and Peraḥya b. Nissim (possibly Ibn Yiju, great-grandson of Avraham Yiju, the India trader) as investors, investing 400 and 200 dinars respectively. There is a reference to "Arabic documents" which record the dimensions and location of the factory, and the fact that the brothers inherited part of the factory and purchased the balance from their father. The investors allow the brothers to pursue other investments outside the partnership with partnership funds. Withdrawals from the partnership capital are recorded as a transfer of a share of the ownership from the brothers to the investors, and any rent on this share goes to the investors. The investors are required to return the partial ownership of the factory when the funds are repaid. The Arabic documents record the sale of the factory (and presumably the transfer of the shares) as a "fixed" purchase. The brothers remain active partners in the five-year partnership. Partnership profits are divided equally, despite the unequal investments. The brothers will account for their expenses by subtracting from partnership profits 2 dinars per molded block of sugar. Per Goitein, a document at shelfmark T-S NS J215 describes the eventual sale of the factory discussed in this document. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 23-25)

Legal testimony concerning a partnership release from a commenda. Dating: 1098. Abū al-Ḥasan Yaḥyā ha-Kohen b. Shemuʾel ha-Kohen al-Baghdādī and ʿUlla ha-Levi b. Yosef ha-Levi al-Dimashqī release Abū al-Barakāt Mevorakh al-Ḥalabī b. Shelomo from any further claims on their partnership — called shirka, mu‘āmala and muḍāraba (commenda) variously throughout the document, though some of those terms are used in the course of legal indemnification clauses, so don't necessarily reflect the exact structure of the partnership. Abū al-Ḥasan Yaḥyā ha-Kohen b. Shemuʾel ha-Kohen al-Baghdādī and ʿUlla ha-Levi b. Yosef ha-Levi al-Dimashqī testify that they gave Abū al-Barakāt Mevorakh al-Ḥalabī b. Shelomo 100 dinars, which he took to Yemen as the active partner; on his return, he gave them back their capital and the profit he accrued. This is one of three documents in Lieberman's corpus involving Abū al-Ḥasan Yaḥyā ha-Kohen b. Shemuʾel ha-Kohen al-Baghdādī and ʿUlla ha-Levi b. Yosef ha-Levi al-Dimashqī; the others are T-S 8J4.11 and T-S Misc. 27.4.29. Lieberman additionally points to CUL Or. 1080 J73 as concerning the same business partners, as well as ENA 4020.2, also a partnership release. One source of the investment capital of Yaḥyā and ‘Ulla could be a money-changing stall (dukkān al-ṣarf), mentioned in TS Misc 27.4.29, and one of Yaḥyā’s partners in ENA 4020.2, verso, is a money-changer (l.16). Possibly in the hand of Hillel b. Eli, but not in Weiss's corpus. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 27–32)

Draft of a court record from the court in Fustat. 1042. In the handwriting of Yefet b. David Shekhanya. Regarding the claim by Ya’aqov b. Avraham b. Alan against Yahya b. Moshe al-majani. Two years after Yahya described his disagreement with Ya’aqov, his opponent’s claims come before the court. The complainant is in Fustat and the claimant is in Qayrawan, therefor the court needs to send its conclusion to Hananel b. Hushiel and the Nagid Ya’aqov b. Amram from the court in Qayrawan. The record contains details about the goods and their prices. Yahya’s father ordered these goods before he passed away around June 1039. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #632) VMR

Marriage contract written by Eliyyahu Gaon, Ramla, probably 1064.

See T-S 12.715.

Upper end of a large deed in Arabic letters in which a Christian sells 1 and 2/3 out of 24 shares of a house in the Rāya quarter of Fustat to a foreign Jew who already owned 4 shares in it. (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below.)

Deposition in the Jewish Court of Tyre, ca. 1028. The rent of a compound in Aleppo has been dedicated by its owner, Hilla b. Joseph, to the Great Synagogue in that city; the sons of Hilla, Mevorakh and Mufarrij, now live in Tyre. They declare before the court that the allegations of a certain man from Aleppo, who claims that the house was sold to him by their father, are vain and unfounded. The brothers insist twice upon the fact that it is the rent that was dedicated. They also insist on the fact that the man cannot prove the purchase, since he holds no deeds of purchase. The intention of the brothers to sell that house is apparent enough, though the relevant passage in this matter has unfortunately been damaged. They seem to be insisting that the dedication of the rent was on condition that it lapses if the heirs decide to sell it. Had the house itself been dedicated, the heirs would not have had a word to say about deeds of purchase nor would the case have been discussed in court at all. As we have it, the story behing the document seems to be that the late Hilla actually received money from the purchaser, but died before the deed of sale had been concluded. The heirs now strive to prevent the man from collecting the rent of the house, in order not to create a legal precedent, and keep the right to sell it at a convenient opportunity. The community of Aleppo probably claimed that the house itself had been dedicated. As to the claimant, he seems to have taken some steps to gain possession of the house, perhaps with the aid of a Muslim court. We have the therefore three parties involved in the case, with conflicting interests. The deposition of the brothers, as recorded by the court in Tyre, is preceded by a lenghty verified introduction, in a very flowery style, which forms the first half of the letter. The first part of the introduction is a eulogy, alphabetically arranged, to the learned people of Aleppo and their leader, the head of the court, R. Yaʿaqov b. Joseph. The letter is written in the hand of Shemuel b. Moshe. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 127-128 #2)

Marriage contract (ketubba). Location: Fustat. Dated: Wednesday, 5 Shevaṭ 1378 Seleucid, which is 1067 CE. Written and signed by Hillel b. ʿEli. Groom: Wuḥaysh b. ʿAllūn. Bride: Rayyisa bt. ʿAmram, not a virgin. Marriage payments: 5 + 15 = 20 dinars. Witnesses include: the Spanish cantor Yaʿaqov b. Yosef; ʿAmram b. Peraḥya; Netanel b. Yefet. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card)

Marriage contract for a marriage between Yefet b. Saʿadya and Ṣiʾa b. Yehuda Mevorakh b. ʿElī (Fustat, Thursday, 14th of Adar, ca. 1020). The marriage gift amounted to 50 dinars, and the dowry to 240 dinars (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below and from Goitein, MedSoc, Vol. 3, p. 403.)

Karaite ketubba (marriage contract), Ramla. Ca. 1030.

Verso: Legal document, on the back of the ketubba. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dated: Last third of Ṭevet 1443 Seleucid, which is 1131/32 CE. In which ʿAmāʾim receives control over her dowry (nidūnya) (except for three precious items (aʿlāq), namely, the lamp and cushion and pail) and frees her husband of all obligations except the me'uḥar. He promises not to beat her and to treat her well, but no fine is fixed for contravention. There is also someone named Faḍā'il b. Abū Saʿīd b. Yakhin ha-Ḥazzan somehow involved (representing her? "al-muʿarrif lanā bihā"). Witnesses: Natan b. Shelomo ha-Kohen; Meshullam b. Menashshe; Natan b. Shemuel. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card)

Recto: Marriage contract (ketubba), complete. Dated: Monday, 27 Sivan 1439 Seleucid, which is 27 May 1128 CE, under the reshut of Maṣliaḥ Gaon. Written and signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Groom: Shelomo b. ʿOvadya ha-Kohen. Bride: ʿAmāʾim bt. Berakhot/Barakāt, virgin. Marriage payments: 5 + 25 dinars. Total (with the dowry): 76 dinars + 25 silver zuzim (dirhams?). Other witnesses: ʿEli b. Yeḥezqel ha-Kohen; Moshe ha-Melammed b. Yehuda; Yeḥezqel b. Natan; Yosef b. Ḥalfon ha-Kohen; Ḥalfon b. Ghālib; and Natan b. Shemuel.

Ketubba dated 15 September 1847 (5 Tishrei 5608) from Tangier for Ḥayyim Neḥemias b. Avraham b. Moshe b. Yiṣḥaq and Ordueña bt. Menaḥem b. Aharon. The currency used is אותייות. Scribed and witnessed by Masʿūd ha-Kohen. The groom also seems to have placed his name underneath. ASE.

Karaite marriage contract from Fustat.

Marriage contract (ketubba). Location: Fustat. Dated: Thursday, 25 Ḥeshvan 1371 Seleucid, which is November 1059 CE. Groom: Yosef b. Shelomo ha-Kohen. Bride; Milāḥ bt. Yosef, a virgin. Marriage payments: 15 + 50 = 65 dinars. Dowry: 535 dinars. See Mediterranean Society, Vol. 3, App. II, 148; and Med Soc IV, IX, A, 4, note 9. The document was subsequently reused (recto and verso) for a densely written literary text. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.)

Betrothal (erusin) contract, Karaite. Fragment (upper right corner). Groom: Yehuda b. Khalaf(?). Bride: Miriam bt. Shelomo, a widow. Although she is a widow, she has a paqid (representative), Faraj b. Shelomo. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Marriage contract for a marriage between Ḥasan b. Yefet and ... bat Mevasser (Fustat, Monday, 25 1345 Seleucid (1034)). The marriage gift amounted to 18 dinars and the dowry to 32 dinars. (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below and from Goitein, MedSoc, Vol. 3, p. 415.)

Marriage contract (ketubba). Dated: 13 Tishrei 1608 Seleucid, which is 11 September 1296 CE. Groom: Elʿazar b. Shelomo. Bride: [...] bt. Yosef. Lists the trousseau and stipulates that the wife’s earnings should belong to her husband. Bears only one signature: Yosef b. Netanel b. Shela ha-Levi ha-Ḥazzan. (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below and from Goitein, Med Soc, Vol. 3, pp. 133, 159, 461 note 89.)

Legal document. Partnership agreement. Dated: 1151. Location: Minyat Ashna (near Fustat). Following appeals by his deceased brother Binyam's widow to the court, Kathīr b. Avraham takes over the maintenance (1 dinar a month, an aboslute requirement) of his sister-in-law's orphaned children as a sort of partnership. The sources of this funding are a) rent revenue from shops in Malij left to the children by Binyam and b), the profit earned by Kathīr from 20 dinars’ worth of silk from estate of Binyam. Unusually, the "partnership" profits are not split according to a fixed percentage, but rather the children, as the "silent partner", receive a fixed amount each month. This is effectively a long-term loan or trust created under the structure of a partnership agreement. Per Goitein, Shemuel b. Yehuda ibn Asad, previous caretaker of the orphans, was apparently a regular caretaker and trustee for orphans; see PGPID 2658. Shemuel is the same Abū al-Ma‘ālī in PGPID 6581. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", pp. 7-10)