Geniza Lab

Legal document from Fustat/Cairo, dated September 1829 (end of Elul 5589). Missing a large chunk from the upper left. It seems to be a record of an investment with the merchant Yosef Menashshe.

Partnership agreement from Fustat/Cairo, dated 13 October 1800 (24 Tishrei 5561), between David Dayyan, Eliyyahu Palombo, and Avraham Ḥaqis (?).

4 pages from a ledger of copies of 17 different legal documents (witness names appear in the hand of the scribe). All are from the end of 1714 or the beginning of 1715 CE. The descriptions below follow the order as they appear in the FGP scans.Page 1, Document #1: Neḥemias b. Shemuel and Mordekhai Ortas b. Yaʿaqov acknowledge that they have received an investment of 13 Seville (? שביליאנוס) reales and 12 muayyadis from Ḥanũnah the wife of Shemuel Masʿūd. From Fustat/Cairo, dated January 1715 (beginning of Shevat 5475). Page 1, Document #2: Yiṣḥaq Asad (?) acknowledges an investment from a woman named מריית (?), the widow of Yaʿaqov Alarcon. Witnessed by Yaʿaqov b. Ḥabīb. Dated January 1715 (beginning of Shevat 5475). Page 1, Document #3: Partnership agreement between Gavriel Afinah (?) and Yehudah known as [...] b. Ḥabīb and Yaʿaqov Fayrūz, dated January 1715 (beginning of Shevat 5475). Witnessed by Raḥamim Ḥotev (?). Page 2, Document #1: Appointment of Yaʿaqov ha-Levi as guardian of the boy Shalom b. Avraham Ashkenazi. Dated December 1714 (end of Kislev 5475). Page 2, Document #2: Some sort of business agreeement between Shemuel ha-Levi known as Baqbash (?) and Barukh Kampanton known as Maṣliaḥ. Dated January 1715 (middle of Shevat 5475). Witnessed by Shelomo Zeraḥyah. Page 2, Document #3: Some sort of agreement between Khalīfah ʿAfīfī and Shelomo the son (?) of the late Yaʿaqov Alarcon, perhaps involving a partnership and inheritance. Yaʿaqov b. Ḥabīb is also appointed the guardian of a young Eliyyahu. Page 3, Document #1: Possibly a rental contract? It has to do with the two apartments owned by Simḥah the widow of Raḥamim Rasa, across from the apartment of Barzilai (?) Tio (?) the Shohet, and someone named Moshe Yeshurun. Dated January 1715 (beginning of Shevat 5475). Page 3, Document #2: ʿAmram Ibn Hini (?) b. Moshe acknowledges an investment from the judge Yeshuʿah Shusṭari (?). Dated January 1715 (beginning of Shevat 5475). Page 3, Document #3: Yosef Porto Nāyis (?) acknowledges an investment from Astit (?) the widow of Avraham. Dated January 1715 (middle of Shevat 5475). Witnessed by Shelomo Zeraḥyah.Page 3, Document #4: Nissim Hefeẓ (?) b. Avraham appoints Aharon Af[...] of Rashid as his agent. Dated January 1715 (middle of Shevat 5475). Witnessed by Shelomo Zeraḥyah.Page 3, Document #5: Aharon Reuven acknowledges an investment from Masʿūdah the widow of Moshe ʿAddāl (?). Dated January 1715 (middle of Shevat 5475). Witnessed by Shelomo Zeraḥyah.Page 3, Document #6: Betrothal document for Aharon Kozimat (? קוזימט) b. Yosef and Ḥanūnah bt. Shelomo Dhabbāḥ. Dated January 1715 (middle of Shevat 5475). Witnessed by Shimʿon ha-Kohen.Page 4, Document #1: Betrothal document for Moshe Kozimat (?) b. Yosef and Ḥanūnah bt. Yaʿaqov Rasa. Dated January 1715 (middle of Shevat 5475). Witnessed by Shimʿon ha-Kohen.Page 4, Document #2: Needs further examination. Involves Marḥabah the wife of Yehudah Karo. Dated January 1715 (end of Shevat 5475). Witnessed by Eliyyahu Tābūn. Page 4, Document #3: Needs further examination. May be a record of a debt owed by Saʿīd Zarmāg (?) of Damietta (Kapotakia) to Yehudah Karmona. Dated January 1715 (end of Shevat 5475). Witnessed by Eliyyahu [...] ha-Shohet. Page 4, Document #4: Needs further examination. Marriage-related document. Dated January 1715 (end of Shevat 5475). Witnessed by Shimʿon ha-Kohen.Page 4, Document #5: Needs further examination. Involves a husband and his wife Esther. Dated January 1715 (end of Shevat 5475). Witnessed by Shimʿon ha-Kohen.

Long legal document perhaps dealing with inheritance arrangements between the brothers Yiṣḥaq and Mordekhai and Binyamin Gaʿdī, the sons of Moshe Gaʿdī. Seems to be dated December 1719 CE (9 Tevet 5480).

Fragment (upper right corner) of a legal document from the first half of the 12th century, dealing with financial arrangements for the divorce of Yaʿaqov b. Yosef known as Yaʿaqov b. al-Shomer (someone of the same name and nickname is mentioned in a list from 1133 CE, T-S 8J5.10) and Sitt al-Banīn bt. Avraham ha-Zaqen known as Abū Isḥ[āq]. It seems that the ketubba will be paid partially at once and partially in installments. T-S NS 184.90 is a list of the items in the marriage gift

Legal document. Location: New Cairo. Dating: Maybe early 12th century; the handwriting may be known. Recounts the convoluted history of the financial arrangements between Yefet ha-Levi and Manṣūr b. ʿAlī, involving collaterals worth 70 dinars. Signed by Natan b. [...] and Ḥalfon b. [...]. Needs further examination.

Recto: The main text is a Judaeo-Arabic sermon/exhortation that in order to avert the evil decrees and the plague and the economic depression, all members of the community must repent of their sins. There is to be a series of three fasts incumbent on all except pregnant and nursing women. All members of the community who are not otherwise occupied are to attend minḥa at either the synagogue of the Turks or the synagogue of the Egyptians. Every individual is also to give pidyon (redemption) money, including for babies in their mothers' wombs, 18 silver coins per person. The language is heavily colloquial, essentially modern. There are two additional blocks of text in harder-to-read handwriting. Needs further examination. Verso: The back of the original document was reused for documents of betrothal.

Fragment of a legal document dated 1126/7 CE (1438 Seleucid) in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe, involving an Abū Sahl and a Sitt al-ʿItrah.

Fragment from the opening of a will. Medieval. Legible names include Aharon b. Yiẓḥ[aq] and Menaḥem b. Moshe ha-Levi and "Nahray and Khalaf his son."

Framgnet of a legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe.

A curious fragment of a late calligraphic legal document (though the date does not survive), appointing Avraham b. [...] Ashkenazi as someone's agent for some purpose in the locales of Azemmour and the Casbah of Settat, presumably those in Morocco. One of the more elaborate signatures is that of Yaʿaqov Toledano. Needs further examination.

Fragment from a page about the halakhot and formulae to recite for valid qiddushin.

Page from register of Hebrew-language legal documents dating from Tishrei 5491AM which is 1730CE. The first document on the recto references the inheritance of a deceased man named Yehuda whose surviving relatives are mentioned, at least one of whom resides in Istanbul/Constantinople. The second document on the recto is related to the dowry of Sarah bt. Moshe Minyan[?] and also mentions her husband Shemuʾel Giyati[?], Shemuʾel Franko, and Shimʿon Franko. The third document mentions the spouses Masʿuda and Moshe Paredes who appeared before R. Yeshuʿa ___in[?]. The verso is more damaged but the middle entry records the betrothal of Yaʿacov ʿAlush and Qamr bt. Yaʿacov Zānī. The witnesses to the betrothal were "the brother of the groom Raḥamim ʿAlush and Avraham Barakha. The entry below that records the marriage of Yosef Metita[?] and Ḥanūna bt. Yaʿacov Dasa as well as a dowry list including: sandals, silk, embroidery[?] (מטרז), and many other items. MCD.

Recto: Betrothal document for Avraham Goren (?) b. Shelomo Goren and Esther bt. Eliyyahu Kayas (?). There follows a dowry list. The document seems to have been abandoned halfway through. Verso: Shelomo ʿEfron devising his signature.

Betrothal document dated 29 December 1807 (28 Kislev 5568) for Me'ir ha-Levi b. Moshe and Ruḥamah (?) bt. Avraham Krispin.

Betrothal document dated 11 October 1841 (26 Tishrei 5602) for Yosef the son of the late Moshe ha-Levi, represented by Avraham Jawhar "of the villages" (Rīf?) and Kumisah (? כומיסה) bt. Yosef Ḥassūn. The muqdam is 3000 esedi guruş and the me'ukhar is 2000 esedi guruş. Written and witnessed by Yosef Mosseri.

Betrothal document dated 25 June 1789 (1 Tammuz 5549) between Yaʿaqov Rosano b. Avraham Rosano and the widow Miryam bt. [...]ti Sakkāḥ (?).

Legal declaration from Fusṭāṭ dated 1066 CE (Sivan, 1377 Seleucid) in the name of Ṣadaqah b. Moshe. Written and witnessed by Aharon ha-Mumḥe b. Efr[ayim?].

Fragment (left side) of a late illuminated ketubba.

Legal query regarding Reuven from Const[antinople?] who asked his brother Levi of Toledo (?) to serve as his agent for marrying Leah of Toledo (?), but the witnesses did not understand that the marriage was intended to be on behalf of his brother. Needs further examination.