Geniza Lab

Fol. 2v: Entry in a court notebook detailing that Sitt al-Milāḥ bt. Efrayim ha-Levi Rosh ha-Qahal ("the fairest of the fair"), the (ex-?)wife of Sason b. Yefet, sells part of her trousseau, each item specified, to pay for repairs on a house belonging to her in the al-Khandaq quarter. Dated: Thursday, 21 Elul 1421 Seleucid = 8 September 1110 CE. Written and signed by Avraham b. Natan Av. Also signed by Ḥalfon b. Yosef. (Information from Goitein's index cards.) EMS

Agreement concerning a debt of 15 dinars for which Sedaqa ha-Levi b. Meshullam had stood surety for Hussein al-Hammami in a document drawn up in the Muslim court (wathiqa bi l-muslimin). 1110 (MRC 05.17.16)

Court record concerning the claims of Avraham ha-Levi b. Toviah, later referred to as Abu Ishaq b. Tiban, who has received 34 out of the past-due 68 dinars owed to him by Abu al-Faraj b. Ma’mar. 1108-9 CE. (Information from Goitein's index cards) EMS

Legal document. Location: Fustat. Dated: Tuesday, 20 Shevaṭ 1422 Seleucid, which is 1111 CE. Quittance of the debt of Shelomo b. Ḥayyim ha-Sheviʿi made in court. Also mentions Abū l-Munā b. Ḥayyim (possibly identical with Shelomo) and Maṣliaḥ b. Yosef, the one granting the release. Cf. JRL Gaster heb. ms 1760/5 (upper fragment).

Verso: Legal memorandum submitted by Avraham b. Shemaʿya to Avraham (b. Natan) ("Foundation of the Yeshiva"). He reports that Yosef and his wife appeared before the court, and the wife appointed the elder Abū Sahl ʿAṭiyya as her agent to sue her husband on her behalf. (Information from Goitein's index card). EMS

Recto: End of a court record written and signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dated: Monday, 25 Av 1423 Seleucid, which is 1112 CE. The case involves Abū l-Munā and Abū ʿImrān and the sale and purchase of various "ruqʿas" (promissory notes?) for different amounts of money (some are for 3 dinars and some for 5). One of the transactions was witnessed by 'Rabbenu.' Witnesses: Ḥalfon b. Menashshe, Avraham b. Shemaʿya, and Maʿrūf b. Yehuda. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.)

Fol. 1v: Legal record (deed of release). In the hand of the cantor Yefet b. David. Dated: Monday, 6 Adar I 1339 Seleucid, which is 1028 CE. Abū l-Khayr Yeshuʿa came before the court in the Palestinian synagogue in Fustat and sued ʿOvadya for 7 dinars. ʿOvadya denied owing any money, and Yeshuʿa admitted that he didn't have any evidence. The court declared a "ban in general terms" (ḥerem setam). Yeshuʿa then escalated his demand to 24 dinars, ʿOvadya again denied owing any money, and Yeshuʿa again admitted that he didn't have any witnesses or evidence. He then had to take a rider oath (gilgul shevuʿa) on top of the ban. They came back a week later and Yeshuʿa had to fulfill (istawfā) the oath, releasing ʿOvadya from his claims. Signed by Avraham b. Mevasser and Yefet b. David. (Information in part from Goitein's index card and CUDL.) VMR. EMS. ASE.

Fol. 1r: Legal record (deed of release). In the hand of the cantor Yefet b. David. Dated: Monday, 25 Shevaṭ 1338 Seleucid, which is 1028 CE. In which Abū l-Ḥasan Yosef b. Yiṣḥaq b. Yoshiyya releases Aharon b. Moshe Rosh ha-Qahal (aka Hārūn b. Abū Naṣr b. Saʿdān) from any claims with regard to books (maṣāḥif wa-ghayrhā) from the estate of his brother Yaḥyā b. Yiṣḥaq b. Yoshiyya. Witnessed and signed by Yefet b. David, Shemuel b. Ṭalyon ha-Kohen, Yaʿaqov(?) b. Mevasser, and Efrayim b. Shemarya. (Information from CUDL and Goitein's index card.)

Fol. 2r: F. 2r: Legal record (deed of release). In the hand of Yefet b. David. in which Sulaymān b. Yehuda (his name is somehow connected to the name Moshe al-ʿAjamī) claims 1.25 dinars from Daniel b. Yefet but admits that he has no evidence. He relinquishes his claim, and it seems that he is released from the obligation of taking an oath and the ban in general terms (ḥerem setam). Signed by Yefet b. David and David b. Ḥayyim. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Legal document in which Simeon ha-Levi agrees to rent his wife a place to keep her belongings separate from his; Simeon also takes over her dowry without permission. Signed by Ghalib ha-Kohen b. Moshe, 'Eli ha-Kohen b. Ya'is and 'Eli ha-haver b. 'Amram. Dated 8 Tishri 1369 of the Seleucid Era (= 1057 CE). (Information from Goitein's index cards; and Oded Zinger, Women, Gender, and Law, 178). Verso: legal document in Arabic about an agreement and permissions granted of a store to Abu Sa‘id. EMS

Court record concerning the release of payment in installments between Yeshu’a b. Avraham and Yaqub b. David. (Information from Goitein's index cards) EMS

Only the left side of this guarantee for a debt is preserved.

Court record in the hand of Hillel b. ʿEli (ca. 1066–1108). Dated: Tammuz 1387 Seleucid, which is 1076 CE. Location: Fustat. Record of a partnership concerning half a qintar of opium. The participating parties are Avraham b. Elʿazar ha-Levi and Abū l-ʿAlāʾ ʿUlla b. Yosef ha-Levi. (Information in part from Goitein's index cards; Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 262, 582; EMS.) Join: Oded Zinger.

Legal document. Court record (draft). This document concerns the settlement of an account between Abū al-Mufaḍḍal Netanel b. Yefet and Abū al-Ḥasan Ṭoviyya b. Avraham ha-Levi. Netanel brought a court-validated document specifying that Ṭoviyya owed him 65 dinars. Ṭoviyya claimed that he sent the amount via the agent Abū al-Faraj to be sold in Tunisia. It is unclear whether the 65 dinars is a partnership account or a debt owed Netanel by Ṭoviyya. However, that the commodities were sent to be sold in Tunisia suggests that Ṭoviyya has a financial interest in the sale. For the full details of this court record and the content of its final form, see T-S 8J4.14, PGPID 2098. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 177).

Legal deed concerning the payment in monthly installments of the remaining five dinars minus one sixth of a debt of a total of seven dinars. 1099.

Legal document concerning the claims of Abu al-Husayn al-Halabi, who says there are five dinars remaining from the twenty-four dinars paid for a purchase of amber by Abu al-Ḥasan b. Tiban. Abu al-Ḥasan states that he does not owe a thing. Dated Av 1410 of the Seleucid Era (= 1099 CE). (Information from Goitein's index cards) EMS

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi. Dated: Tuesday, 7 Elul 1425 Seleucid, which is August 1114 CE. Inventory of the estate of a wealthy goldsmith, the late Abū Yaʿqūb. The list consists of dinars in bankers’ notes, gold cash, and in bars of precious metals; various vessels, two female slaves, and promissory notes are also referenced. The document was written by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe and sealed by the rabbinic court on the day of Abū Yaʿqūb’s death. Before any shares were distributed to the heirs, the widow received the “deferred installment” due to her according to her marriage contract, in this case 75 dinars. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society 5:168-70, 549, 533; and Goitein’s index cards) EMS

Four (?) court records in the hand of Natan ha-Kohen b. Shelomo. Fustat September 1133 a: The court prohibits Yosef b. Avraham to enter a certain compound on the punishment of ten dinars. b: Contract of rent in which Abu Ali rents the 'empty part and the floor under it' of a house to Abu al-Fadl, his sister's son, for him to live in, paying 1 2/3 dirhams a month as rent. c: Transfer of a debt of 2 1/3 dinars to Husein b. Abu al-Faraj originally owed by Yaʿaqov b. al-Shomer to Makarim [?] b. Yahya al-Hakim. The debt is to be paid by Husein b. Abu al-Faraj in monthly installments of half a dinar, while the responsibility remains with the original debtor. d: An excommunicated person is advised by the court in Fustat to settle the disagreement he had with the provincial community and which is the cause of his being excommunicated within fifty days. If he does not manage to settle his affair he has to pay a fine to the poor of Fustat.

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dated: 1445 Seleucid, which is 1133/34 CE. Bill of release between a woman, [..]ma bt. Abū l-Faḍl Shela Ibn al-Masqī (or al-Musaqqī? אלמסקי), and [...] b. Yehuda. (Information from CUDL and Goitein's index card.)

Two judges inspect together with two government muhandizīn two houses in the Laban (?) lane (near the synagogues) and find that the house of Hibāt & Co. tilts and inclines on the opposite house of Abu 'l-Ḥasan b. Ḥātim (Eli b. Ḥotam). In the hrnd of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe, 4 February 1136. Verso: trials of the pen; in one, Eli b. Ḥotam ha-Levi sells half of a house. (Information from Goitein's index cards.)