Geniza Lab

Deed regarding the endowment of two houses in Fusṭāṭ as a pious foundation: ‘the little house’ and ‘the cattle house’. Ca. 11th-12th century. (Information from CUDL)

Deed of sale. In Arabic script. Fragment (upper right corner). Dating: ca. 11th–12th century. Abū Aṭibbāʾ b. Abū l-Faḍl b. Abū Aṭibbāʾ the Jew buys 1/4 of a shop from [Sitt al-]Kuttāb bt. […]; 1/2 of the property belongs to her. Also mentioned are Ṣāʿid b. Shukr and his wife ʿAzīza bt. Ḥāmid, who may also be buying or already own part of the same shop. The document contains a detailed physical description of a man (probably the buyer). The property is near ʿAqabat al-ʿAddasīn and Sūq Wardān. (Information from CUDL, Khan, and Goitein’s index card.)

Acknowledgment of a debt of 10 dinars contracted by […] b. ʿAlī, an inhabitant of the ‘residence of the bishop’ (sakn al-qissīs), owed to Abū l-Ḥasan b. Asad b. Ismāʿīl the Jew. The sum must be repaid in 4 monthly installments of 1/4 of a dinar each. Dated: Rabīʿ II 519 AH, which is 1125 CE. On verso there is Hebrew text. (Information from CUDL and Khan)

Legal document. Deed of acknowledgment dated 449/1058. Ṣadaqa b. Ṭayyib al-Mayāziri al-Ramlī receives from Ḥasan b. Ishaq al-Isrāʾīlī al-Mayāziri al-Ramlī a loan of 150 dirhams. (Information from Goitein’s index card.) Alternate description (CUDL): Acknowledgment of a debt of 150 silver dirhams that Ṣadaqa b. Ṭayyib al-Ramlī, the maker of waist-cloths, contracted with Ḥasan b. Isḥāq al-Ramlī, the Jewish maker of waist-cloths. Ṣadaqa is paying back his debt and Ḥasan acknowledges the receipt of the money. Dated Ḏū al-Qa‛da 449 AH (= January 1058 CE).

Acknowledgment of a debt of 300 dinars contracted by the husband of Amat al-Qādir with his wife in Jumādā II of the year 463 AH (= March-April 1071 CE). (Information from CUDL)

Legal document in Arabic script. Record of a donation. Faraḥ b. Natan b. ʿAllūn donates a newly erected olive oil press with a mill wheel of Ḥawrānī stone. Boundaries include: a street leading to the market of Banū Wāʾil (on the Nile, SW of Qaṣr al-Shamʿ); also mentions the church of St. Sergius (kanīsat Bū Sarja), al-Ḥadīd lane, and "the two rows" (al-Ṣaffayn). (Information from Khan and Goitein’s index card.)

Legal query in Arabic script. Question addressed to a Muslim jurisconsult (faqīh) with regard to a man who was frightened by another man concerning the medicine that he had taken, so that he then feared a chronic illness (shayʾ min amrāḍ al-zamān) on account of the fright that he had received. (Information from Goitein’s index card and Khan.)

Document concerning payment of money

Recto: Fragment of an `iqrar (acknowledgement) Verso: Hebrew pen trials consisting of biblical verses

Deed of release. In Arabic script. Dating: Probably 11th century. Abū Naṣr b. ʿAṭṭiya the Jew, formerly a broker dealing with drugs in Fustat (see Med Soc I, 161) renounces all claims against a Jewish woman (see line 5). Much of what remains is a description of Abū Naṣr's physiognomy: he is a dark, beardless youth of medium build with a smooth forehead and smallpox scars. One half of verso is the beginning of a Judaeo-Arabic letter, and the other half, written at 180˚, appears to be instructions for prayers. (Information in part from Goitein's index card and Khan.)

Part of a deed of sale for part of a house in Fusṭāṭ. Two of the parties are women: […] bint Saʿīd (‘the Jewish builder’) and […] bint ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Yaḥyā. Ca. 11th-12th century. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document in Arabic script. Might involve Sulaymān b. Dāʾūd (l. 1). Nearly complete. On verso there are additional notes in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals.

Probably a legal document. In Arabic script. Fragment (upper left corner). Needs examination.

Legal document in Arabic script. Needs examination.

Receipt in Arabic script. For 'al-ḥākhām' Yaʿaqov Castro (يعقوب كاشترو), so this document probably dates to the 16th century (the precise date probably appears toward the bottom). There is a faded one-line filing note on verso in Judaeo-Arabic.

Legal document(s) in Arabic script. Recto: Acknowledgment made by Najm b. Naḥrīr the 'mawlā' of Suʿadāʾ(?) bt. al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad al-ʿAlawī(?) b. al-ʿAbbāsī(?) and Hilāl [...] b. al-ʿAlawī(?) b. al-ʿAbbāsī(?) and Muẓaffar b. Madkhūr the tailor, acting as agent for his wife Mulk/Malak. Dating: mentions the years 409 and 410 AH = ca. 1018–20 CE. Further down mentions real estate and various names (e.g., [...] b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī Ibn Ṭabāṭabā and payments. Needs further examination to understand the content. Verso: Addendum, possibly in the hand of the same scribe, and referring repeatedly to the original document on recto. Reporting that the husband of Ḥuml(?) bt. Naḥrīr the mawlā of Suʿadāʾ etc. collected on behalf of his wife a certain sum of money. Dated: 8 Rabīʿ I 410 AH. Needs further examination.

Legal document in Arabic script. Dating: Looks late Mamluk or early Ottoman era. Needs examination.

Power of attorney. In Arabic script. Dating: 11th or 12th century. A woman appoints the Jewish dyer Abū Saʿd b. Nājī b. Bū Naṣr as her agent. (Information from Goitein’s index card and Khan.)

Legal document, probably. Fragment (lower portion). In Arabic script. Dated: 1123 AH, which is 1711/12 CE. Needs examination for content.

Recto: Legal document in Arabic script. Ishāq b. Saʿīd al-Yahūdī al-ʿAṭṭār rents a house from 1 Muḥarram for four dinars, “pays in advance.” Verso: Address of a letter in Arabic script. From Wahb b. Barakāt to the well-known parnas ʿAllūn b. Yaʿīsh in Fustat. Unclear if this is related in any way to recto. (Information from Goitein’s index card and Khan.)