Geniza Lab

Legal document (probably a formulary) for marriage conditions. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Much of the text resembles the text of ENA 3755.6.

Legal document possibly concerning the manumission and conversion of a female slave. Mentions [...]l b. Elʿazar. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: one line from the superscription of a ketubba. Verso: probably an Arabic document. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document concerning a settlement of 17 dinars belonging to ‘my son Sālim’. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document. Location: Fustat. Written under the rule of the Nasi David b. Daniel b. Azarya (1082–94 CE). Ḥasana bt. Shaʾul, the widow of Yiṣḥaq b. Avraham, with whom she had two sons, Avraham and Naḥum, now wishes to marry Yefet b. Hillel Ibn al-Ṣabbāgh. The court apparently investigates the plan for the maintenance and upbringing of the orphans. Needs further examination. (Information in part from CUDL)

Legal document dated 2[.] Elul 1423 of the Seleucid Era (= 1112 CE). Mentions Efrayim ha-Kohen and Nathaniel. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document concerning a financial settlement. The witnesses are Abū l-Faraj and Daʾūd. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document, in which Thāmira bt. Avraham appoints Avraham b. Shelomo as her agent for suing Hiba b. Bishr, debtor of her late father, since she and her minor sister were the only legal heirs. Dated Wednesday, 26th Adar II 4848 AM (= Spring 1088 CE), and mentions Alexandria. Written and signed by the cantor Mawhūb b. Aharon the cantor and Tamām b. Nissim; signatures: the Nasi David b. Daniel ha-Nasi; ʿEli ha-Kohen b. Yaḥyā, the cantor Hillel b. ʿEli. (Information from CUDL; see also Goitein's index card.)

Legal document in the hand of and signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi. Involves a woman named Sitt al-ʿIrāq. (Information in part from CUDL)

Order of one raṭl of olive oil (zayt ṭayyib) by Abū Zikrī Kohen. (Information from Goitein’s index card.)

Order from Mordekhai Ḥafeṣ to a cheesemaker (al-muʿallim Yaʿīsh al-Jabbān) to hand over to the bearer of the note 2 ½ [pounds? cheeses?]. (Information from Goitein’s index card.) Goitein notes that from the 13th century onward, workers were addressed as 'muʿallim.' This note may be substantially later.

Verso: Note accompanying payment. Shelomo b. Eliyyahu pays Abū l-Munā 3 of out the 6.5 dirhems he owes. See T-S AS 145.23. (Information from Goitein’s index card.)

Bill of divorce (geṭ). Location: Fustat. Dated: 14[..] Seleucid, which means no later than 1188 CE (and probably several decades earlier). The husband appears to be Yosef, and either he or the wife's father is named Abū Saʿd. The word 'his fiancee' appears, so perhaps this is the breaking-off of a betrothal. Witnesses: Yeshuʿa b. Yoshiyya "Nin" and Natan b. Shemuel(?).

Deed of release. Location: New Cairo (where Avraham b. Natan was judge). Date not preserved. Yefet b. Marwān releases the clothier (al-bazzāz) Abū l-Faḍl Yosef b. Avraham ha-Levi from all obligations. Signed by Araḥ b. Shelomo, Merayhot b. Meshullam and Elʿazar b. Menaḥem. The document is written by by Avraham b. Natan Av Bet Din, who signs the validation (qiyyum) together with Avraham b. Shabbetay, Elʿazar b. Yosef ha-Levi and Yosef b. Avraham ha-Levi. On verso there are rhymed wishes including citations from Psalms 115:12 and Malachi 3:16. (Information from CUDL and Goitein's index card.)

Recto: beginning of a testimony, dated Elul [...] of the Seleucid Era. Verso: short note. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document dated 1507 of the Seleucid Era (= 1196 CE). (Information from CUDL)

Record of debt with values measured in Venetian zecchini (Ar. bunduqī, a coin minted 1284–1797).

Deed of sale. Dating: Second half of the 16th century. Ṣemaḥ Alanj (? אלנג׳) sells Shemuel Cordoba 19 pounds of a particular kind of coral (מרגאל גשים קצף) for 17 peraḥim and 2 coronas. Shemuel pays 6 peraḥim at this time and still owes 11 perḥim and 2 coronas. The document is signed by Avraham Sambari. There is an addendum written in between the lines at 180 degrees, mentioning the wife of Makhlūf. Ṣemaḥ Alanj is also mentioned in T-S AS 145.87, a deed of release from the year 5329 AM (1568/69 CE).

Legal document. In Hebrew. Location: Fustat/Cairo. Dated: Friday, 18 Tammuz 5319 AM, which is 23 June 1559 CE. Partnership in a muqāṭaʿa (Ottoman Turkish: mukata’a) between 2 Jews and a Gentile. This seems to be a formulary, as the Jews are named Reuven, Shimʿon, and Levi, and the Gentile is named "the Gentile." (Information in part from Avraham David via FGP.)

Legal document. Fragment: Upper left corner. Location: Banhā. Dated: [14]61 Seleucid, which is 1149/50 CE, under the reshut of Shemuel b. Ḥananya. The substance of the matter is difficult to figure out. It involves a certain [...] b. Shemuel ha-Levi. Excommunication is involved and there is reported speech (yā mawlāy qad aḥramtu/uḥrimtu...) (Information in part from CUDL)