Geniza Lab

Legal document. Deposition on cession of rights in the "Estate of the Jerusalemites," ca. 1160. The uncle of Abu Sa‘īd renounces his right in the "Estate of the Jerusalemites" in favour of his nephew. One additional witness was present. From same notebook as Bodl. MS heb. f 22/43b. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 295 #64.) See also Goitein, Med Soc II, Appendix A, #165.

Fragment of a will in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe (dated to between 1127 and 1139) in which a man on his deathbed, after having distributed his possessions, orders the sale of his riding beast and his wasif (servant) in order to pay the burial expenses. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 132; III, p. 432)

Original use: Two fragments of a legal document in Arabic script. ~8 partial lines preserved. Tight line spacing, stylized dhālika ذلك in l. 2, stylized ṣaḥīḥ in l. 4. Mentions ḥaqq and al-nās ajmaʿīn. Involves two women (hātayn al-mutaqāriratayn), one of whom is called Sitt al-Fakhr. Might be a deed of sale (mentions "al-mushtarī" near the bottom) of real estate. Probably a join with Bodl. MS heb. f 56/19. Cut, rotated 90 degrees, and bound in association with Hebrew script text (16 lines) on verso.

Legal document. Dated: 1440 Seleucid, which is 1128/29 CE, under the reshut of Maṣliaḥ Gaon. Involves Yehuda ha-Zaqen. Signed by [...] b. Netanel ha-Levi. The addendum is signed by Natan b. Shemuel ha-Ḥaver (ZL) among others.

Will, in which the testator grants a lot of valuable property to various people in his family, including a kānūn sharābiyya (a syrup-maker's brazier?) and a female slave named עב[...] to one of the women in his family.

Verso (original use): Marriage contract (ketubba). Central piece. In the hand of Mevorakh b. Natan. Groom: Mordekhay b. Saʿadya ha-Levi. Bride: Sitt al-Kuttāb. Containing many items of dowry with realistic values. Dated: [14]76 Seleucid = 1164/65 CE, under the authority of Daniel ha-Nasi. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, 367, and Goitein's attached index card.)

Legal document, probably. In Arabic script. Needs examination. Probably a join with Bodl. MS heb. f 56/13 + Bodl. MS heb. f 56/15.

Legal document in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragmentary, so difficult to figure out the details. Sets out provisions for the care of a minor boy. Mentions a female slave (al-jāriya al-kabīra) twice, once in the context of someone being granted ownership (תצרפת פי גאריתהא תצרף אלמלאך).

Trousseau list to accompany a marriage contract. Groom: Abū Naṣr Elʿazar ha-Kohen b. Yaḥyā. Bride: Sitt al-Maʿālī bt. Abū l-Ḥasan al-Simsār. Real value: 57 dinars. Including a female slave (unnamed) worth 20 dinars. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Record of payment of rent, ca. 1186. A payment of 100 wariq dirhams (for a period of one year's rent) is received from Abu Ishaq al-Adani. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 361 #92)

Deathbed will. Dated: Wednesday, 18 Nisan 1493 Seleucid, which is 24 March 1182 CE. Testator: Abū l-Faraj b. Moshe known as Ibn al-Kallām. He leaves to his wife, the daughter of his maternal uncle, one third of a house, if she does not marry again. If she does, she will receive only what was still due to her from the delayed matrimonial gift. This man owed 2 1/2 dinars to Maimonides, 4 1/6 dinars to al-Shaykh al-Muwaffaq (perhaps the physician Ibn Jumayʿ) for a capitation tax paid on his behalf, 1 dinar and 12 dirhams to the poet and judge Ibn Sanā' al-Mulk, 4 dinars to the faqīh Ibn Ṣawla, and 5 dirhams to Abū l-Khayr al-Ḥayfī. Scribed and signed by Shemuel ha-Levi b. Seʿadya. Also signed by Elʿazar b. Mikhael. (Information from Goitein's notes and from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 31.) Translated and discussed at length in S. D. Goitein, “The Moses Maimonides-Ibn Sana Al-Mulk Circle: A Deathbed Declaration from March 1182,” in Moshe Sharon, ed., Studies in Islamic History and Civilization in Honour of Professor David Ayalon (Leiden: Brill, 1986), 399-405.

Continuation of previous document. The clothing and household goods are divided between the two girls. The value of each object is indicated. 11 1/8 dinars to each (Information from Goitein's index card.) NB: This portion of the document is on verso of Bodl. MS heb. f 56/45.

Abū Manṣūr Elʿazar b. Elʿazar al-Dimashqī gives the female slave Rahaj ("Arsenic") as well as clothing and household goods which he had inherited from his wife Fakhr bt. Abū l-Surūr al-Jashshāsh as a gift to his two daughters, Ḥasab and Kafā'. (Information from Goitein's index card.) NB: This portion of the document is on recto of Bodl. MS heb. f 56/46.

A renewed betrothal contract from the month of Tamuz 1182. The date for marriage is set for the month of Av but the groom is given permission to 'delay' the marriage for another month, until the month of Elul. If he fails to marry her by the month of Elul the match will be cancelled and the bride will keep the money and the rings she was given in the early marriage gift.

Trousseau list (taqwīm). Groom: Tamīm b. Netanel. Bride: Sitt al-Khafar bt. Elʿazar. 42 + 83 + 55 + 30 = 210 dinars. Dating: ca. 1182 CE, as this folio seems to belong to the same legal register as the preceding sheflmarks. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Betrothal deed from 1185. According to Goitein, the bride and groom are also cousins. They are both extremely young, but still in the age of legal majority as can be seen in the expression of mutual consent in line 5. (Med. Soc. 3:29, no. 7)

3 entries in a court register. (a) Marriage portion of Munā the freedwoman of Ibn Futayḥ marrying Abū l-Faraj Yeshuʿa b. Avraham al-Tinnīsī. 10 + 30 dinars. Total value of dowry: 120 dinars. Cf. Bodl. MS heb. c 28/54. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

(b) Trousseau list. Bride: Sitt al-Furs bt. Abū l-Bayān al-Jābī (cf. Bodl. MS heb. f 56/43). Groom: Al-Munajjā b. Yosef. 10 + 25. Total value: 95 dinars. (Information from Goitein's index cards.)

(c) Trousseau list. Dated: Sivan 1185 CE. Bride: Nasab bt. Abū l-Khayr al-Zayyāt. Groom: Munajjā Abū Saʿd al-Labbān. 10 + 25. Total value: 90 dinars. (Information from Goitein's index cards.)

(b) Record of marriage conditions. Dated: Sivan of 1186 CE. Groom: Abū l-Barakāt b. Musallam al-Ṭabīb. Bride: Sitt al-ʿAlam bt. Netanel the Fifth. Delayed marriage payment: 10 dinars. Total of trousseau: 55 dinars, including a female slave valued at 15 dinars and books worth 5 dinars. (Information in part from Goitein's index cards.)