Geniza Lab

Possibly part of a ketubba, containing a dowry list. But very faded, and this is only a piece from the left side. If a ketubba, the groom is named Maʿālī.

Ketubba. Small fragment (upper left corner). In the hand of Yosef b. Shemuel b. Seʿadya? Dated: 1508 Seleucid, which is 1196/97 CE. Groom: [...] b. [...] ha-P[arna]s. Bride: Sitt al-ʿIzz.

Legal document. Dated: [...]8 Seleucid, which can be improved to 14[.]8 Seleucid, based on the 12th-century people who are mentioned, but the decade is still unknown. It opens with the statement that "we (=the witnesses) came to the house of the honorable... Moshe ha-Kohen ha-Sar ha-Nikhbad b. [...]." Also in attendance were Sitt al-Maʿānī or Sitt al-Maʿālī (the last two letters are effaced) bt. Abū l-ʿAlāʾ [...] Yefet. She is the wife of Abū l-Rabīʿ Sulaymān b. Yehuda Kohen al-Sijilmāsī (Yehuda is Abū Zikrī Kohen, who served as representative of the merchants in Fustat and who is the subject of India Book V). Also involved is Abū ʿImrān al-Kohen. What remains of the document consists of legal formulae and references to a sum of money.

Draft of a legal query addressed to Avraham Maimonides. Only the introduction & titles were written.

Legal document. Dating: Refers to a period of 5 years and then to the end of Iyyār of either 153[.] or 1503 Seleucid. So this document could have been drawn up between 1498 and 1539 Seleucid, which corresponds to the range 1186–1228 CE. (This can likely be narrowed further.) Mentions "20 irdabbs (of wheat) at the beginning of every year" and mentions people such as someone's nephew [...] al-Kohen and [...] al-Ṣaʿīdī.

Ketubba. Dating: Late, probably no earlier than 15th century. Currency: muayyadi (originally minted under the Mamluks). Groom: Yosef b. [...]. Bride: Mazal Ṭov. In Hebrew, with the dowry list in Judaeo-Arabic.

Small fragment of a ketubba. Groom: Hillel/Hilāl b. Jallāb (גלאב). There is a filing note on verso.

Small fragment of a legal document (lower left corner). Dating: 11th century. Signed by the cantor Yefet b. David (b. Shekhanya), Avraham b. David, and [...] ha-Kohen b. Eliyya(?).

Small fragment of a ketubba.

Legal document. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Concerning the death of Shemuel ha-Zaqen (or his son)—maybe the execution of his will.

Legal document, perhaps a deed of release. In Hebrew, in a striking square script. Dating: Probably 10th or early 11th century. Involves Mevorakh b. Shabbat and perhaps his brother Faraj (last line). States that future claims will be void, "whether verbal or written, whether in Hebrew documents or Persian documents." Similar formulae also appear in 10th-century legal documents (e.g., T-S 16.56 and T-S 12.496, and there is a good chance that other languages were listed at the beginning of the next line of this document, which is missing). The document refers to the Gentile courts as בידואר and refers to the currency טרפעיקא that occasionally appears in the Talmud. It may be the only known document that refers to the טרפעיקא. Between the lines and on verso there is an unidentified text in Judaeo-Arabic that gives elaborate technical instructions. Based on the reference to "distillation" (taqṭīr), these are probably instructions for making perfume or alcohol, or at least some (al)chemical process. This fragment is uncited in the literature. (Information in part from Oded Zinger and Eve Krakowski.) ASE.

Legal document: Qaraite ketubba from Ramla, part only. Yaʿaqov b. David al-Shulḥanī (groom) and Sayyida bat Wahb al-ʿArḍī (bride). Location: Ramla. Dated: Wednesday, 10 Elul 1403 after the Babylonian Exile (= 1006 CE), in Ramla. The bride’s agent is Menaḥem b. Iyyov al-Ḥalabī, and his appointment was witnessed by David b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Kohen, the scribe, and Khalaf b. […]. The extensive trousseau list of the wealthy bride includes tunics, cushions, mattresses, boxes of ḥalanj wood, several buckets, and houses in Ramla, Ibn Ṣafar-Street, next to the house of Shelomo b. [Ḥayyim]. Witnessed by Faraj b. Mevasser ha-Levi, Ṣemaḥ b. […], Efraim b. Yehuda, Yosef b. […], and Yaʿaqov b. […]. (Information from CUDL.)

Recto: End of a legal document, written and signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dated: Shevaṭ 1445 Seleucid, which is 1134 CE.

Recto: Ketubba fragment. Most of the text here is the dowry list, which includes "royal Rūmī [broca]de" and blue dabīqī curtains. The early marriage payment appears to be 10 dinars, and the number 50 appears further down. There may be more Hebrew here than is commonly found (אילו הדירות... הנדוניא הנזכרת לעילא... מוהר הבת[ולות).

Legal document. In Hebrew. On parchment. Dating: Likely 10th or early 11th century. Involves a guardian (apotropos) named Yefet. The portion of the document preserved here consists mainly of elaborate release formulae, many of which appear in other documents from the same period (e.g., T-S 16.56 and BL OR 5542.6).

Legal document? This is a relatively large piece of paper, but essentially the only text preserved is the name Shelomo b. Natan ha-Levi.

Legal document. There is a good amount of text preserved, but the details of the case are obscure. Involves "the upper part of the house" and a period of consecutive months—so maybe this is a lease.

Bill of divorce (geṭ). Written and signed by Shemuel b. Seʿadya ha-Levi (active 1165–1203). Location: Fustat. Dated: Tishrei 14[..] Seleucid, which corresponds to the range 1088–1187 CE. Husband: Abū l-Ḥasan b. A[...] al-Kohen. The wife's name is missing, but she is from Alexandria. There is no note on verso indicating that the geṭ was delivered, but this might have been written on the missing half. On verso, there are a few lines of what look like accounts in Arabic script.

Draft of the opening lines of a legal document. Dated: Thursday, 2 Elul [....], under the authority of the Nagid Avraham [Maimonides]. The scribe stopped here.

Legal fragment (lower right corner). Location: Fustat. Dated: 10 Kislev 14[..] Seleucid, so 1088–1187 CE. Involves [...] ha-Levi.