Geniza Lab

Probably a draft of a deed of sale. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe? The document contains a very long description of a house. The buyer is a woman; the names Asad/Arye and Shumʿān/Shimʿon appear in her identification. Needs examination.

Legal document. Probably a partnership agreement. Dating: Shortly before Ṭevet 1422 Seleucid, which is 1110/11 CE. The capital may be 50 dinars. Maḥfūẓ and Abū l-Munā comprise one party; Yaʿaqov and Yosef comprise the other party. Mentions several locations including Cairo, Shubrā Damsīs, al-Khandaq(?), and al-Minya. The partnership may have to do with dyeing (8 lines from the bottom).

Legal document. In the hand of Hillel b. ʿEli? Dated: 1411 Seleucid, which is 1099/1100 CE. In which someone declares to Abū l-Faḍl Yosef something about 3/4 of a house in Fustat.

Fragment of a ketubah. The immersion clause is partily preserved, so we can date it accordingly to 1178 onwards, when Maimonides' enactment on this subject was published. AA

End of a partnership agreement signed by Tamim. AA

Fragment from a legal deed, written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi (Date: 1100-1138)

Fragment from the bottom part of a bill of guarantee of Ishaq ha-Levi b. Netanel (see India Book IV/A p. 26n43) written by Halfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi (dated documents: 1100-1138)

Legal document dealing with a loan granted by Abū Naṣr Elʿazar b. Karmī Ibn Shabīb to Abū Manṣūr Elʿazar Ibn Zabqala. Dated: Tammuz 1543 Seleucid, which is 1232 CE. Same case as T-S Misc.25.2. Goitein originally described the borrower as a communal official and described the occasion of the loan as public expenses such as dues on the import of myrtles into Fustat. He later wrote, "The 62 Kāmilī fulūs were dirhems and not copper coins and were regarded as an equivalent of 9 Nāṣirī dirhems plus customs dues paid to the makkāsīn Miṣr, the customs officials of Fusṭāṭ. (I had read instead of mksyn - mrsyn, and translated consequently "myrtles"!). Thus, 62 Kāmilī fulūs do not correspond exactly to 9 Nāṣirī dirhems, but to a somewhat higher amount. The customs dues were paid for... anbāq ḥashīsha. Should we assume that in those days not only the leaves and stalks of the hemp, but also its berries were used as drugs?" (Information from Goitein's index cards, Mediterranean Society, I, p. 385, and S. D. Goitein, “Erratum to JESHO 8 [1965] on The Exchange Rate of Gold and Silver Money in Fatimid and Ayyubid Times,” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, vol. 12, no. 1 (January 1969), 112.) VMR. ASE. Join: Alan Elbaum.

Beginning of a will (in the handwriting of Hillel b. Eli) of Hillel known as Sahib b. al-Sukkari b. Menashshe ha-Kohen. Made on 27 Kislev 1099. Verso in other (two) hands, four names without any other writing: Sittuna bt. Ḥalfon, Yonah b. Perahyah, Husnah bt. Perahyah, Avrah[am] b. Nissim. Information from Goitein's note card.

Two legal documents (or letters dealing with legal issues) each written in a different hand, probably 13th century. On verso seems to be a bill of release. On verso - regarding dowry of jewelry and and sims of money. Fustat and Cairo are mentioned. verso might be connected to recto. AA

Legal deed. Fragment (upper right corner). Location: Fustat. Dated: Last decade of Tishrei, year missing. Perhaps during the tenure of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya, since the phrase נגיד עם ייי צבאות יהי שמו לעולם is partially preserved, and similar phrases often appear in his reshut clauses. A woman whose name is missing (bt. [...] ha-Nikhbad (ZL)), the wife of Mevorakh b. Sar Shalom, makes a declaration of some kind in his favor. Maybe an acknowledgment that she has received a payment due and now releases him. (T-S NS 321.82 seems to be an indirect join. AA)

Legal document. Location: Fustat. Date missing. Fragment of a Hebrew contract of partnership in which a woman named Summāna ("Quail") invests 8 dinars. She will receive 14/24 of the profit, while the two other partners will each receive 5/24. (Perhaps each contributed only 2 dinars.) (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Right side of a court record, so only few words from each line are preserved. Involving R. Yehuda Pride of the Yeshiva. Also mention Abu 'Amr and al-Maghrib.

Very damaged betrothal deed, probably between Rabbinate bride and Karaite groom (See Ashur, Engagement and Betrothals, p, 69). It is the bride's second marriage and the groom is responsible to provide them with cloths. An apartment in Qasr al-Sham' is mentioned. Written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi who signed together with Isahq b. Shemuel the Spaniard and Nethanel b. Efrayim, probably between 1100-1127, because the reshut formula for Masliah Gaon is lacking. AA

Fragment from the beginning of a legal deed, probably a prenuptial agreement. In the hand of ʿImmanuel b. Yeḥiel (active ca. 1231–79). Dated: Probably Kislev 15[8.] Seleucid, corresponding to the range 1278–88 CE, under the reshut of D[avid] I Maimonides (in office ca. 1237–1300). The bride is a "mature virgin" and her name has not preserved. The groom is probably [...] b. Moshe (נ״ע). AA. ASE.

long discussion between a woman and the court about taking an oath in a legal dispute she had with a man (the document mentions that she “lived with him for several years” so he might have been a husband or a relative). The document is fragmentary and very hard to decipher, but it seems that the court kept asking her whether she was willing to take the oath. Her answers seem to be that she is willing and even wants him to be present. When asked again, she said “I prefer nothing but that the Torah scroll be brought forth” (i.e. for her to take the oath). It seems that in this court session the oath was not administered. Dated 1105. Written by Ishaq b. Shemuel (the Spaniard) who signed it together with Sasson b. Nathan, Avraham b. Shema'yah ha-Haver, and Halfon Halevi b. Menashshe. (Info from Oded Zinger, PhD, p. 172n142)

Legal document likely in the hand of the clerk of Yehoshua Maimonides. Needs further examination.

Minute fragment of a legal document

Ketubba according to the Palestinian style. Dated: 4810 AM = 1049/50 CE. In the hand of Eliyyahu b. Shelomo ha-Kohen, when he was either reviʿi or shelishi, before he served as Gaʾon (1062–83). Cf. Bodl. MS heb. a 3/32, a ketubba he wrote in Ramla in 1064 CE when he was already Gaʾon; several of the formulae are shared across the two documents. See M. A. Friedman's edition for further information.

Fragment of a ketubah, containing the dowry. On recto few words in Arabic script- needs examination