Geniza Lab

Recto: legal document from the Fusṭāṭ Bet Din, dated 18 Iyyar 1409 (= 22 April 1098 CE), regarding a financial claim made by Joseph b. Isaac against Abū Manṣūr Aaron b. Mevasser. Witnessed by Nathaniel b. Yefet, Nissim b. Nahray, and Isaac b. Samuel. Written by Avraham b. Natan AV Verso: continuation of a legal document starting at the bottom of Add.3420 verso, dated 15 Iyyar 1409 (= 19 April 1098 CE) in Fusṭāṭ. David b. Yaʾir testifies that he was in the synagogue on a certain Wednesday, 10th of the month, when Karīma bat ʿAmmār, known as Wuḥša the broker, went there and asked Moses the teacher and Maʿālī ha-Kohen, brother of the sexton, why the judge ʿUlla ha-Levi b. Joseph had summoned her. She was told it was because she owed ʿUlla 5 qirāṭs, but had neglected to appear in court when he had tried to legally recover the money from her. Karīma reportedly expressed surprise that ʿUlla was making such a fuss about a relatively small sum of money. Written and signed by Nissim b. Nahray, and witnessed by Isaac b. Samuel and Abraham b. Šemaʿya. (CUDL)

India Book I, 3: Court proceedings dealing with the dispute between Yosef ha-Lebdi the India trader, and Yequtiʾel b. Moshe, 'the representative of merchants' in Fustat. The document deals with Lebdi's debt of 40 dinars to Yequtiʾel for a sale of indigo. The document is written in the hand of Nethanel b. Yefet (though the title was written probably by Hillel b. Eli) and is dated February 22, 1098.

India Book I, 15: Three testimonies regarding collateral given by and returned to Yosef Lebdi, the India trader. Lebdi owed Ḥasan b. Bundar, 'the representative of the merchants' in Aden, 40 dinars for an indigo deal. Until Lebdi could pay the debt in full he had to deposit collateral, probably because he was a foreigner, who was expected to leave the town. The first and last of these three entries are written and signed by Nethanel b. Yefet. This is the recto of the second leaf of CUL Add.3420. The first leaf contains document I, 3 and the verso of this page is document I, 8. Goitein referred to this document as CUL Add.3420c.

India Book I, 8: Court proceedings from Fustat dealing with the dispute between Yosef ha-Lebdi the India trader, and Yequtiʾel b. Moshe, 'the representative of merchants' in Fustat. This is the verso of the second leaf of the bifolium that CUL Add.3420 once comprised. Goitein cited this side as CUL Add.3420d. At the bottom of the document there is a separate record (not found here) dealing with a complaint of Karima, known as Wuhsha. The recto contains the text of I, 15 and CUL Add.3420.1 contains the text of I, 3. At this court session it was agreed that Yosef Lebdi should settle his accounts with Yequtiʾel. He would then be entitled to take out of Yequtiel warehouse all the goods to which the latter could not make claim. Both agreed not to appeal to a Muslim court. The document is written in the hand of Hillel b. Eli and is dated April 19, 1098.

India Book I, 4–5: Court proceedings dealing with the dispute between Yosef ha-Lebdi the India trader, and Yequtiʾel b. Moshe, 'the representative of merchants' in Fustat. After five months, the court in Fustat reconvened to discuss the litigation begun in India Book I, 1-2. Apparently the two sides waited for their merchandise to arrive from Aden, but when it failed to arrive, the legal proceedings were continuEd. The document is written in the hand of Hillel b. Eli and is dated April 8, 1098. The document begins with the lower half of CUL Add.3421 and continues in Bodl. MS heb. d 66/64v. The upper half of CUL Add.3421 is I, 2 in the India Book. I, 4: CUL Add.3421 (lower half) I, 5: Bodl. MS heb. d 66/64

Document regarding claims made at court. Persons named as concerned (line 1) are Ibn Hadida and Abu al-Ala al-Halabi and in the body of the document, Aharon b. Moshe and Shelomo b. Hillel, regarding transactions made by the claimant's father. Dated Nisan 1409/ March 1098. Signed by Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel, Avraham b Shema'ya, and Nissim b. Nahray, and in the postscript adding more details, the same three plus Hillel b. Eli. Part of a notary's notebook, see also CUL Add.3422 a-b (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 601)

Document regarding claims concerning, among other things, a Siddur that was purchased. Persons named as concerned (line 1) are Abu Fadl b. al-Assal and Ibn al-Lawwaz Sar Shalom b. Yakhin the cantor. Signed by Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel, Avraham b Shema'ya, and Nissim b. Nahray, who were active, signing documents, at the beginning of the 12th century in Fustat. Part of a notary's notebook. CUL Add.3422 a-b CUL Add.3422 c-k (Information from Goitein's index cards).

Deposition from Minyat Zifta, signed by five witnesses, in which two persons testify to the poverty of a man named Sulayman b. Ḥasan, who had been condemned to imprisonment for insolvency when his Jewish debtor had brought him before a Muslim court. Dated Sivan 1486/ June 1175. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 204)

Karaite marriage contract of the groom Hezekiah and the bride Sarwa written in Shevat 1339/ February 1028 in Jerusalem. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 50, 376)

Karaite ketubba (marriage contract) from Jerusalem, January 1028.

Ketubba (marriage contract), formulary, found inside of a Palestinian prayerbook. The booklet also contains formularies for a bill of divorce and the husband's instructions to the scribe and witnesses for issuing that deed. For the location, the bill of divorce gives "City X, adjacent to Ẓoʿan Miẓrayim (=Fustat), which is situated on the river Nile." There is also a poem dedicated to "our lord Evyatar (b. Eliyyahu)," who was the Gaon during the last two decades of the elevent century. There are eleven additional leaves from the same booklet in MS. Dropsie 211. Information from Mordechai Akiva Friedman.

Legal document or letter, fragment, probably written by Hillel b. ʿEli. (Information from CUDL)

Various Geonic responsa. (Information from CUDL)

Maimonides’ responsa to the sages of Lunel. Headings שאלה and תשובה. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document. Quittance or bill of release (barāʾa) from Almeria, in al-Andalus, confirmed in Egypt. Individuals mentioned include […] b. al-Naḡara, Ḥalfon ha-Levi, Yiṣḥaq b. Aharon, Yosef ha-Levi b. Ḥarith, Yiṣḥaq b. ʿOvadya b. Yiṣḥaq, and Yiṣḥaq b. Yaʿaqov. The document is probably connected with Ḥalfon b. Nathaniel ha-Levi. (Information from CUDL.) Join by Mordechai Akiva Friedman.

Formulary for a Karaite marriage document, edited by Judith Olszowy-Schlanger.

Recto: Legal query in Arabic script. Addressed to "al-sāda al-fuqahāʾ. . . al-aʾimma" regarding whether a beardless Jewish oculist (kaḥḥāl) is permitted to enter the houses of Muslims. (Information from Khan)

Responsum (lengthy) by the judge Yeḥiel b. Eliyaqim regarding the invocation of the 'reshut' -- the authority of the Head of the Jews -- in legal documents and other contexts. The document concludes with a statement that it was copied directly from that in Yeḥiel's own handwriting, witnessed by Avraham b. Hillel and Yoshiyah b. Moshe.

Legal document. Dated: Ḥeshvan 4813 AM, which is 1052 CE. The witness names may be legible ([...] b. Shemuel and Dāʾūd b. [...]). Probably very little of the document itself is still legible. Partially erased and reused for piyyutim by Joseph b. Abitur. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Legal document. Palestinian ketubba. (Information from Goitein’s index card)