Geniza Lab

Bottom of a legal document, possibly a get.

Legal document fragment connected to the Mustʿarab congregation of Cairo—perhaps an acknowledgment of a deposit and a commitment not to benefit from it. The document names Moshe Dammūhī, who may be identical with the father of one of the witnesses of T-S 8J8.23 (1577 CE). This document is a join to T-S NS 99.59 (found via FGP joinfinder). MCD.

Most of a legal query about Reuven who sold to Shimʿon a copy of the Halakhot of a certain Rav Yiṣḥaq but the book was later found to be defective, but Reuven hadn't known that it was defective.

Trousseau list, small fragment. Jottings in Arabic script between the lines.

Legal declaration in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment. Involves a story of Abū l-Bayān and Abū l-Baqā' and various sums of money.

Legal document from Jerusalem. In Hebrew. Dating: Iyyar 1483 CE (5243). Scribe; Yom Ṭov b. Yosef Imanuel. Shalom and Yiṣḥaq and a third person declare that they were forced to sign a previous document due to the coercion of the parnasim. This Shalom may be R. Shalom Ashkenazi, who is known to have been active in Jerusalem in 1481 CE. Information from Avraham David's edition (via FGP).

Legal document from Baghdad. In Hebrew. Probably 17th century. The date appears to read Iyyar of חתכ, which would be 1668 CE, but this seems an unusual way to write the year. The content has to do with ʿĀṣī b. Maṭīra's commitment to pay a certain total each year to the community. Needs further examination.

Legal document, possibly a release. Involving [...] b. Shela and a woman (his wife?) named Sitt al-ʿAlam. Signed by Shelomo b. Nasi(?).

Legal document. Agency agreement. Location: Fustat. Written in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. T-S 10J4.16: agreement granting Abū l-Riḍā Shelomo b. Mevorakh power of attorney to collect from the assets of a partnership between three parties – Abū Sa‘īd Ḥalfōn b. Nissim Abū Ḥusayn al-Tinnīsī (the senior partner), Abū l-Faḍl Amram b. Abū Kathīr Efrayim, and Abū l-Faraj Yeshuʿa b. Menashshe ha-Levi al-Jubaylī – once the partnership has ended. The partnership lasted three years, from January 1115 to January 1118, and its purpose was to export valuable items from Upper Egypt for resale in Yemen. The principal who retained Shelomo is eligible to collect from the entire partnership, which includes funds which Shelomo himself had placed with the partnership, acting as both principal and agent. Most of the legal form of the power of attorney is missing. The verso contains a copy of a release, in which Shelomo absolves his erstwhile partners from any further obligations, except for part of the profits which they owe him. Shelomo releases Ḥalfon and ʿAmram separately from Yeshu‘a. Here, the word ṣuḥba (T-S 10J4.16, line 4) refers to a joint investment or partnership, not a deposit. The unrelated(?) document (T-S 10J4.17) is a release document from Sitt al-Sāda, daughter of the last Palestinian Gaon Evyatar ha-Kohen to Menashshe b. Seʿadya ha-Kohen. The nature of their relationship is unclear. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 196, 261-263)

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. "A litigation concerning an inheritance. Two partners were operating a store and upon the death of one of them the heir, a certain Naḥman, who was the nephew of the deceased sued the other party for whatever was due to him of this inheritance. He had not protested earlier because he was still a minor then. Abū l-Faḍl b. ʿUmayr was one of the customers. Naḥman, whose share in assets in the partnership was half, demanded his legitimate rights, and in the litigation pursued he asked for half of everything, i.e., capital (aṣl), income (nāqī), and goods such as a lamp made of copper. The sums of money preserved in the document are 600 dinars, 2015 dinars, 5 qirats and half a ḥabba, 20 dinars, and 32 dinars. A freed female slave is also mentioned, whom he manumitted after "he received her price from her." What may be understood from the end of the document preserved is that a settlement was reached according to which the defendant was freed from the oath due to him. No signatures are extant." (Information from Weiss)

Legal document. In the hand of Natan b. Shemuel or Natan b. Shelomo? Dated: 1456 Seleucid, which is 1144/45 CE, under the authority of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya. Involves: Abū l-Barakāt; a small house (duwayra) in Qaṣr al-Shamʿ in Fustat; Abū l-Makārim. (Information in part from CUDL.) Join: Oded Zinger. Needs further examination.

Ketubba, small fragment. Wide space between the lines. Groom: Elʿazar ha-Kohen.

Fragment of a legal record in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe (1100–38 CE). Concerning a family dispute. A woman, Maḥfūẓa from the Ḥātimiyya(?) family, had her inheritance from her father taken by her husband, and domestic strife ensued. In this document, the court orders him not to beat or curse his wife, but rather to honour her and provide her with anything that she was rightfully due. (Information from Goitein's note card and CUDL.)

Beginning of a deathbed will, in the hand of Eliyyahu ha-Kohen b. Shelomo Gaon, between approximately 1065 and 1083.

Court records. Dated Nisan 1093 CE. Including: (1) A case involving Yaʿaqov b. Yefet and Ṣedaqa al-[...]. 1 dinar is to be repaid by Pesaḥ. (2) The wife of Abū l-Faḍl b. Mardūkh did not receive support for the baby girl until Pesaḥ as was stipulated on the day of their divorce. She 'cried out to the Jews' for help, and they sat/assembled and issued payments for the girl of 1/2 dirham a day. (3) Yaʿaqov al-Shaʿʿāb sued his in-laws for 3 dinars. (4) Abū Saʿd b. Avraham ha-Levi agrees not to not insult his wife. (Information from Goitein's index cards.)

Contract between Abu al-Ḥasan and Abu al-Ma'ali regarding tax-farming in the town of Bush and its environs. Dated Elul 1460/ August-September 1149. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 607)

Betrothal (erusin) contract. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Location: Fustat. Dating: Probably before 1120 CE. Groom: Abū ʿAlī (Yeḥezqel), the brother of Ḥalfon b. Netanel ha-Levi, who agrees to pay a fine of 15 dinars if Abū ʿAlī should cancel the betrothal.

Legal document. T-S 13J8.2, part of CUL Or.1080 J7, and T-S NS J149 all include versions of the same document, or at least concerning the same case of Surūra bt. Shelomo and her husband Surūr b. Yaʿaqov Ibn al-Jāsūs. See alternate records for description, and see Goitein's index card.

Legal document in which the rabbinical court in Fustat, having to evaluate a workshop for purple making left to an orphan, invites non-Jewish experts to join the inspection. Dated Sivan 1410/ June 1099. (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, pp. 172, 404)

Legal document. Dated: 1452 Seleucid, which is 1140/41 CE. Involves 16 dinars and a partnership in a shop. Signed by [...] ha-Levi ha-Melammed.