Geniza Lab

Legal agreement between spouses. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Location: Fustat. The husband of Sitt al-Bahāʾ takes her to court to revisit the conditions under which he may take a second wife, because his livelihood forces him to stay in Cairo sometimes.

Small fragement from a legal document in Judaeo-Arabic. "...yaktub al-waṣiyya al-manfūdh... nataqābal ʿalayhimā... li-taqif ʿalā..." On verso it says "emet emet emet."

Torn court record, probably a bill of release, between Abu Yaqub Yosef al-Hariri and Abi al-Barakat Yehoshu'a regarding a missing shipment of silk. A reference is made to שר השרים ונגיד הנגידים, probably Moshe b. Mevurakh (Date: 1112-1127). AA

Minute fragment from a legal document, probably written by Avraham b. Nathan Av, beginning of the 12th century. AA

Drafts of a testimony to the effect that Yeshuʿa b. Shelomo ha-Levi is a genuine Levi and that he used to be called up to the reading of the Torah in Jerusalem when no other local or foreign Levi was present. T-S NS J66 (mainly Hebrew) and T-S 8.161 (mainly Judaeo-Arabic) are versions of the same document. Location: Fustat. Dating: 1229 CE (based on the other version). This version contains no signatures. Underneath the draft, at 90 degrees, it says in Judaeo-Arabic, "Hey you, who are my master, sign this testimony. And peace. Shelomo wrote this." (Shelomo b. Eliyyahu) On verso (not transcribed) there are additional versions: two lines in Hebrew and one line in Judaeo-Arabic. And at 90 degrees, there are cryptic notes in Arabic script. In huge letters at the top, it says "yā sīdī" (same as the Judaeo-Arabic note on recto). Underneath, there is a difficult text block that includes a reference to sending a messenger. (Information in part from Goitein's index card). VMR. ASE.

Two torn fragments of a legal document between Abu al-Hasan Mevurakh and the heirs of Abu al-Faraj. Written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi who signed it together with Nathan Hakohen b. Shelomo and Avraham b. Shema'aya. Under the jurisdiction of Masliah Gaon (Date: 1127-1138). AA

Legal document containing a request for a poor blind man and in the continuation, mentions a dispute with someone who had traveled between Byzantium and the West, who was in possession of merchandise belonging to the writer and who had a house taken over by or inhabited by "Ghuzz" (the Seljuk Turks). EMS

Court record. Dating: Perhaps 10th or 11th century. Rayyisa bt. Yosef Bīmī, the wife of Yeshuʿa b. Nissim, vehemently accuses ("mustaghītha mutaẓallima mustaʿdiya ʿalā") Seʿadya b. Binyamin Khaybarī of retaining 4 dinars that are due to her. Her husband acted as her agent. All this is written out twice. On verso there is a Talmudic excerpt in the same hand. (Information from Goitein's index card and Med Soc II, 611n25.)

Legal document. This fragment describes a partnership in a dyeing business between Efrayim b. Yaaqov al-Mawṣilī and Abraham b. Hiba al-Dimashqī. Efrayim, the owner of the shop, invests slightly more capital (nineteen dinars to Avraham’s seventeen dinars and five qirāṭs). Abraham is to manage the shop, and he is granted one dirham each day from partnership funds for his maintenance/ Efrayim seems to be granted a similar amount. Profits and losses are to be divided equally, though rental income from the shop itself goes to Efrayim, as he is the owner of the shop. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 66)

Legal testimony. Stating that Yeshuʿa Peʾer ha-Qahal and Bunyām b. Sibāʿ and his mother and Ḥāzim appeared and fought over 1.5 dinars that Sibāʿ owed to Ḥāzim, with Yeshuʿa attempting to mediate. They reached a settlement that Bunyām would pay 30 dirhams and his mother would pay 10 dirhams over a period of 4 months. The date might be 1525 Seleucid, but this is written in an unusual way, and 400 is crossed out and replaced with 500. If 1525 is correct, then the document is dated 1213/14 CE. On verso there are blessings for the caliph in Judaeo-Arabic, presumably practice for a petition (cf. Moss. IV,56.1 and T-S NS 110.26).

Legal document. Order of payment issued by “your friend Abū al-Faraj" to the elder Abū l-ʿAlāʾ, instructing him to hand over 122 dirhams to the unnamed bearer. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. Concerning a release granted by a creditor to Abū l-Mufaḍḍal, dated [14]36 Seleucid, which is 1124/25 CE. Information from Shivtiel/Nissen catalog.

Marriage contract (ketubba). Qaraite. Beautifully written. Fragment, containing mostly the trousseau. Line 1 refers to a son from the woman’s first marriage. The sum of 463 dinars is mentioned in lines twelve to thirteen, which was brought in by her, but belonged to “the orphan.” (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Instruction to Abū l-Bishr to deliver to ʿOvadya b. Shelomo ha-Kohen all that had been deposited with the court for him, after his 3 elder brothers had reclaimed their rights. A sum of 19 1/4 dinars after the boy had received maintenance. Location: Fustat. Dated: Monday, 21 Sivan 1410 Seleucid, which is June 1099 CE. Unsigned. "When the orphan came of age, the trustee was ordered to deliver to him the balance of the estate. This balance was substantiated by the acknowledgment of the receipt of the money deposited with the judge as well as by the riqāʿ (Ar.) bet din (Heb.), the orders of payment, issued by the court for the cost of the orphan's food and clothing. (Goitein, Med Soc III, p. 299 note 102.)

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic and Aramaic. Involves Abū l-Surūr Peraḥya and Abū Farjūn. Needs examination for content.

Legal fragment. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Tevet 1438 Seleucid, which is 1126/27 CE. ʿEli ha-Ḥaver and Ada(?) ha-Zaqen b. Kawkab ha-Zaqen give a testimony regarding what they previously witnessed of the deathbed will of Abū l-Maʿālī Shelomo al-Dhahabī.

Legal document. In Arabic. Referring to a dispute over a power of attorney. The agent is Ṣāliḥ b. Yūsuf al-Yahūdī al-Ṣiqillī. Dated: 7 Rajab 495 AH, which is 27 April 1102 CE. On verso there is a Hebrew literary text. (Information from Shivtiel/Niessen catalog.) T-S Ar.41.65 is a power of attorney for the same Ṣāliḥ b. Yūsuf.

Minute fragment from a ketubah written by Yosef b. Shelomo Halevi (date: ca. 1170-1210)

Ketubba (marriage contract). Location: Rashīd. Dating: Late, perhaps 18th or 19th century. Very damaged. With an ornate, colorful border. Witnesses include Aharon Ṭawīl, whose name, perplexingly, appears twice. Perhaps there are two documents in two columns? Needs further examination. NB: There may be a Goitein index card that has been misplaced.

Legal document. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Location: Fustat. Dated: last decade of Iyyar 1431 Seleucid, which is April 1120 CE. Settlement between Amat al-Qādir Sitt al-Gharb, the wife of Abū l-Faḍāʾil Yosef, and her sister Qurrat al-ʿAyn Sitt al-Milāḥ, the widow of Abū Yaʿqūb known as Ibn Naḥum. The two women are the daughters of Abū l-Faḍl Shela b. Shelomo Ibn al-Qaṭāʾif. The legal case concerns the inheritance from both their father and mother. Moss. VII,116.3 concerns some of the same people. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.) On verso there is Hebrew poetry.