Geniza Lab

Legal document from Fustat/Cairo, dated May 1722 (20 Iyyar 5482). It seems that Shemuel Laros (?) declares that a certain Raḥel does not owe him anything any more.

Legal document from Fustat/Cairo, dated either February or March of 1810 (Adar I or II of 5570), in which Moshe Shtiwi acknowledges an investment of 15,000 מכ from Merkadah bt. Yaʿaqov. There are two additional notes on verso from 1811 and 1812 CE respectively.

Legal document from Fustat/Cairo, dated 1817 CE (end of Heshvan 5578) in which David Dayyan declares something (acknowledging an investment?).

Two orders of payment in Arabic script, and perhaps a remnant of a third. The first one: yadfaʿ al-shaykh al-ajall li-muwaṣṣilihā dīnārayn wa-nuṣr wa-thumn.

Fragment of a legal document in which a wife appoints her husband Avraham as her legal representative.

Legal document with testimony of Farah b. Yusuf Banuqa regarding shipments to Qayrawan, which were received by Barhun b. Moshe Tahirti.

Legal record, or outline for drawing up a deed of sale. Dated: Sunday, 26 Ṭevet 1537 Seleucid, which is 28 December 1225 CE. Bū Manṣūr and Abū l-Ḥasan the sons of Hillel al-Mūrid sold to Yosef and ʿAfīf the sons of Futūḥ Ibn al-[...] an entire house belonging to them in Cairo on Darb al-Mugharbilīn ("the street of the sifters"). 2/3 of the house had belonged to Abū Manṣūr and 1/3 to Abū l-Ḥasan. The price was 120 dinars. At the bottom of recto and on verso there are (older) accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. (Information in part from Goitein's index card)

Sale of a house, 1254.

Recto: The upper part of a legal testimony. Aharon ha-Zaqen b. Yosef ha-Mumḥeh reports that Abū l-Munā b. Ṣadaqah al-Jūjarī was renting a drug store (or a portion of the building?) from Aharon, but was unable to pay rent, and in fact was thrown in prison because of this. Later, Abu l-Munā fled from al-Maḥallah. Aharon has been pursuing him to try to force him to pay his debts. Verso: Appears to be a literary work in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic.

Prenuptial agreement in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi. Join by Amir Ashur. Fragment A (CUL Or.1081 J34) contains 18 lines and fragment B (ENA 4011.14) contains 9 lines; fragment B connects with fragment A in line 17. The man is named Menashshe. The woman is named Banāt bt. Shelomo, aka Sitt al-ʿItra—maybe identical with the widow in ENA 2558.4. Ashur posits that the deed was written before 1127, the year Masliah ha-Kohen entered office and the word reshut begun to appear in such deeds. Lines 11-12 set a date for the marriage, meaning the deed was written prior to the wedding day. The agreement is presented in the first person reducing the probability that it is a betrothal agreement. The fact that the document refers to the bride as 'mamlukatuhu' (his betrothed or his fiancee; fiancee is more probable) shows that the agreement was made after the engagement took place. It is possible that during the engagement no agreement was written or that the agreement was not comprehensive and therefore this agreement was written. Despite the fact that the manuscript is incomplete it is probable that the bride represented herself, despite the fact that her father was alive: the groom testifies that he handed over to the bride the money directly. Moreover, there is no mention of a representative of the bride. The document has not been published or mentioned elsewhere.

Legal document. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Fragment (upper left corner). Dating: Early 12th century. Kali bt. Yisrael (קאלי בת ישראל) of Crete (her name means "beautiful" in Greek) gives a power of attorney to her husband Moshe to sell a building belonging to her deceased brother Shemuel for 30 dinars. The building is located on "Milk Street" (Zuqāq al-Laban) running between the Palestinian and Iraqi synagogues in Fustat. (Information from Goitein’s index card.)

Partnership contract. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dating: Mentions 1428 Seleucid, which is 1116/17 CE (but this is not necessarily the date of the document). Fragment of agreement between three individuals, in which the agent is allowed to do business in the Egyptian Rīf (countryside), in Damietta, in Tinnīs, and in Alexandria—but nowhere else. The agent is Shela ha-Levi, and the investors are Netanel and Shelomo. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

The first line of a legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. "That which that took place before us, we the two permanent judges in Fustat Miṣrayim, and those who are undersigned, that it was when the Creator appointed for Seʿadyah. . . ."

Verso: Legal record that Abū l-Surūr b. Ghanya(?) remarried his divorced wife Maʿānī bt. Karīm al-Aqraʿ ha-Levi. Dated: Wednesday night, 29 Tishrei 1541 Seleucid, which is 18 September 1229 CE. There is documentation of the payments returned to her as originally set down in her ketubba. Witnessed by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. On the margin a notation: the remarriage took place without immersion (ṭevila) for menstrual purity. Goitein speculates that she might have been post-menopausal. Moss. VII,56 is her bill of divorce from 8 months earlier. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Verso: Order of payment by Abū Zikrī Kohen. Abū l-Ḥasan al-Hod should give the bearer 3 ounces of lemon-rose syrup and an ounce of chewy candy (ʿaqīd).

Probably a legal formulary for drawing up a will.

Trousseau list. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe? Fiancé: Seʿadya b. [Avraham]. Fiancée: Jawhara bt. Seʿ[adya known as Abū l-Yumn Ibn al-Baṣal]. This is the same couple whose divorce proceedings are detailed in CUL Or.1080 J141. Jawhara’s marriage register totals an impressive sum of more than 500 dinars, and her delayed payment was seventy dinars. (Information from Goitein’s index card.)

Legal testimony. In Judaeo-Arabic. Gives a very detailed report of a conflict that took place in the synagogue on the 9th of Av. Metions people such as al-Kohen al-Nā'ib; Yehoṣadaq ha-Kohen; an elder who is blind (sagi nahor); Ibn Yaḥyā; Wāli l-Ḥarb; R. Ṣadaqa; and a Nasi. Needs examination.

Deed of sale in Judaeo-Arabic. Small fragment, containing text written at a strange angle; perhaps this came from the margin of the original document. This portion is describing the surroundings of a property and mentions Ḥalfon the father of the buyer.

Bill of divorce. Scribed and signed by: Aharon ha-Mumḥe b. Efrayim. Also signed by: Avraham b. Shabbetay.