Geniza Lab

Ketubba, probably. Small fragment. Very damaged. Reused for an alphabetical (divination?) table on verso.

Ketubba (marriage contract) by proxy form from the siddur of Shelomo b. Natan of Sijilmasa, 12th century. NB: The shelfmark has changed, and it will take some work to find the current one.

Legal fragment. Damaged and in need of conservation. There is probably additional text (including the year) hidden in the middle where the paper has accordioned. The document involves Abū l-Munā. The witnesses include Hiba b. Naṭira and ʿAllūn b. Khalaf.

Fragment of a double query, presented to Avraham Maimonides about (1) a man who keeps a female slave—not for service—although he was married and a father of children. (2) a man who had a Christian female slave accept Judaism but lived with her out of wedlock. This seems to be another version of the same two questions contained in T-S 10K8.13. Information from Goitein's note card.

Legal document. Dating: probably ca.1185. This is the only known document that refers to the majlis of Maimonides. It is a draft of a statement (tiqrār) to be signed by Maimonides, the Judges and the Elders, to the effect that Avraham b. Yaḥyā ha-Levi, called al-Najīb, should get the payment of his capitation tax (jizya) to the amount of 1 2/3 dinars out of the revenue from the rents of a "block" (rabʿ) which was a pious foundation earmarked for poor people. Thus Avraham's capitation tax will be paid from the revenue of the qodesh, not as charity, but as compensation for fees which he once renounced for supervising repairs in the funduq. The text stresses the great benefit which would accrue from his continued presence at such repairs. This payment was to be in the place of a daily salary of 1/2 dirham to which al-Najīb was entitled for his supervision of the building of the Funduq ('hotel' or caravenserai), erected by Abū ʿImran Beḥir ha-Kohanim, certainly also a public building. The remuneration of 1/2 dirham normally was paid out of a daily emolument of 2 dirhams which the Wakīl or administrator of the building received. The statement is not signed, perhaps because Maimonides objected to such a vague agreement made in respect of the spending of money destined for the poor. (Information from Goitein's notes and from Gil, Documents, pp. 323 #77.) On verso there are 6 lines of verses in Arabic script.

Letter or petition. In Arabic script.

Debt contract. In Judaeo-Arabic. Location: Minyat Ghamr. Dated: middle third of Shevat 1543 Seleucid, which is January 1232 CE. Nuṣayr b. Bāqī al-Kohen owes 140 dirhams to Moshe the judge. If he does not repay the debt by Shavuʿot, it seems that the debt will be acquired by the qodesh of the synagogue of Minyat Ghamr. Witnesses: Yehoshuaʿ b. Seʿadya ha-Levi; Shelomo b. Yishmaʿel ha-Kohen; Elʿazar b. Berakhot.

Header of a ketubba, with large colorful letters and fleurs-de-lis and micrography.

Header of a ketubba, probably. With fleurs-de-lis. Dating: Likely 12th century. The hand looks familiar.

Betrothal (qiddushin) contract, with an elaborate floral border. Location: Salonica. Dated: Monday, 2 Ṭevet 5590 AM, which is 28 December 1829 CE. Groom: Vilaysid (? וילייסיד) b. Ḥayyim Ṣevi. Bride: Rayna bt. Natan Ṣevi. Needs further examination. Verso contains a similarly elaborate document, which appears to be the prenuptial agreement. The currency used in both documents is לב׳ נק׳, presumably a kind of levanim (akçe).

Testimony in Arabic script. Fragment (top cut off). Dated: first third of Jumādā I 528 AH, which is 1134 CE. The bottom is divided into two columns, each with its own witness statement. On verso there is a column of script on the right completely blacked out (appears to be Hebrew script, but this is not certain). Mentions several people by name, including the broker in Dār al-Tuffāḥ (line 3). Needs further examination.

Legal (or state?) document in Arabic script. Rental contract for a piece of land on the west shore of the Nile by two Christians (= shares) from a Muslim man for a period of one year. Dated: 19 Ramadan 496 AH, which is 26 June 1103 CE. (Information from Tamer el-Leithy.)

Legal document. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. The first few lines and the last few lines are missing. Somebody forfeits their right to the 1/2 of the big dār located off of al-Darb al-Jadīd from the inheritance of his or her father, it seems leaving the entire house under the control of the other heirs. The document is almost entirely legalese, to the effect that this is a final and irreversible agreement. (Note that DK 317 and DK 318 are two different shelfmarks for the same fragment.)

Legal document in Judaeo-Arabic. Draft, with extensive corrections. This document is long, rich, and damaged. Dating: Perhaps c.1100, based on the appearance of Yiṣḥaq al-Nafūsī; but see the identification tab on FGP for further possible identifications of other people mentioned. Recto is a declaration/testimony in the first person. It opens with a reference to a group of captives, perhaps in Tyre (line 3), who managed to redeem themselves. The narrator donated 20 dinars, and the freed captives were able to travel to Fustat. The original text and the corrected text contain slightly divergent stories, but it seems the narrator gave a second payment of 15 dinars and a third payment of 12 dinars to a specific man (likely Yaʿaqov) and to his mother (the scribe drew up the document with few references to the mother, then subsequently added her into the story). At this point, Sar Shalom b. Ḥiyya and Yiṣḥaq al-Nafūsī arrived in Fustat and reported that Yaʿaqov was thriving and enjoyed the favor of (had 'ittiṣāl' with) Yehosef Nagid ha-Gola. A shipment of valuable Socotrene aloe now enters the story—Yaʿaqov might have asked the narrator to sell it and send him the money because his mother needed it. The narrator might have objected, citing some terms of the 'tadhkira' that he had with him. The story becomes difficult to follow around here -- it is possible that Yaʿaqov has been embezzling the funds that everyone (the narrator, Yaḥyā ha-Zaqen al-Fāsī b. Avraham, and Yīṣḥaq al-Nafūsī b. Ḥalfon) has been sending him to support his mother (a total of 47 dinars), and now they are demanding confirmation that she has received the money and a release from further obligations. There is a note underneath in smaller text that may contain the findings of the judicial investigation: how much money Yaʿaqov's mother received, how much money Yaʿaqov still owes her, and a confirmation that he has handed over the rest. Someone (Yaʿaqov?) may be called al-Muqaddasī here. The portion of the document on verso is the confirmation that Yaʿaqov's mother has now received all the money, and therefore all parties are now released from further obligations. This reading is tentative, and the document awaits transcription and more definitive study. ASE

Legal document in Arabic script. Perhaps an iqrār made by Aḥmad b. Ismāʿīl b. ʿAbs(?). Mentions Cairo in line 6 and may also mention zakāt earlier in the same line. Needs examination.

Order of payment (or bill?) in Arabic script. Abū l-Khayr al-ʿAṭṭār is to pay 80 dirhams out of the price of the drugs/perfume. The scribe had some trouble with the pen and ink: the script deteriorates in the fourth line, a fifth line (yadfaʿ al-shay...) was started and abandoned, and there are scribbles and smudges and several fingerprints.

Karaite marriage contract. Fragment. Mentions a mill and the elder ʿAmram. Witnesses: Mevorakh b. Yiṣḥaq and [...] b. Ḥayyim.

Legal documents in Judaeo-Arabic. Perhaps from a court register. It looks like there are at least 4 different acknowledgments of debt. The dates are missing in some of the entries, but they all seem to be dated between Adar I and Adar II of 1459 Seleucid, which is 1148 CE. (1) Bū Saʿd will repay 0.5 dinars per month. (2) The brother-in-law of Ibn al-Shadīqī(?) owes 5 dinars + 1/3 dinar + 1/2 qirat. (3) Yiṣḥaq al-Maghribī owes the nephew of Abū Naṣr 10 (or 30?) dirhams. He will repay 3 dirhams a week. (4) The witnesses and the son of the cantor testify that Ibn al-Amshāṭī owes a certain amount. This entry appears to be quite long and involved, but is difficult to read due to the imprint of other text on top of it. The same fragment also contains a philosophical commentary on Genesis (same side as the legal documents) and a literary text on legal procedure (other side).

One folio cut widthwise into two halves. Written by various Yemenite hands. As 3\1 One side (ab) of the folio, slightly missing from one edge. Part a: A short legal(?) document about the high price of grains in Ṣanʿāʾ. Deals particularly with the astrological causes of the famine in the year 194[.] Seleucid, which corresponds to a year in the range 1628–38 CE. Part b: Under the Title "מחזור ..", Jewish calendar prototypes: years coded מש"ה; הש"א. In a different hand, larger characters. AS 3\2 One side (cd) of the folio, probably its primary usage. A Commentary on an Unknown Talmudic Treatise on the Laws of Prohibited Marriage Originally two columns, one the subject and the other the commentary, each written by a different hand. The full width of the commentary column, and half of the subject column, are extant, missing from the bottom. (DK CATALOGUE)

Legal document (shetar) mentioning a partnership and a certain Berakhot ha-Kohen. Dating: Early 12th century. The deed was written in two copies. Signatories: Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuʾel ha-Sefaradi (probably the scribe), Yosef b. Saʿadya and Avraham b. Shemaʿya descendant of Shemaʿyahu Gaon