Geniza Lab

Legal proceedings. Maʿālī ha-Kohen, the agent of Yosef b. Ṣedaqa he-Ḥaver, appeared before the court and declared that—unless granted explicit permission by the court—he would not charge for the storage space nor the transfer fee for half of the wood which he brings up for the wife of Abū Yaʿaqov known as Ibn Naḥum. This wood is in the house (dār) which is the share of her sister, the wife of Abū l-Faḍāʾil, which she inherited from her father. The name Avraham b. Shemaʿya he-Ḥaver appears at the bottom in the same hand as the document; he may have been the scribe. But this is not a complete document, as it is not dated and there are no other witness signatures.

Legal deed in Judaeo-Arabic of appointing a legal agent.

Court case from Fustat, 15 March 1285. The document involves the arrangements for paying the capitation tax (jaliya) in Alexandria and Fustat.

Testimony that a female slave named Akramiyya who grew up in the house of As'ad the physician (probably As'ad the physician from al-Mahalla who appears in Ibn Abi Usaybi'a's biographical dictionary of physicians) is not of Jewish progeny, but neither she is a mamzeret, foundling etc. Fustat 1217, one of two copies; the other is T-S 13J3.26, PGPID 1110. This one edited by Moshe Yagur, On the back there are other Judaeo-Arabic legal entries, at least one involving debt payments.

Legal document of appointment for a synagogue beadle, in in Judaeo-Arabic. Translation in Goitein, Sidre Hinukh, 188. year: 1095-1159

Bill of divorce (get) from Fustat 156[.] to the count of deeds (somebody wrote in pencil 1563, i.e. 1252, perhaps the date was more visible at that time or he examined the document in ultra violet light). [ ] son of Sar Shalom ha-levi from Damscus divorce Sutayt bt. Tuvya . The get is unsigned.

Legal document in Judaeo-Arabic dated to 1510–29 = 1199–1218. On the other side is a poetical letter in Hebrew responding to a previous letter received.

Register, legal: biofolio of a notebook with legal and communal entries. In the first entry Abu al-Faraj al-Saigh b. Abu Ishaq Ibrahaim al-Maghrebi allows his wife to give thier son 10 shares of a house that belonged to her father. Signed are Ḥalfon ha-kohen b. Elazar and Shemuʾel b. Mevasser ha-Melammed. The year 27 is written and going by the script I assume 1527 is meant, i.e. 1216. In the next entry Barakat b. Munajja testifies that she owes Abu al-rida ha-levi 160 dirhams on top of a previous debt of 134 and a half dirhems. The third entry is a sale of a slave by Abu al-Faraj to Banat b. Yaaqov. On the back are accounts of communal collections.

Legal document in Judaeo-Arabic dated to [50]44 or [50]74. Bunayn from Alexandria is mentioned.

Ketubba. Dated: 12 Ni[san] 1571 Seleucid, which is 1260 CE, under the authority of David I Maimonides. This was not the first marriage of the bride. The husband name was Yaaqov and the delayed marriage gift was 7 dinars. The earnings of the bride is exchanged for her cover, and there is a immersion condition. There is a trustworthiness clause and also a condition regarding the children of the husband from a previous marriage - probably they will be living in their home until they marry. The hand is almost certainly that of ʿImmanuel b. Yeḥiel. Another interesting feature is that the ketubba is not signed and then someone attached a piece of parchment with two signatures: Elʿazar b. Shelomo ha-Levi and Avraham b. Seʿadya.

Ketubba from Fustat, fragment, 1234. Shela b. Yefet marries Ma'ani bt. Moshe - on the back are two lines "an exegesis for half of the book of exodus [...] darosh of the sages blessed be their memory."

Court notebook. Location: Fustat. The tall pages are unusual for court notebooks. Contains 7 entries. Dated: 1532 Seleucid, which is 1220/21 CE. The scribe seems slightly dyslexic (e.g., writes fādiya for fāʾida and ḍamān for ḍāmin). (1) Partnership in a shop. Between [...] Futūḥ and Sulaymān. (2) Lease. Property: Ṭabaqat al-Burj (referring to a tower? or to a dovecote?). Period: 10 years. Lessor: Bū l-Faraj Ibn al-Abzārī. Lessee: Bū l-ʿAlāʾ al-Ṣabbāgh. Rent: 12 dirhams/month. (3) Involves Makārim b. Bū l-Riḍā. Details are difficult to discern; involves a house, an inheritance, and a sale. This one is signed: Ḥalfon b. Saʿīd ha-Kohen; עזראהל(??) b. Yefet ha-Melammed. (4) Difficult to read and crossed out. Maybe about a partial payment of a debt. (5) Betrothal (shiddukhin). Fiance: Bū l-[...]. Fiancee: Mudallala bt. Mufaḍḍal al-Ṣāʾigh. Delayed marriage payment (muʾakhkhar) is 50 dinars. This entry is incomplete and crossed out. (6) Debt contract. Abū l-ʿAlāʾ and Ismāʿīl the tax farmer of Minyat Ghamr acknowledge that they owe Bū Naṣr the brother-in-law of Sayyidnā (probably Avraham Maimonides) 773.5 dirhams. They will repay the debt over a period of 4 months. Apparently they will pay (the verb used is NQD, "assay") the 73.5 dirhams now, to make it a nice round figure. Eliyyahu (b. Zekharya) and Yeḥiel (b. Elyaqim) were the judges present. (7) This entry has been discussed and translated by Moshe Yagur as follows: "On the margins of the leaf is the first paragraph below, mentioning the birth of a mamzeret (lit. “a bastard girl,” referring to a Jew whose lineage is tainted according to rabbinic law). A paragraph clarifying the reason for the newborn’s legal state is given in perpendicular, noting the conversion of her mother. Thus the document serves as an example of some of the social and legal problems that could result from the marriage of a Jewish apostate. In addition, it suggests enduring ties between converts and their former community, given the prospect that the “bastard” daughter might choose to retain her place in the Jewish community. Translation: A daughter was born to the “son of the known one” (ibn yaʿlamū?) from Bint Ṭuwayr al-ʿAshāʾ, and she is a “bastard” (mamzeret). [It happened] in the year 1532 [of the Seleucid era, corresponding to 616–17/1220–21]. And [she is a bastard] because her mother had apostatized while she was married to Efrayim al-Damīrī, and he did not write a bill of divorce for her, and she married Bu ʿAlī “son of the known one” in a Muslim court [lit. “by non-Jewish law”]." (Information from Yagur, "Several Documents from the Cairo Geniza Concerning Conversion to Islam" (2020).) On the odd name Ṭuwayr al-ʿAshāʾ, perhaps "evening moth/butterfly," see the same name in T-S NS J293c from 80 years earlier and BL OR 5566C.9 (recto l. 26) from slightly earlier than that, and see Goitein's index card #19543 where he wonders if it might be a profession related to the evening meal—but it is clear from the identical name appearing in 3 unrelated documents that Ṭuwayr is part of the name.

Legal document. Location: Malīj. Dated: Monday, 11 Tevet 1800 Seleucid, which is 1489 CE. Looks like a monetary transaction regarding real estate. Interesting blessing for the nagid: יזכיהו לסעודת לויתן.

Account, large and late.

Recto: Deed of sale. Rabbanite. In Hebrew. Dated: Tuesday, 14 Elul 5321 AM, which is 1561 CE. A woman named Qamr, the wife of Yosef al-Aḥdīb(?), sells to Doña Esther, the widow of Avraham Tortos (טורטוש), her small qāʿa, the ʿaliyya, and the quwayʿa that serves as a kitchen, all of them located in the Qaraite neighborhood, at the head of the alley facing the well where the saqāʾiyyīn draw their water. The price is 20 gold Venetian ducats. Qamr has received payment in full except for 4 medins. In the continuation, we learn that this is actually a sort of mortgage. Qamr will remain in the house for a period of 12 months for a monthly rent of 12 medins. If she can come up with 20 ducats during that year, Esther will sell her back the house. All this was decided with the consent of Qamr's husband Yosef. There is then a confusing clause which says that it was also decided with the consent of the "aforementioned" Yaʿaqov b. Yosef (no such person was aforementioned) and his wife Esther bt. Doña Qamr (the buyer? the daughter of the seller? both?). Written and signed by Eliyya b. David Ḥabariyya, who also signed T-S AS 145.85, BL OR 5544.11, BL OR 10590.1, and T-S 13J4.17. Probably also in his hand: T-S AS 146.25, BL OR 5561B.13, and T-S 8J8.13. This document was also signed by Natan b. Yiṣḥaq Damūkh(?). This document was edited by Avraham David, but his identification and transcription were mistakenly attached to ENA 2562.1 in FGP. Verso: Another legal document. In Hebrew. Perhaps a draft of a partnership agreement between Seʿadya Lubi(?) b. Ḥalfon and Yiṣḥaq b. Nissim. MCD. ASE.

Folio from a late treatise containing alchemical recipes in Judaeo-Arabic, including for "water of lead" that will dissolve anything. ASE

Responsum of Daniel b. Azarya about a dispute between men named Avraham and Yaʿaqov.

Engagement contract, draft. The scribe repeated a number of lines of the document as well as the names of the bride and groom several times. Two different groom's names are mentioned, suggesting either that the document was intended for scribal practice, or that the scribe confused the Hebrew and Arabic names for the same individual.

The death of Shelomo Lebdi was not only a serious personal blow to his brother, Yosef Lebdi, but it also meant that Yosef could lose half of his property to his nephew, David b. Shelomo, depending on what type of partnership the court will determine to have existed between the two brothers. While I, 20 (Mosseri V 374 1 A3) shows a testimony forward by David, this document shows a testimony in the court of Fustat brought forward by Yosef Lebdi. Sedaqa b. David testifies regarding a rather large shipment (worth about 400 dinars) that Yosef deposited in his hands to be delivered in Tripoli (Libya) in the Maghreb to Shelomo Lebdi or his son David. The fragmentary state of the document prevents a detailed understanding of the events. The document is dated to August 17, 1101 (in the English edition the date is August 19, 1101).

Table of contents of a responsa collection