Geniza Lab

Legal document of release in the hand of Hillel b. Eli. A certain Avraham b. Shelomo Tilimsānī, acting as a custodian (apotropos) releases a certain Joseph b. Amram known as al-Fituri (?) in some commercial transaction. Aharon and Na'aman are also mentioned. Maybe Alexandria. The three fragments do not actually join but they are clearly related to the same case, and perhaps part from the same document.

Legal document of release in the hand of Hillel b. Eli . A certain Avraham b. Shelomo Tiilmisani, acting as a custodian (apotropos) releases a certain Joseph b. Amram known as al-Fituri (?) in some commercial transaction. Aharon and Na'aman are also mentioned. Maybe Alexandria. The three fragments do not actually join but they are clearly related to the same case, and perhaps part from the same document.

Recto: Legal fragment probably in the hand of Efrayim b. Shemarya (whose name also appears three lines from the bottom). Needs examination.

Letter addressed to Abū ʿAlī, probably Yeḥezqel ha-Levi, in Alexandria. What remains from the letter contains greetings to Abu al-Ḥasan, Abu al-Makarim and Sitt Hārūn. The other fragment is from a legal document mentioning a sum of 11 dinars, a slave and a man named Avraham known as Ibn Sandal. The slave has tried to escape several times. Perhaps this is involves a sale of a slave.

Legal document in Hebrew, late. The names mentioned are Avraham talmid and Yosef Sevila

Deed of engagement written on the bottom left part of the document (apparently from the court's legal folder) that contains also a dowry list (not present here). The handwriting is similar to that of Mevorakh bar Natan (Fustat, 1150-1181) but he probably did not write the document. Ashur dates the document to the middle of the 13th Century.

Deed of acknowledgment (iqrār). Fragment (upper part only). In the hand of Ṭoviyya b. ʿEli ha-Kohen (compare, e.g., T-S 10J21.14 + T-S 8J32.9). Avraham b. Musallam acknowledges something concerning the textile merchandise that that Abū ʿAlī al-Ṣāʾigh received from him. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.) ASE

Letter from Khalaf b. Yiṣḥaq to Avraham b. Yiju. Salutation to Avraham b. Yiju and acknowledgment of receipt of his letter. After 1138, c. 1138-1150 (Goitein and Friedman estimation). VMR

Marriage contract between Arye b. Yehudah and Karima bat `Ammar. The latter refused to leave Cairo and live with her husband in Palermo, Sicily, resulting in legal arrangements and restoration of gifts; includes a detailed trousseau. Dated ca. 1080. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 402; 177 and 464 note 85) EMS. (Written bu Hillel b. Eli. AA)

bill of divorce of [...]fia b. Levi on recto. On verso remains of another legal deed, maybe connected to the bill of divorce, signed by Elazar b. Yosef and Avraham [...]

Legal records in the handof Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya. (Information from Goitein's index card)

Left side of inquiry with regard to an inheritance of a quarter of a house. (Information from Goitein's index cards). Written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi (Date: 1100-1138)

Marriage agreement between a Rabbanite husband and a Qaraite wife, with a 30 dinar fine to the poor if one transgresses the religious practices of the other. The groom is called al-Rayyis Abu Ali Yefet ha-Kohen, and the bride is called [Sitt?] Yaman, known as Najiya. On the other side is a legal record in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe involving a marriage or inheritance dispute. Another entry is a list of names and titles of the prominent Bundar family ca. 1120: Bundar prince of the congregations b. yefet, his uncle Avraham prince of the congregations, his broth Yishaq the generous [of the congregations?] and his son Khalaf the precious of the congregations. This list is published in India Book IIb.

Legal query in the hand of Berakhot b. Shemuel with the responsum of Menahem b. Yiṣḥaq. The question deals with a woman who had permitted her husband to give a house belonging to her personally as collateral for a debt. When the husband died without having paid the debt, the judge Menahem b. Yiṣḥaq b. Sasson had no option but to decide that her property was forfeited. This query belongs to a well known case, see Friedman, “The Inheritance of a Man with Two Wives: Two Responsa from the Geniza” (Heb.) Dine Israel 13-14 (1986-88), 245-262. See also Mediterranean Society, III, p. 255)

Legal document with signatures was cut to produce a cheap copy of a literary text - the surviving signatures are [..]riya b. Ḥasan, [...] c. Ḥasan, Daniel b. Yishaq sha'ul. [...] kohwn b. Bundar

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Small slip from the beginning of a document, probably never completed. A certain Maymūn appeared before the court on the 17th of Av. Also mentions [...] b. Dunash ha-Rav.

Deed in Ḥalfon b. Menashshe's hand. Abu Zikri Zekharya b. Sar Shalom declares to Shelomo known as Sulayman who is the representative of the wife of Sedaqa known as Abu al-khayr the silk merchant , both are the sons of Moshe and to their mother ... here the document is torn but it was probably a release or an acknowledgement of debt.

Legal deeds, two, written in Efraim b. Shemarya's difficult hand. The first involves a testimony of a certain Yehoshu'a to a certain Zekharya. The second legal document on the back of the page is hard to read but it seems to be a quittance by the same Yehoshu'a

Legal record, late, written in small square letters, dealing the property of orphans.

Deed (draft?) regarding a family legal dispute involving real estate under lien and trustworthiness. The wife of Ishaq is mentioned.