Geniza Lab

Bifolium from a late Hebrew register of monetary transactions. Every time the date appears it contains a tricky ligature, but it may be 549[.] (?) = 1730s CE. Many names are given throughout. The signatories for respective entries are David Samḥūn, Avraham ha-Levi, Aharon Ḥanūn, and Yosef Beirav. One of the entries is about the betrothal of Yaʿaqov Orta b. Mordekhai and Ruḥama (?) bt. Ḥayyim Mizraḥi. Needs further examination.

Legal document draft of a debt contract ("shtar/שטר," l. 7, 13) recording financial arrangments where Spanish Seville-minted reales "ריאליס שיבילייאנוס" are in use (l.4r). The location of the document's recording may be Dimyat (Damietta) which is denoted (l.2r) with the Aramaic place name "קפוטקייא" (Kapotakia). The next line mentions Avraham Menashshe, a resident of Damietta. In the body of the draft document, just before the middle section is crossed out, the names Shabbetay ha-Kohen and Mordechai Suriano appear (l.7). A reading of the date could be roughly 1834 CE (first third of Cheshvan 5595) yet it appears more likely that the Jewish calendar year/month is Cheshvan 5489 (l.6, 21) or roughly October 1728CE (this dating is closer to the Judeo-Arabic accounts in the same shelfmark and the alphanumerical digit "ה" can be cross-referenced with the with the same ligature, for example, in "השטר" (l.13). Possibly a scribe or Shemuel Rolo himself signs at the bottom of the document and within his signature we find the title "שליח" (l.24-25). The other pages on the recto and verso are filled with neatly organized accounts in Judaeo-Arabic, arranged according to the Islamic calendar and giving many names of Muslims such as Muhammed ʿAbd al-ʿĀtī (l. 5-6r, 28-29r) Mustafa al-Qabānī (l.13-14v). The accounts seem to be dated 26[?] Safar 1143 Hijri on the recto (where the Persianate rendering of the number 4 or ۴ is in use) which converts roughly to September 1730CE. MCD.

Legal document from Fustat/Cairo, dated January 1821 (5581). It seems to be a partnership agreement between various traders active in the early 19th century, including Yaʿaqov ʿAdda, Yosef Shtiwi, Shimʿon Frances, Moshe Yagi (?), Avraham Ḥafīs (?), Moshe Ḥanan, and Moshe Mizraḥī. Signed by many of these same people along with Saʿd Pinto.

Late legal document (fragment only) regarding amounts owed to each other by current or former partners, Moshe Ḥaddād and Moshe b. Yehudah. Someone named Yaʿīsh al-Mannāwī is also mentioned.

Late partnership agreement (incomplete) between Yaʿaqov Ḥassūn and [Yaʿaqov?] Zaytūn.

Recto: Legal document involving a business arrangement between Avraham Yuʿbaṣ and Shabbetay Skandarī and at least one other person. The bottom is missing, along with the date. Verso: On the left are two signatures of Nissim b. Yosef. On the right is a list of many men, some known from other documents ca. 1800 CE (including Shelomo Cesana), along with the names of certain synagogues or schools (? one is "Talmud Torah").

Late legal document in which Avraham Munīr b. Saʿd declares that he has received 25000 מ״ך as an investment from Moshe Kondiote (? קנדיוטי).

Partnership agreement dated November 1739 CE (Heshvan 5500) between Nissim Kaspi b. Moshe and Moshe Kohen b. Yehudah Kohen. Signed by Avraham Castro and Nissim (ha-ẓaʿīr) Kaspi and Moshe Magor[...].

Partnership agreement probably dated 1820/1 CE ([55]81)—but conceivably a century earlier if the half-missing digit is a ת rather than a ק—between Shelomo b. ידע (?) and Shelomo ha-Levi [here there is an unfortunately placed modern sticker] and Moshe ha-Kohen known as Manṣūrī.

Legal document. In Hebrew. Location: Fustat/Cairo. Dated: end of Sivan 5582 AM, which is June 1822 CE. Dissolution of partnership and settling of accounts between Eliyyahu b. Ẓahal and Yaʿaqov ha-Levi עכובס and Mordekhay Kapanton, who were partners in money-lending (sarraflik) and other forms of trade. A certain Khwaja Mikhā'īl is involved. Eliyyahu and Yaʿaqov sign, but not Mordekhay. AIU VII.D.99 and Yevr. II A 1292 are exact replicas of each other. ASE.

Legal declaration from Fustat/Cairo, dated 1802 CE. Several people are named in the opening lines.

Late legal document in Hebrew regarding someone who died and left a widow and orphans, and debts and guardianship.

Legal document dated 1802 CE (Sivan 5562) involving a partnership between Hayyim ha-Levi, Merkado Karo, Avraham ha-Levi, and Pinhas b. Yom Tov Aripol (? אריפול).

Legal document involving a partnership between a large number of the Jewish merchants active in Egypt ca. 1800 CE: Shelomo Cesana, Ḥayyim Cesana, Avraham Cesana in Alexandria; and Merkado Karo and Avraham ha-Levi and Hayyim Nuṣayri (?) and Shimʿon Frances and Khalifa Pinto and Yaʿaqov Bibas and Meʾir ben Naʿim. This appears to be a draft of JRL SERIES L 18. MCD. ASE.

Legal document for authorization for butchering fowl. Dated 1259 CE (1570 Seleucid).

Legal fragment. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Involves [...] b. Yeshuʿa ha-Kohen. Probably a deed of sale, since most of the remaining text is describing the boundaries of a property in Qaṣr al-Shamʿ.

Legal fragment. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. He wrote this quickly, not with his careful handwriting. The text on recto is a formulary or draft of some kind, since it refers to 'pelonit' instead of a particular woman's name. Mentions an agent; a man named Aharon b. Yeshuʿa, who may have given a sum of money to a woman and been released from all claims; and a sum of 26 dinars. Little of the text is preserved on verso, but the name R. Aharon appears.

Recto: Fragment (lower left corner) of a Judaeo-Arabic legal document involving division of money between Abū l-Faḍl, Yaʿaqov, and Abū l-Ḥasan. Verso: Fragment (lower left corner) of a page of piyyutim. Both sides are probably in the handwriting of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi.

Long legal document in clear Hebrew with four signatures, dated 1695 CE. One of the signatures is that of Gavriel Conforte.

A document that has been folded twice. The outer face (pages 1 and 4) contains legal documents relating to business partnerships; a Moshe and a Yosef are named. The innner face (pages 2 and 3) is a long and clearly written legal document drawn up in Alexandria involving business partnerships, dated 1750 CE (Heshvan 5511). The occasion seems to have been the death of R. Shulam, a native of Rhodes who lived in Izmir for many years. His partners included Avraham Arukh and Nissim Provencal, residents of Alexandria, and Shem Tov al-Hadif (?) who is from Rhodes but presently in Alexandria. It seems the partners are now agreeing to transfer the partnership into the name of Yiṣḥaq Nemias (? נעמיאס) and Yosef Shulam. There are another 50 lines or so: merits further examination.