Geniza Lab

Legal document in Arabic script. Dating: 16th c?

ENA 3960.6–10 are five distinct but related Mamlūk-era legal documents in Arabic script, all dated 909 H (1503/04 CE), and involving the same people (e.g., Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad b. al-Khwājā Yūsuf b. al-Ḥājj ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Tājir al-Saffār(?) al-Ḥalabī) and the same witnesses (Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Qādir b. [...] and Ismāʿīl [...]). This document is a deed of sale pertaining to 66 medins (nuṣf) for 20 red and yellow sufras. The genre of the sale document is an iqrār, i.e., an acknowledgment which is also a sub-genre of Islamic legal manuals (shurūṭ al-fiqh). It is an iqrār (acknowledgment) of ghubn (defect) and barāʾa, meaning that the buyer acknowledges and accepts any (possible) defects in the object of sale (ghubn) and the seller is ‘innocent’ (hence barāʾa) of any allegation of defect, or effective defect, in the object. (For reference, see Asyuṭī, Jawāhir al-Ūqūd). The style of mentioning the price of the object of sale and its half is a typical fashion of indicating prices in a sale deed to avoid any errors. The document is dated 14th Rabīʿ al-Awwal 909 H/23rd September 1503 CE.

ENA 3960.6–10 are five distinct but related legal acknowledgments (iqrārs) in Arabic script, all dated 909 AH (1503/04 CE), and involving the same people (e.g., Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad b. al-Khwājā Yūsuf b. al-Ḥājj ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Tājir al-Saffār(?) al-Ḥalabī) and the same witnesses (Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Qādir b. [...] and Ismāʿīl [...]). Each of them needs further examination.

ENA 3960.6–10 are five distinct but related Mamlūk-era legal documents in Arabic script, all dated 909 H (1503/04 CE), and involving the same people (e.g., Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad b. al-Khwājā Yūsuf b. al-Ḥājj ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Tājir al-Saffār(?) al-Ḥalabī) and the same witnesses (Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Qādir b. [...] and Ismāʿīl [...]). This document is a deed of sale pertaining to 6 dinars and 8 medins for 10 Aleppan shaylas. The genre of the sale document is an iqrār, i.e., an acknowledgment which is also a sub-genre of Islamic legal manuals (shurūṭ al-fiqh). It is an iqrār (acknowledgment) of ghubn (defect) and barāʾa, meaning that the buyer acknowledges and accepts any (possible) defects in the object of sale (ghubn) and the seller is ‘innocent’ (hence barāʾa) of any allegation of defect, or effective defect, in the object. (For reference, see Asyuṭī, Jawāhir al-Ūqūd). The style of mentioning the price of the object of sale and its half is a typical fashion of indicating prices in a sale deed to avoid any errors. The document is dated Rabīʿ al-Ākhar 909 H/September 1503 CE.

ENA 3960.6–10 are five distinct but related Mamlūk-era legal documents in Arabic script, all dated 909 H (1503/04 CE), and involving the same people (e.g., Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad b. al-Khwājā Yūsuf b. al-Ḥājj ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Tājir al-Saffār(?) al-Ḥalabī) and the same witnesses (Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Qādir b. [...] and Ismāʿīl [...]). The document is a deed of sale pertaining to 15 black mayzars and 30 sufras for 14 dinars. The genre of the sale document is an iqrār, i.e., an acknowledgement which is also a sub-genre of with Islamic legal manuals (shurūṭ al-fiqh). It is an iqrār (acknowledgement) of ghubn (defect) and barāʾa, meaning that the buyer acknowledges and accepts any (possible) defects in the object of sale (ghubn) and the seller is ‘innocent’ (hence barāʾa) of any allegation of defect, or effective defect, in the object. (For reference, see Asyuṭī, Jawāhir al-Ūqūd). The style of mentioning the price of the object of sale and its half is a typical fashion of indicating prices in a sale deed to avoid any errors. The document is dated 20th Rabīʿ al-Awwal 909 H/21st September 1503 CE.

Arabic script (VMR)

Bottom of a legal document in Arabic script, four and a half wide lines on paper with 3 final signatures, each in the shape of a cartouche. Dating: Probably Ottoman-era. A transaction of 4,000 Egyptian medins (half-dirhams) is mentioned. Needs examination for content.

Deed of acknowledgment (iqrār). In Arabic script. Made by Q[...] b. Mūsā al-[...], "one of the captains of the victorious fleets" (aḥad quwwād al-asāṭīl al-manṣūra). It seems that he owes 9 dinars to Mūsā b. Abū l-Faraj. Needs examination.

Document in Arabic script. In some ways it is formatted and reads like a letter, but all of the content has to do with legal matters. Mentions names such as Abū l-Majd and Abū ʿAlī. Needs examination.

Fragment of a legal document in Arabic script, with an addendum on the back concerning the same case. There are also notes in the margin in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. Needs examination for content and dating (looks Fatimid).

Legal document in Arabic script, central portion of either a contract or a deed of sale. Dating: Likely Mamluk or Ottoman era. The name of the one of the parties is al-Ḥājj ʿAbd al-Karīm and the amount mentioned is 30,000 dirhams. Needs examination.

11th-century legal documents (one document on recto and a later document on verso), contracts, or deeds of sale mentioning fuṣūl intiqāl with signatures of witnesses at the bottom. Names and signatures also follow on the verso which seems a later document. One of the signatures on the recto is dated 17th Rabīʿ al-Ākhar 433 H/19th December 1041.

Deed of sale, probably. In Arabic script. Large. Dating: Mamluk-era? Lists the borders of a property. Mentions names such as Fāṭima (the buyer?) and the two sellers ʿĀbidīn b. Ibrāhīm al-Khawlī and Aḥmad b. [...] b. Sālim al-Khawlī. Someone is acting on behalf of their minor children (including Suwaylim and Ṣāliḥa). Needs further examination.

Deed of lease for an apartment (ṭabaqa). In Arabic script. Dated: 25 Ṣafar 919 AH = 2 May 1513 CE. Lessee: Manṣūr b. Najīb (b.) Manṣur. Also mentions another merchant Hibatallāh b. Mufaḍḍal. Needs further examination.

One side: Receipt for rent. Bū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf paid Maḥfūẓ 6 dirhams. The other side: Fragmentary note mentioning sugarcane and silk (yaḥtāj ilā firqat?... fī qaṣab wa-ḥarīr).

Probably an order for something addressed to Bū l-Fakhr. In Arabic script. Needs further examination.

Deed of lease in Arabic script. Fragment (upper left corner). Dating: Probably Mamluk-era. Lessee: ʿAlī b. Yūsuf b. ʿAlī al-Shawwāʾ. Lessor: al-faqīr ilā llāh taʿālā [...] b. Niʿmat (or Nūr?) al-Dīn ʿAlī b. Shams al-Dīn. Needs further examination.

Order for 5 raṭls of something. In Arabic script. On recto there is a list of names in Arabic script with Greek/Coptic numerals.

Receipt or order of some kind. In Arabic script. On verso may mention the receipt of banana leaves (wusūl waraq al-mawz)? Needs examination.

A few words in Judaeo-Arabic: "The copy of the great excommunication (ḥerem gadol) which is said...." On verso Hebrew alphabet jottings and a couple Arabic words.