Geniza Lab

Legal document in which Khaluf b. Hayyim agrees that Ezra b. Yosef will pay him every month half a dinar of a debt of one dinar and seven qirat. Dated 1339/1027. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Legal document. Apprenticeship agreement. Dated: Thursday, 25 Tishri 1339 (September 1027). Location: Fustat. Written in the hand of Yefet b. David. Bishr b. Efrayim apprentices his son Yosef to the weaver Barhūn b. Yiḥye for a period of four months, for which Yosef is to be paid 15 dirhams a month. By the end of this period, Yosef should have gained competence in working the loom; if not, the apprenticeship is to be renewed for an additional four months and his wage is to be raised to that of an ordinary worker. Barhūn promises to feed Yosef for the entire period, subtracting the cost of maintenance from his wages. He also promises that Yosef will learn the craft. Yosef must have been quite young since it is his father rather than he who makes the contract, but the parties clearly thought that Yosef’s acceptance and understanding of the terms of the contract to have been important, because the contract's conditions were read to him and he agreed with them. The agreement was executed in the court at the synagogue of the Palestinians and signed by Yefet b. David and Shelomo b. Ḥakīm. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 71-73)

Recto: Fragment of a large ketubba in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. "The primary purpose of providing a woman with real estate was the creation for her of enduring economic security, which would make her financially independent. This is self-evident in the numerous cases in which a woman possessed more than one piece of property. For example, when a widow (or, less likely, divorcee, l. 10) brings into the marriage, besides a valuable bridal outfit, 'an entire large house in the Fortress of the Candles' (l. 7), another 'large house in the Grand Bazaar opposite the Funduq' (l. 9), and quarter of a house somewhere else (where, not preserved)." Med Soc, III, 326. Verso: Small fragment of a legal document, also in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe, written on the back of the ketubba, dealing with money which was not included in an inheritance.

Deed, commercial, attesting to Alexandria's importance in international trade. The document mentions traders from Venice and Constantinople, as well as Sicilian coins. Apparently the deed is from the beginning of the twelfth century, to judge by the names, which appear in documents from the circle of Nahray b. Nissim. The document also contains an important report on a dispute between people from the Maghrib and local Alexandrians, headed by the Alexandrian Ben Nahum family. (Information from Frenkel. See also Goitein, Med. Soc. 3:159)

Notes from a lesson given by Maimonides. There is a fingerprint. See analysis and edition in Friedman, "Notes by a Disciple in Maimonides' Academy Pertaining to Beliefs and Concepts and Halakha" [Hebrew], Tarbiz (1993), p. 570f.

Legal document. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Involving Abū Saʿīd Makhlūf ('al-Ne'eman') and Moshe ha-Zaqen and ʿAmram ha-Zaqen.

Legal document. Partnership agreement. Dated: 1248-1249. Location: Fustat. This document describes a partnership in a sugar-factory. It's likely the document is a draft because it lacks the signatures of witnesses, and because it uses “So-and-So” ("Pl[oni] ben Pl[oni]") in place of the partners’ names throughout. However, the level of detail which is included suggests that this was not simply the page out of a formulary work. The partnership may have been an apprenticeship since only one of the partners is described as bringing assets to the partnership, the distribution of profits is not even between the partners but rather grants one partner two-thirds of the profit despite the fact that both partners are active in trading, and the partnership itself is to last “a number of years”. Lines 14-15 read “And if So-and-So requests [this] of us, we will affix our signature”, suggesting that perhaps sometimes partnership agreements were formed without witnesse. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 85)

Ketubba. Early. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Court record. Dated: Tammuz 1538 Seleucid, which is July 1227 CE. In which the son of one of two sisters whose father, Bū Mansur b. Abū l-Majd, had died stood surety for his mother who, having received her share, would not make any additional claims against any relative, either in a Muslim or a Jewish court. If the mother should claim anything, all losses caused to the other parties would be borne by her son. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 287, 491.) ENA NS 21.18 and T-S 8J6.6 + T-S 10J4.4 are related to the same case.

In this incompletely preserved contract, Yosef Lebdi provided merchandise worth 460 dinars with which the active partner Khalluf would trade. Lebdi will receive three-quarters of the profits and Khalluf one quarter. The contract is described as mudarabat al-tujjar, a merchants' commenda, which normally provides for a division of two-thirds and one third of the profit. Here the active partner did not make an investment on his side and so his share in the profits was lower.

Legal document draft leaving the date blank, written by Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Talmid. On verso part of a rough draft record of testimony by Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq Ha-Talmid. Contains the trustee stipulation for a woman, and the end of the stipulation regarding the wife's earnings. The husband is taking upon himslef not to marry another wife, nor to act violently against his wife. Written by Avraham b. Aharon ha-mumhe.

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe (Date: 1100-1138). Fragment (upper right corner). In which Ṣedaqa ha-Meshorer ('the singer/poet') makes a declaration in favor of [...] b. Shemuel ha-Levi. Ṣedaqa ha-Meshorer is presumably Ṣedaqa b. Ṣemaḥ known from documents such as T-S 8.131 and Bodl. MS heb. d 66/7. No details of the present case are preserved.

Commercial letter, partly in Judaeo-Persian, partly in Arabic script. Well-preserved and clearly written; this is the right-half of the document. Lines 1, 15, 16, 18, and 21-24 on recto are in Arabic script, as are lines 19-31 on verso. Line 3 of recto mentions סנג מצר. The city of Shūshtar, in Iran, is mentioned twice: in line 8 of recto and in line 6 of verso. (Information from Goitein’s index card.) The letter is labeled "L12" in Shaul Shaked's (unpublished) classification of Early Judeo-Persian texts. OH

Legal document, probably. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Names [...] b. Efrayim; Yiṣḥaq ha-Zaqen ha-Nikhbad; Isḥāq al-Nafūsī. Also Moshe ha-Nagid Sar ha-Sarim and a certain Dā'ūd. The former is probably Moshe b. Mevorakh (dates: 1112 to ca. 1126 CE).

Lower fragment: Letter. In Hebrew. Late. Only the address is preserved: to 'my brother' Yehoshuaʿ Zam[...].

Recto: Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. Regarding division of a property; mentions Seʿadya, Maṣliaḥ and his brother, and ends with the phrase, "my wife is ne'emenet." Verso: A few words in Arabic script from the end of a much larger document.

Legal formulary. Bifolium. One of the entries is headed, "The copy of the purchase of Abū l-A[frāḥ] of all of the Dār al-Dhahabī. The copy underneath repeats the name Abū l-Afrāḥ in one place but leaves other specifics (names, date) blank.

Legal testimony. In Hebrew. Location: Egypt. Possibly a release, based on the one line of content (nishtalamti kol ma. . .).

Legal query addressed to Abū ʿImrān, perhaps Maimonides. In Judaeo-Arabic. Rudimentary handwriting. The question regards a certain Tamīm in Qalyūb. It seems that he refuses to take the vow that the addressee had previously ordered him to make, because he is worried about making a vow and not being able to fulfill it. But needs further examination.

Legal deed. In Hebrew. Dated: Shevat 5562 AM, which is 1802 CE. Settlement of a partnership dispute. Currency: medin (מאיידיס). Witnesses; Aharon Ṭawīl; Yehuda Pinto; Ḥayyim Ḥefeẓ; Nissim Ṭawīl. Verso: Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic.