Geniza Lab

Legal document. In Hebrew. Location: Fustat/Cairo. Dated: End of Sivan, 5578 AM, which is 1818 CE. Apprentice contract for Avraham Puerte(?), the student, and Yehuda Bonan, the teacher. Avraham will study the trade of sarraflik (money changing) from Yehuda for a period of 24 months. He will learn "how to count money as is customary here, every 1000 medins in one paper." For the first year, the weekly wage will be 40 medins. For the second year, the weekly wage will be 60 medins. The fine for violating the contract is 100 esedi gurush to be paid to the other party. Witnesses: There is a single elaborate signature, difficult to read. It looks very much like the signature in ENA NS 29.20 from ~20 years earlier.

Marriage contract. Dated: Sunday, 14 Tishrei 5557, which is 1796 CE. Location: Cairo. Groom: David Gabbay b. Seʿadya. Bride: ביתו (or does this just mean daughter?) of Khalīfa Pinto. Currencies: real, medin. Witnesses: The same signature appears twice, and it may be identical with the signature in ENA NS 29.19, ~20 years later.

Recto: Letter or legal query addressed to Avraham Maimonides (published by MAF). In Judaeo-Arabic. Conveys a lengthy story involving Franks in Akka and Haifa and someone who received a letter from al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam (r. 1218-1227). The draft petition on verso starts with a taqbīl clause and mentions Irāqiyīn and Shāmiyīn.

Agreement to nominate a Dayyan in the Maghrebi congregation (FGP)

Legal. Engagement (shiddukhin) contract. Dating: No earlier than 1697 CE, based on the mention of the coin (zer-i) maḥbūb. Groom: Yosef b. Yaʿaqov Najjār. Bride: Ḥanna bt. Hillel אלחירקו(?), a widow. There follows a trousseau list and conditions. Currency: maḥbūb. On the facing page there is another list (also a trousseau list?) in a different hand. Several of the items are written in Ladino.

Legal deed. In Judaeo-Arabic. Location: New Cairo. Dated: End of Sivan 14[..] Seleucid, which is 1089–1188 CE. Very faded.

Marriage document. Minute fragment from a ketubah. It seems that the mohar is 12½ zuz (only the word ופלגי [= and a half] is visible). For this sum and its Babylonian influence see Friedman, Jewish Marriage in Palestine 1:253. AA

Marriage document, probably. Narrow strip.

Marriage document. A large damaged piece from a ketubah, from the 12th century, 1127 onward, based on the title יהי שמו לעולם כירח יכון עולם, which started to appear during the tenure of Maṣliaḥ Gaon as the Head of the Jews. The groom’s name is Nisin b. David. The bride Dāra bat Avraham b. ‘Amram. Hebrew, Aramaic, Judeo-Arabic. AA

Marriage document. Fragment from a damaged ketubah. The groom is Ḥalfon ha-Kohen. The name of his father and bride are not preserved. Part of the dowry list is visible. 12th century. Hebrew, Aramaic, Judeo-Arabic

Legal document in Hebrew. Dating: Probably 11th century if not earlier. Might be a join with ENA 3656.1, but it is too hard to tell. Mentions: Fustat, ʿEli b. [...], [...] bt. Rāsī(??) b. Yiṣḥaq, Sūq al-Ṣarf, the 24 portions of a house, "to my husband Suqayr."

Legal document. Fragment from a Hebrew bill of release, 10-11th century. Contains reference to A Muslim legal document and which is invalid and can not be accepted. Shlomo Halevi, Ya'aqov b. […] and Yosef are mentioned. No signatures survived. Hebrew. AA

Fragment of a ketubba. Eight lines from the trousseau list, mentioning such things as necklaces of yellow amber (salāsil kārib, which Goitein understands as kahrubāʾ), two chests (? כשכולין), and fifty trunks (ṣundūq). (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Ketubba (marriage contract). Groom: Ṣedaqa ha-Kohen. The bride is a virgin. The conditions include arrangements for portions of houses. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Legal fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Involving Binyamin b. Avraham. Needs conservation. There are also two other minuscule fragments sharing this shelfmark.

Marriage document. Fragment from a ketubah, probably written by Hillel b. ʿEli (1066-1108), from Fustat. Only part of the date is preserved: Tuesday, 19th of […]. From the names of the parties only the bride’s father’s name survived: מסבאע. Hebrew and Aramaic. AA

Legal document. Damaged fragment of a bill of sale of immovable property. 10-11th century. Name mentioned: Ya'aqov b. Dav[id]. Hebrew. AA

Ketubba, once monumental, now just a piece of it. What remains are two perpendicular lines on the right hand side of the text containing blessings. Ed. Friedman, JMP, #64 who dates the ketubba to 1089-1099 and locates it in Tyre.

See PGP 11366

Marriage document. Damaged and faded ketubah, written by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe Halevi. Only the end part of the dowry list, and some of the signatures survived. Signed by [...]הכהן בן שלה and [...בן] יצחק Hebrew, Judeo-Arabic, Aramaic. AA