Geniza Lab

Marriage document. Two fragments of a Karaite ketubah of Husn and David [?]. Early 11th century [?]. The smaller fragment, ENA NS 3. 27 was given the same shelf-mark as two fragments of a Rabbanite ketubah. It completes the text of the bigger fragment ENA NS 3. 23, and follows immediately in ll. 17-24 (data from Olszowy-Chlanger Judith. Karaite Marriage Documents from the Cairo Geniza, 1998, p. 406) Hebrew, Judeo-Arabic. AA

Marriage document. In the hand of Hillel b. ʿEli (active 1066–1108). Fragment from a left side of ketubba de-irkesa (כתובה דארכסא), a ketubba written as a replacement for a lost ketubba (cf. ENA 3616.13). The bride’s name is Malīḥa b. Shelomo. The groom’s name is not preserved. JRL SERIES A 1104 is a small fragment from an agreement between Malīḥa bt. Shelomo (probably the same woman) and her husband. The JRL document is apparently written by Avraham b. Natan Av (compare T-S 8J12.1, which he signed), which can help us date this ketubba to 1098–1108 CE, the period in which the two scribes were active. AA

Ketubba (marriage contract). In the hand of Mevorakh b. Natan. The portion preserved here is mainly the trousseau list. The grand total of marriage payments plus dowry is 140 dinars. There is one line of micrography as decoration in the right margin. (Information from Goitein’s index card.)

Legal document. Damaged bill of release, relating to quarter of a house. No names survived. Probably early 12th century (the hand is familiar, but I couldn’t identify the scribe) Judeo-Arabic. AA

Legal document. Damaged. On recto title: זכרון עדות (= bill of testimony) in square Hebrew script. On verso, in different hand, a refutation of a certain legal ruling, might be related to gentile courts or to a school of scholars. Hebrew. AA

Legal document. Fragment of a ketubba. Groom: Avraham b. Ṣedaqa. The bride is a widow. Dating: early 11th century. Marriage payments: 2 + 13 = 15. Dowry: 50 - 15 = 35. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Marriage document. Fragment from a ketubah. No names or dates are preserved. Contains a few words from the monogamy clause. Hebrew and Aramaic. AA

Partnership agreement between Moshe and Yiṣḥaq, specifying each party's liabilities. Written in Hebrew. Location: Salonika. Dated: Friday, 19 Av 5330, which is 1570 CE. Scribed by Yosef Ashqeloni. Mentions "3 metecales (מיטיקאליש)," perhaps a unit of currency (the name mderived from Arabic mithqāl), and "the fattorias (פאטוריאש) according to their custom," referring to the fattoria system of mercantile agents (known as fattores).

Legal document. In Hebrew: Location: Damietta (קפוטקייא). Dated: Beginning of Sivan 5488 AM, which is 1728 CE. Concerning complex inheritance arrangements upon the death of Hermosa bt. Yosef Ḥazzan. Currencies: fundukli; silver medin (מ״ך). Many people are mentioned: Ḥayyim Kialokos; Yosef Mizraḥi; Avraham Castro.

Marriage contract. Location: Cairo. Dated: 29 Shevat 5535 AM, which is 1775 CE. Groom: Eliyyahu Goren(?) b. Nissim. Bride: Hermosa bt. Nissim Nakaro(?). Total marriage payments: 3,000 silver diwani medins.

Legal deed. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably late 11th century, based on the presence of the witness Ṣāliḥ b. Yivḥar, who signed T-S 10J26.8 in Tripoli (Lebanon), in 1079 CE. Concerning a dispute between Abū Yaʿqūb Yequtiel b. [...]h ha-Rofe and his wife Munā. Sums of 70 and 20 dinars are mentioned. Witnesses (names written in the hand of the scribe): Ṣāliḥ b. Yivḥar; Yaʿaqov b. Shelomo; Yiṣḥaq b. Elʿazar.

Marriage document. Small fragment from the top of a ketubah, as is evident from the large, decorative phrases opening with בשם אל עולם, commonly found at the top of ketubot. In l.2: אשר לא יספר (Genesis 32:13). Someone, probably a school child, used the blank spaces to copy what looks like Biblical verses in a very childish and crude hand. Hebrew. AA

Marriage contract. Dated: 5579 AM, which is 1818/19 CE. Groom: Raḥamim ואפה(?). Bride: Marḥaba bt. Yaʿaqov מניצר(?). Currencies: real, medin.

Engagement (shiddukhin) contract. In Hebrew. Dated: 1 Tamuz 5569 AM, which is 1809 CE. Groom: Yaʿaqov ha-Levi Istanbuli b. Shemuel. Bride: Sara bt. Moshe Condiote. Currency: real. Verso: Note in Arabic script.

Recto: Fragment of a legal document mentioning [...] b. Menashshe and Shelomo and [...] b. Faraḥ and sums of money. Verso: Fragment of a legal document mentioning Abū l-Khayr Shelomo b. [...] al-Ṣūrī and ʿIzrūn. Possibly documenting the settlement of a dispute. There is a note in Arabic script in the margin. Same parties and possibly the same case as L-G Misc. 33.

Rental document, in Arabic script, possibly a receipt of transportation of unspecified goods, dated to the month of Rabīʿ al-Awwal 1259/April 1843. The name of the tenant is Yeshūʿa and involves a property in Ḥārat al-Yahūd. Contains a seal and is duly signed.

Legal declaration, perhaps a draft, in the name of a certain R. Yeshaʿya and sales of property. Needs further examination.

Responsum (FGP). Dating: 17th century. There is a detailed description and edition on FGP.

Rental contract. In Hebrew. Dated: Tuesday, 15 Sivan 54[..], so 1640–1739 CE. Sara bt. Yiṣḥaq Malikī(?), the widow of Shemuel ha-Levi Kaʿk(?), in the presence of her late husband's son Menaḥem, leases the ʿaliya above the qāʿa where they live to Avraham ha-Kohen b. Yosef for a period of 12 months. The rent is 30 medins per month ('fine and good' ones).

Legal document. Left part from a late legal document, in which שלמה [...] כ"ר תשובה בדוסי take upon himself to deliver the remains of five deceased from Egypt to Jerusalem. The deceased includes his mother, his sister סאעדאת, and דוד אבו אלכיר. (data from FGP by Abraham David) On verso few lines, by another hand, in which a person approved that he received the corpses?? Hebrew. AA