Geniza Lab

Qaraite ketubba formulary (FGP)

Qaraite ketubba formulary (FGP)

Legal document. Mainly in Judaeo-Arabic. Location: Minyat Ashna. Dated: first decade of Av 1456 Seleucid, which is 1145 CE, under the authority of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya. Abū Sahl Shela b. Meshullam the judge will repay a large debt of 138 dinars to Shemarya ha-Kohen in 6 monthly installments of 23 dinars from Elul 1456 through Shevaṭ 1457. Signed by: Mordekhay b. Yefet; Yeshuʿa b. ʿAmram. The qiyyum also lists Yosef b. Yaʿaqov ha-Mumḥe as one of the witnesses and is signed by Menashshe b. Seʿadya. On verso there is a receipt for all but one installment—115.5 dinars—dated 1457 Seleucid and signed by Shelomo b. Zurʿa and Yefet b. Aharon.

Legal register from the rabbinical court in Fustat, signed by Efrayim ben Shemarya in uncharacteristically calligraphic Hebrew letters. Recto has two entries from Ḥeshvan 1339 Seleucid, and verso has an entry from Kislev 1339 Seleucid (=1027/28 CE). The entry on verso concerns the same case of levirate marriage as found in T-S NS J51 from several months earlier (Elul 1338 Seleucid). Incidentally, it mentions someone named Ḥayyim Ibn al-Jāsūs.

Court record in which the orphan Avraham b. Shemuel al-Andalusi brings his guardians for the second time to court demanding they deliver a balance. The guardians refused since they had been expressly exempted from this duty by the orphan's father. A committee of three, headed by Shemuel ha-Kohen b. Talyun was to look into the matter, but nothing came out of it. Dated Tevet 1339/ December 1027. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 294, 295.) See also T-S 8J4.3.2 + AIU VII.D.4 + T-S 8J4.3 + T-S 13J5.1 (PGPID 2121).

Marriage document. Lower part, probably of a ketubah, written by a typical 13th century hand. Some of the dowry list is preserved. Signed by […] Hakohen b. Moshe and Shlomo b. […]. On the right margin שהד פרח?? Hebrew, Aramaic, Judeo-Arabic. AA

Responsum. Long and narrow strip of paper, containing a responsum regarding the property of orphans. It seems that the ruling is not to deliver the property to the claimant. Citing BT ketubbot 87a, and probably BT Baba Batra 23a and Arakhin 22a. Also mentioning a legal deed that has to be fulfilled and a testimony. On verso remains of an Arabic text. (Description from FGP by A. Ashur). Judeo-Arabic and Aramaic. AA

Bottom part of a legal query written by Hillel b. Eli (Date: 1066-1107). Concerning a court record written by a scribe, agreement between two parties and witnesses testify at time of the qinyan. The writer ask whether an oath should be imposed on both parties. Very damaged. AA

Small fragment from an engagement deed, written under the authority of Netanel Halevi, based on the phrase נסיכנו ונשיא אלהים ב[תוכנו]. AA

Recto: Legal document, possibly a court record. Regarding an engagement (shiddukhin). Fiance: Yefet b. Binyamin b. Refa'el ha-Levi ha-Talmid. Fiancee: Fāḍila bt. Bū l-Khayr Binyamin b. Faraḥ. Verso: One line in Judaeo-Arabic, possibly connected to recto, mentioning the money due to a wife (muqaddam, mu'akhkhar, ʿaml(?), and kiswa). There are also several unidentified lines in Arabic script. Information from Amir Ashur via FGP.

Legal fragment. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dealing with a husband and wife and an item of copper.

Legal query in Judaeo-Arabic (fa-yuftūnā sādātunā).

Legal fragment. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe.

Recto: Legal fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Deals with a payment by installments. Verso: Document in Arabic script. The word "mablagh" (=amount) is clearly legible; the rest needs examination.

Recto: Legal document. In Arabic script. Dated: 25 Shaʿbān 1280 AH, which is 4 February 1864 CE. There is one signature in Hebrew script: הצעיר אליאו מופ . . . There are two seal imprints and some sums. Verso: Accounts. In Judaeo-Arabic.

Accounts? on recto (fractions?) mentions rose and sandalwood. Hebrew script on verso.

very damaged. Probably a draft of a legal deed regarding inheritance of a land. Written by EFraim b. Shemarya. There is also a document in Arabic script on the other side. AA

Financial receipt (waqf related) with a seal, probably late Ottoman based on the Indic numerals, 18th/19th century.

Bill of sale for a slave. Abū al-[Man]ṣūr al-Kohen purchases a female slave named Ṭ[...] for the price of 25 dinars.

Legal document(s) in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Maybe a draft of a deed (or deeds) of sale. Recto describes a house, its features, and its location: al-qāʿa al-muʿallaqa... khazānatayn... al-ṣaṭḥ al-ʿālī... mā bayna salālim hādhihi l-qāʿa... al-khashab al-kharṭ al-dāʾir... al-ḥāra al-maʿrūfa.... Verso refers to 'the boundaries mentioned in this document.' A house (perhaps one of the boundaries) was previously known by the name of Abū l-Surūr, subsequently by the name of Abū l-Faḍl Sahl, and probably ultimately by the name of [...] Ismāʿīl al-Isrā'īlī.