Geniza Lab

Legal fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Probably a release. Someone, possibly an orphan, agrees to release his paternal uncle from any claims

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. Needs examination for content.

Right fragment: Small fragment of a ketubba written in the Palestinian style. In the hand of the ḥaver Shemuel b. Moshe, the same scribe as ENA NS 77.354. Location: Probably Tyre. Dating: ca. 1028–54. See M. A. Friedman's edition for further information.

Bookbinding with several mirror-image imprints of Hebrew text, including one legal document issued in the city of DM[...] (=Damascus? Damietta) in the year 17[..] Seleucid, corresponding to the range 1388–1488 CE. Mentions Seʿadel b. Avraham, [Mo?]she b. Mukhliṣ, and David b. Moshe.

Deathbed will. Location: Fustat. Dated: Wednesday, 15 [Kislev] 1500 Seleucid, which is December 1188 CE, under the authority of the Gaʾon Sar Shalom ha-Levi. Testator: Abū l-[...] b. Barakāt Ibn al-Maqdisī. He makes arrangements for his house and for his other property (including a significant quantity of yarn). Beneficiaries include his sons Barakāt and Bayān, his siblings, and his wife Sitt al-Riḍā. The document continues onto verso. Signed by Shelomo b. Nissim and (the cantor Abū Sahl) Levi b. Avraham ha-Levi. Same scribe as ENA NS 76.435.1 + ENA NS 76.435.3 and other adjacent fragments: Yosef b. Shemuel b. Seʿadya ha-Levi. The content of this document, including the date and the witness signatures, is nearly identical to Bodl. MS heb. a 2/9 (so we can identify the testator as the silkweaver (al-qazzāz) Abū l-Faḍl b. Barakāt Ibn al-Maqdisī), written by the same scribe but more carefully, probably a little bit later. (Identification of the scribe made by Amir Ashur.) ASE.

Responsum? Explaining that everyone who "does not enter (יטכול(!)) the synagogue" is called an "evil neighbor" (Jeremiah 12:14). On verso Talmudic citations about drunkenness. Written on top of scattered accounts in Arabic script (mainly just a few names).

Small fragment of a legal deed or legal query in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Refers to two people (business partners?), someone named Shimʿon, and Yemen. One phrase is crossed out, and next to it in the margin, in a different, crude hand: "its division is not permitted to them."

Deed of sale, probably. In Judaeo-Arabic. Describes the location of a property relative to the alley of the poor (zuqāq al-masākīn), the mosque, and the Byzantine church or synagogue (it is not entirely clear if it reads kanīs or kanīsa).

Minute fragment, very faded, only few words are readable but most probab;y from a legal deed.

See PGP 11576

Legal document or letter. Small fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions a sum of 7.5 dinars and someone sitting.

See PGP 11576

See PGP 11576

See PGP 11576

See PGP 11576

List of valuable goods. Possibly an enormous dowry list from a ketubba—the word הנזכר in the penultimate line indicates that this is part of a legal document. Dating: Looks ca. 11th century. On verso there are a few Greek/Coptic numerals.

Small fragment from a legal deed. In Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew. Only a few words remain. Probably a bill of release. Mentions the name Ṣedaqa/Ṣadaqa. On verso there are remnants of Arabic script. AA.

Minute fragment from the beginning of a legal deed in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Involves [...] b. [...] ha-Nikhbad and Abū l-B[...].

Bill of sale for a female slave. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Either the buyer or the seller is named [...] b. Shemarya. No other details preserved.

Minute fragment from a legal deed (upper left corner) in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Involves [...] al-Amshāṭī and [...] al-Barqī.