Geniza Lab

Legal document in Arabic script. Dating: No earlier than 1425 CE, as the accounts on verso mention the ashrafī. Mentions appointing an agent (tawkīl).

One side: lower left corner of a deed of sale in Arabic script. Dated: Ramaḍān [...]. The other side: upper left corner of a letter in Arabic script.

One side: Legal document in Arabic script. Probably a deed of sale. Mentions [...] b. ʿUmar b. Muḥsin b. ʿAlī and the phrase "ʿalā iqrār al-bāʾiʿ wa-l-mushtarī al-madhkūr fīh bi-jamīʿ mā fīh fī taʾrīkhih..." The other side: The beginning of a formal letter in Arabic script. Needs further examination.

Legal document, probably. Faded/damaged. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions sums of money, the paternal uncle of a wife, Abū l-Bahā' (or Abū l-Baqā'), and a teacher.

Ketubba, late 11th century or early twelfth century Yemenite. The total of the dower and the dowry is larger than 230. The name Ulla ha-levi is mentioned. Written and signed by Shemuel b. Moshe b. Elazar. other signatories: Avraham b. Yosef, Khalaf b. Moshe. Moshe b. Yosef. Ya'aqov b. Khalaf and nadiv ha-Levi b. Moshe ha-Levi.

Legal declaration (moda'a) in which a man declares that any release or compromise he will do in the future is invalid because he is coerced by Shelomo Mamulian (?) שלמה ממולייאן. This is a draft or a formulary: there is no date, there are no witnesses, and several of the identifying details are left blank. On verso there are several pen trials and little drawings.

Fragment (bottom) of a document, possibly a legal testimony. Two lines at the bottom of the document indicate witness signatures. The first one reads "shahida ʿAbd Allah".

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic to Abu al-Rida b. Abu al-Faraj from Ibn Yosef dealing with commercial matters

Bill of divorce (get) from Malij. The bride is X bt. Yosef.

Responsum, late. Published by Glick in his Ottoman Responsa book.

Agreement of the Maghribi congregation written in a late Sephardi hand. The heads of the coomunity agreed that no Jew will enter the synagogue during prayer time while being drunk and that no Jew will beat another Jew in the synagogue during prayer. When it comes to the sanction the document stops and was left incomplete. The page was later used for writing trials on both sides.

Upper part of a letter by Berakhot b. Shemuel mentioning his being cut off from the recipent on account of his illnesses, including ophthalmia at the present time. The word in the penultimate line that looks like "sultan" (Muslim government) is כלט אן, referring to an acute attack of a humor. On the back is a query about litigants in a dispute involving Muslim courts.

Letter dealing with commercial matters. Mentioning several names, the most complete are Isma'il b. Sedaqa and Sedaqa b. Malhub.

Legal testimony (maḥḍar) from al-Maḥalla regarding animal slaughtering. It seems that Shemarya ha-Kohen was granted the right to be sole slaughterer and another man entered into a legal agreement and swore an oath that he would not slaughter — but now he has been witnessed violating that oath. The fact that there is a legal document on the back as well, may suggest this was a page from a court notebook.

Legal document, probably from the time of Avraham Maimonides, mentioning also Rabbenu Hananel, also known from this period . Dealing with a couple who agreed on divoce and describing the divorce procedure. Ed. David , "Divorce" 2:299-301.

Prenuptial agreement. The marriage is to take place in seven years when the bride comes of age, meaning at the time of the agreement she was five years old. She is not an orphan: her father is mentioned (his name is Yishaq and the grrom's name is Moshe b. Perah. The hand looks like Yefet b. David.

Engagement (shiddukhin) contract. Draft. Late. There appears to be an Ottoman-era seal. Groom: Moshe b. Yehuda. Bride: Saʿādat bt. Avraham Dukkān (or Dakkān?), virgin. The conditions agreed upon between the groom and the bride's father are as follows. Early marriage payment: 5 (Venetian) peraḥim. Delayed marriage payment (called qushan/קושעאן): 5 peraḥim. The earnings of her labor are his, and he must provide her clothing. There is a monogamy clause (unless they live for 10 years without a child). The marriage will take place before Shavuʿot, or there will be a fine of 4 peraḥim. Damascus is mentioned and is perhaps the place where they lived. The paper has a number of pen trials for this very same document, as well as a beginning of an entry for other documents: (1) Doña Reyna the widow of Yiṣḥaq Re'uven received 60 peraḥim from her ketubba. (2) And another marriage-related document, groom: Moshe b. Avraham, Bride: Qamr.

Partnership release. Dated: 1091. Location: Fustat. Verso: Avraham b. Yeshuʿa ha-Kohen irreversibly releases Abū al-Faḍl/Abū al-Mufaḍḍal Netanel b. Yefet from any obligations concerning a partnership. Avraham had purchased two baskets of indigo and silk as an investment on behalf of his Alexandrian partners – the silk was damaged on its initial journey to Fusṭāṭ and Avraham liquidated it completely, settling the balance with Nathaniel and terminating the partnership. Abraham’s partners include Nathaniel’s mother and sister (see lines 23 and 27-31). The recto is another partnership agreement (for which the verso is possibly a draft), which reveals Abraham to be an investor (not the active partner), investing funds with Peraḥ/Peraḥya ha-Kohen, who also adds funds and takes the total to Damascus to import goods to Fusṭāṭ. The partnership is to last the duration of a single trip to Damascus, and Peraḥ is to receive half of the profits to Abraham’s capital as well as all profits to his own capital. Peraḥ is liabile for losses, as with the isqra. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 65-66)

Legal document in Judaeo-Arabic. Location: Small Damīra (דמירה הקטנה). Dated: 6 Adar II 1546 Seleucid = 1235 CE, under the authority of Avraham Maimonides. Someone (name not preserved) releases Abū l-Fakhr b. Sayyid al-Ahl from any claim regarding a partnership (muʿāmala) they had involving wine and other products. Signed by Maṣliaḥ b. Shemarya and Moshe b. Peraḥya.

Legal document. Not much survives from the larger context but since it involves the release of several sisters of a man after they received their "right" (haqq), it is probable this was a quittance after the division of an inheritance. The document is valuable for containing the names of several women. The document make the qinyan from the wife (of the deceased?) Sitt al [?] bt Abu al-Fadl and the (deceased's?) three daughters: Sitt al-Rutab the widow, Sitt al-Jamal the mature woman, and [Sitt] al-'ilm the wife of Hibat Allah b. Abu al-Fadl. They release Abu al-Tahir/Tahor b. Avraham/Ibrahim.