Geniza Lab

Legal document. In Hebrew with one phrase in Judaeo-Arabic. Location: Fustat. Dated: Thursday, 16 Av 53[3]7 AM, which is 1577 CE. Reconciliation of a marital dispute between Yosef Pico and his wife Esther bt. Shelomo קאגיגי. The agreeement is that Yosef will no longer beat his wife for any reason whatsoever, or insult or curse her or her parents. If he reneges on this, she will have the right to demand her ketubba payment in full in the Muslim courts "in the capital" (? פי אלעצמה). And he will have to give her the bill of divorce within 24 hours.

Bill of divorce, calligraphic. Only the last few lines are preserved.

Legal document. Location: Fustat. Dated: 1553 Seleucid, which is 1241/42 CE. The content is mostly missing, but some of it may be decipherable. Mentions Shelomo ha-Talmid b. Yefet; R. David; a virgin girl; R. Yosef; Moshe ha-Dayyan.

Late proclamation, on vellum, ornate, in flowery Hebrew, with remnants of a black and red illumination at the top of the page. It opens with an essay about how the ancestors bequeathed the legacy of dividing the community into three "mishmarot" and appointing leaders. A few lines above the large "Sason," it describes the noble and brave Shelomo Dammūhi and declares that he will be appointed the head of "our mishmeret," the third one, for the next three years, starting now in the month of Kislev, and all will obey him. 10 lines also survive on verso which are more difficult to decipher.

Legal document having to do with the ketubba of the groom Yosef. Signed by חטר (?) b. Shalem and Yosef b. Avraham.

Ketubba for Yūsuf b. ʿIwaḍ al-Kohen and Ḥāliya bt. Yaḥyā Kohen. No earlier than late 17th century (perhaps 1696 CE = 2008 Seleucid).

Legal formulary. Late.

Ketubba fragment. In the hand of the court scribe Yosef b. Shemuel b. Seʿadya ha-Levi (c.1181–1209).

Legal document of ḥaliṣa (release from levirate marriage). In Aramaic. There is also one line in Arabic script on verso. Location: Fustat. Dated: 137[.] Seleucid, which is 1058–68 CE. The woman is Sitt [...] bt. Yosef, the widow of Barakāt (her name appears three lines from the bottom).

Marriage contract. Dated: Ḥeshvan 5570 AM, which is 1809 CE. Elegantly decorated capitals, calligraphic script. Groom: Yosef b. Yehuda b. Shemuel. Bride: [...] bt. Yaʿaqov b. David ארביט. Currency: gurush. Merits further examination.

Legal document. Possibly dated 1608 Seleucid = 1296/97 CE, but this needs to be checked. Names Ḥayyim b. Ḥananel, Muhadhdhab al-Ṣayrafī, and a sum of 40 dinars. Signed by Hillel b. Yehuda.

Legal document. Loan terms. Dated: September 1239. Location: Bilbays. Between Amram b. Ḥalfon and Avraham b. Efrayim. Initially described as commenda (qirāḍ) but re-negotiated into a loan with a fixed rate of interest at 20 dirhams on the 36 dinars of capital. Emerged both from Jewish and Islamic courts. The renegotiation is because of Abraham's failure as the active partner in the qirāḍ: under pressure from Amram in the Islamic courts, he deeds his house to Amram for the value of 36 dinars. This sale is confirmed in the Jewish courts with a codicil that Avraham can redeem the house by repaying the loan (which has an initial term of four years) within 12 years. Avraham had given Amram promissory notes prior to this sale, produced in Jewish and Islamic courts. Following the debt restructuring, a ban placed on Avraham (likely in some earlier document) by the judge Peraḥya is lifted. In this case, the ban was brought down on anyone who had information concerning the partnership yet had not come forward to testify. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 5-7)

Legal fragment. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Abū Naṣr Mevorakh b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Zaqen was going to make a declaration, but then the document was abandoned.

Cryptic document. In Judaeo-Arabic. Headed ב, then "in which your slave Abū l-[...] asked Sayyidnā (=you) . . . the letter from al-Muʿaẓẓam to al-Qāḍī al-Makīn," then goes into the details of a legal case involving Alexandria and ma'ūna (provisions?). Dating: Maybe late 12th or early 13th century based on appearance. Needs further examination.

Legal document. Location: Fustat. Dated: Wednesday, 24 Shevat 4846 AM, which is 1086 CE. Mentions a Peraḥya.

Legal fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions "his wife" and Sitt al-Dār.

Legal document in Arabic script. Small fragment, containing the last couple lines and at least one witness statement.

Deathbed will, probably. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Shevat 1441 Seleucid, which is 1129/30 CE. Small fragment.

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions something that passed 'between the two of them'; the court in Fustat; a sum of dinars; Natan b. Shelomo. It is not clear how the two fragments fit together.

Legal document. In Hebrew. Late. Involves Sulaymān Bonan and Faraj Allāh b. Shabbat and various sums of muayyadis/medins.