Geniza Lab

Legal document (or 2 documents) in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. The one on the right involves a marriage. The one on the left is signed by Avraham b. Shemaʿya.

Legal testimony. Mainly in Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Heshvan 136[2?] Seleucid, which is 1051 CE. Involves Abū l-Ḥasan Yoshiyya ha-Nasi and Daniel ha-Nasi; also mentions Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya; someone known as Ṣahrajtī; and Ibrāhīm Ibn Sughmār. Signed: Ḥalfon b. Shabbat; Shelomo b. Natan. The content of the legal case is not immediately clear; needs further examination and transcription.

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Large and well preserved. Release granted by Yaḥyā ha-Kohen to Abū l-Waḥsh Sibāʿ, the husband of his sister's daughter. Consists almost entirely of legalese, including 12 lines of wa-lā X wa-lā Y wa-lā Z.

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 11th or 12th century. Large and fairly well-preserved, but missing the beginning. Possibly a conditional divorce if the event that the husband does not return to Egypt/Fustat within 2 years from the date of this document. The husband is named ʿAmram and the wife is named Sitt al-Ḥusn bt. Moshe. Several different sums of money are named, including 56 1/6 dinars plus a qirat. Signed: Yosef b. Neḥemya b. Binyamin; Yeshʿya b. Elʿazar(?); Sulaymān Ibn Yūsuf; Meshullam b. Yefet.

Recto: Legal query addressed to the Avraham Maimuni. Written by Shelomo b. Elya. In Judaeo-Arabic. Concerning Levi who gave Yaaqov a copy of Ketuvim ("muṣḥaf ketiv") to be sold in an auction on an agreed price. Verso: Informal note addressed to R. Mikha'el. In Judaeo-Arabic. Inviting him to lead the prayer tomorrow, Thursday, because the writer plans to copy 'the ḥibbur', that is Maimonides' Mishne Torah. (AA)

Recto: Draft of a court record from the court in Fustat. 1042. In the handwriting of Yefet b. David Shekhanya. See join (and Goitein's translation there) for further details about the case. This part of the document requires transcription and further examination. Verso: Numerous text blocks in Arabic script. Accounts? Jottings? Other documents?

Legal document(s). Dating: ca. 1100 CE, based on the appearance of the judge Avraham b. Natan Av ha-Yeshiva. There are three different sections and numerous signatures. Needs further examination.

Legal testimony. In Hebrew. Location: Fustat. Dated: Torn off. Giving a detailed account about teachers of orphans and parnasim.

Legal fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Involves Elʿazar ha-Zaqen and Yosef ha-Kohen and 30 dirhams. Witness signature: Shemuel b. Yefet.

Marriage contract, fragment. Dating: Probably 19th century. The bride may be named Goya Tama(?). There is a colorful illustration of a bouquet of flowers.

Deathbed will of Turfa bt. Shemarya ha-Zaqen. Draft. Needs examination.

Legal testimony. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Looks 11th century. Testifying about what happened between Is[ḥāq?] b. Yaʿqūb al-Fāsī and [...] b. Yūsuf b. Khalīl al-Fāsī.

Bill of divorce, probably. Very small fragment. Location: Fustat. Husband: David ha-Levi b. Natan.

Fragment of a legal document in which Elazar b. Shelah makes a declaration. Verso was not photographed.

Left side of a page of legal queries in the hand of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi (found by Amir Ashur).

Legal document involving exchange of commodities and money between Avraham b. Ṣūr and Shalom de Leon and Yiṣḥaq de Herrera and David Disqawi (?), dated 6 Nisan 5304 AM, which is 1544 CE. (הרשד is written, but the ר has a mark over it meaning that it should not be counted.) The document is in Hebrew, but the note on verso is probably partly in Ladino (קי שון = ke son). (Information in part from A. David's edition via FGP.)

Legal testimony. In Judaeo-Arabic. Small fragment. Involving Elʿazar ha-Levi and Abū l-Munā known as Ibn Naṭira and Yefet al-Zajjāj.

Legal fragment (lower right corner). Witness signature: Avraham b. Yeshuʿa.

Legal fragment (two lines from the bottom). Signed: ʿOvadya b. ʿOvadya.

Legal query in the hand of Yedutun ha-Levi. In Judaeo-Arabic. Concerning prayer/liturgy.