Geniza Lab

Legal document from 1725 CE (1 Tevet 5486) from Fustat/Cairo formalizing a reconciliation between husband, Yosef Mizraḥi known as Khumays, and wife, Nujūm the daughter of the late Baribas (?) Melichi (?). He agrees to live with her for at least another 6 months and behave well toward her. If she does not become pregnant during these 6 months, he will then have the right to take a second wife. Two of the witnesses are Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi Ghazāl and Aharon Ḥanūn.

Legal document of ḥaliẓa, probably from the first decade of the 18th century (the year is very faded but appears to begin 546[.]). Shelomo b. Saʿīd died and his widow rejects his brother Aharon b. Saʿīd.

Fragment of a legal testimony regarding the financial rights of a widow, perhaps the widow of [...]n al-Bazzāz (Abu l-Ḥasan?). Probably medieval.

Fragment (lower left corner) of a legal document from Fusṭāṭ, dated 14[..] Selucid = 12th century CE (or last decade of 11th century). Signed by Moshe ha-Levi b. Netanel ha-Shishi.

Recto: Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Verso: Possibly a legal declaration. The year 1727 CE (5488) is mentioned, as are several names (e.g. Sh[...] ha-Levi Skandari).

Legal document dated 8 October 1801 (1 Heshvan 5562), from Fustat/Cairo involving the brothers Yiṣḥaq and Mordekhai Bialobos. The younger will receive 20% and the elder 80% of some sort of revenue, at least until the younger brother marries. The elder brother is to support him financially, and the younger brother is to respect the elder as a father.

Legal document. In Hebrew. Location: Rashīd. Dated: First third of Tishrei 5534 AM, which is September 1773 CE. Involving Yosef, Yehuda, a butcher, and the sale of meat. Currency: medin

Recto: Betrothal document for Seʿadya Maymūn b. Mūsa and [...] bt. Raḥamim. Verso: Document involving a partnership and mentioning Alexandria.

Recto: Obscure sentences in Judaeo-Arabic. Verso: Practice signatures in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic of Yeshuʿa b. David ha-Levi.

Legal document involving a partnership between Yosef Mughrabi and Eliyyahu Mosseri. There are also notations in other hands and sums/accounts.

Legal document from Fustat/Cairo, dated 20 February 1829 (17th of Adar I, 5589), in which Avraham ha-Levi certifies that he has received his entire share from the estate of his late father and releases his mother (titled "senyora") from all his claims upon her.

Interesting legal document probably from 1682 CE (at least after Adar 5442) involving a businesswoman apparently named Mazal Tov and at least two famous rabbis, including Yom Tov Sahalon (an opponent of the Sabbatean movement in Egypt) and Moshe Vital (plausibly the grandson of Hayyim Vital by the same name, whose father Shemuel lived in Egypt in the 1660s); see Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi, 641f. In this document, Mazal Tov, the wife of Hiyya Pinto, certifies that she has received payment in full for the profit from her investments, namely her investments with Yom Tov Sahalon from 5430–41 (1670–81) and with Moshe Vital from 5441–42 (1681–82). She also received 1500 medins from Natan b. Efrayim from the capital that she had invested with Yom Tov Sahalon, and now the remainder of her capital is with Moshe Vital. She now grants Vital full agency over her remaining capital with him. There is some writing artfully woven amongst the signatures; all are difficult to read. ASE.

Legal document from Fustat/Cairo, dated 1777 CE (end of Tamuz 5537) in which Menaḥem Abzaradel (אבזראדיל) makes arrangements for his 7 1/3 qirats that are in the "diwan al-[...] (karār?)." He renounces all right over it. It is to be divided between his grandsons Yosef and Menaḥem (the sons of his deceased daughter and her widower Ghulaybī Yeshaʿyah) and his two living daughters, Ḥabībah and Leah. Yosef and Menaḥem each get 2.5 qirats, Ḥabībah gets 1 1/3, and Leah gets 1. Witnesses include Binyamin Revah (?), Menaḥem Abzaradel (junior?), and David Nunes.

Betrothal document and dowry list: "The clothes and the nedunya and the contante [Italian for cash] of the widow Ms. Dona (name or honorific?) bt. Moshe P[.]so"). The document is in Hebrew but several of the items on the dowry list seem to be in Judaeo-Arabic. She is going to marry Shelomo Maymūn b. Yaʿaqov Maymūn. Dated 1 July 1794 (3 Tamuz 5554).

Recto: Legal document from Fustat/Cairo, dated March 1819 (last third of Adar 5579), in which Yiṣḥaq Zamiro acknowledges receipt of an investment of 9000 muayyadis (silver half-dirhams) from Ḥabība the widow of Moshe Zakkai. The document details how he is to use Ḥabība's investment and how they will divide the profits. Verso: In the same (or very similar) hand, a eulogy for a deceased woman and some neat accounts partially in Judaeo-Arabic. Diamonds and Yaʿaqov al-Marankātī (?) are mentioned.

Court ledger with numerous entries. In Hebrew. Location: Fustat/Cairo. Dated: 5442–43 AM, which is 1681–83 CE (there may be additional entries falling outside of this range). The name of "the second witness" is given underneath each entry (perhaps because the first witness is understood to be the same as the court scribe?). These witness names include Elʿazar Esmeralda; Ḥayyim Ashkenazi; Avraham Hārūn. Needs further examination.

Legal document. In Hebrew. Location: Fustat/Cairo. Dated: [53]52 AM, which is 1591/92 CE. Concerning the division of an inheritance between a dead man's widow and four sons, as well as the ketubba payment for the widow (24,000 medins). Quite damaged. Two copies were made. The original signatories include Binyamin Kajiji and Elʿazar Maṣliaḥ. This copy of the document has the signature of Yaʿaqov b. Avraham b. Yaʿaqov Berav (d. 1599), a former pupil of Yosef Karo and a leading rabbi of Safed from 1593 until his death. A. David suggests that this copy of the document was sent to Safed, where he (and another Avraham b. [...] added their endorsements). (Information from A. David, "Berav Family in the Land of Israel and Egypt after the Spanish Expulsion.")

Legal document. In Hebrew. Location: Fustat/Cairo. Dated: End of Iyyar 5555 AM, which is 1795 CE. (The signing of the document was deferred until Kislev 5556—but there are no signatures on this fragment, so either they were torn away or they were never added.) In which Jamīla, the widow of Avraham ha-Levi Skandarī, invests 28,000 medins with three business partners (Eliyyahu Palombo, [...], and Merkado [...]) for a period of 1 year. Profits will be divided in four equal shares.

Legal declaration involving Makārim b. Abū l-Riḍā al-Simsār (the broker), al-Asʿad Ibn Munajjā al-ʿAṭṭār, Ibn al-ʿAjami al-Ṣāyigh, Ibn al-ʿAnbarī al-Levi, and a sum of 50 nuqra dirhams. The document is dated Tuesday the 28th of Tevet, but the year has been left blank.

Legal document in Hebrew. Involves Moshe Kolon making a deposit including a pair of khalākhil with Zayn Shakāko (? שכאכו). 1655 CE. There is a filing note on the last page. Needs examination.