Documents

Document date

8 Sivan 15[00]-8 Sivan 15[11] Seleucid (26 May 1189–23 May 1200 CE)

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Verso: Fragment of a dowry list. Location; Cairo. Dating: 1189–1200 CE (8 Sivan 15[..] Seleucid). The recto was reused for piyyuṭ and a year (1511 …

Related Places

1

Tags

• dowry

No Scholarship Records

Inferred date

1100–1138 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Legal document written and signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi (fl. 1100–1138 CE). Large but fragmentary (only the ends of the lines are preserved). […] ; Fustat; a sum of dinars, of which 8 are the delayed marriage payment (presumably for his future widow). Signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe and [...] b. Yefet, and others whose names are missing. The validation (qiyyum) is signed by Yiṣḥaq b. Ghālib ha-Ḥazzan.

Related People

1

Tags

• halfon b. menashshe

No Scholarship Records

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Fragment of a long legal document settling business accounts, involving a Mūsā who has gone missing, Berekhya, Sulaymān b. Yaʿaqov, Abū l-Surūr b. Natan, Maṣliaḥ, ʿAllūsh, and Yehoshuaʿ b. […] There are also a few jottings in Hebrew. Bodl. MS heb. b 11/32 (PGPID 19296) and T-S 20.4 (PGPID 5931) are two copies of the same document.

No Scholarship Records

Inferred date

1168–1204 CE

Primary languages

Aramaic, Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

This is the fourth letter sent by Yonatan ha-Kohen b. David of Lunel to Moses Maimonides (active in Egypt ca. 1168–1204), writing in his own name but also all the sages of Provence. The letter discusses three topics. (1) They have succeeded in finding a translator for the Guide for the Perplexed, Shemuel b. Yehuda Ibn Tibbon. "Indeed [the Guide] would have been 'as a small stone in a heap of stones' (Proverbs 26:8) and 'as a lily among thorns' (Song of Songs 2:2), a book for the illiterate, if our Creator had not brought us one wise and enlightened in every wisdom, whose father taught him the language of the Arabs, the son of the wondrous sage, the elevated physician, Yehuda Ibn Tibbon ha-Sefaradi."

Related People

1

Tags

• guide for the perplexed
• ibn tibbon
• illness
• illness letter 969-1517
• maimonides (autograph)
• (+ 2 more)

No Scholarship Records

Document date

1374 Seleucid (1062–1063 CE)

Dated: 1374 Seleucid, which is 1062/63 CE. Groom: Hiba b. Moshe. Bride: Riḍā bt. Neḥemya ha-Kohen. The early marriage gift (muqdam) is 5 [dinars], and the grand total (line 11) of the dower is 55 [dinars], though that would leave little for the me'uḥar; jewelry and copper are also mentioned. Witnesses include: ʿEli b. Yaḥyā ha-Kohen; Yiṣḥaq b. Yeshuʿa; Yosef b. Shelomo; Netanel b. Menashshe; Yiṣḥaq b. Waḥsh(?); ʿUlla/ʿEli ha-Ḥaver b.

Related People

1

1 Discussion

Document date

Tevet 1468 Seleucid (16 December 1156–13 January 1157 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Dated: Ṭevet 1468 Seleucid, which is 1156/57 CE, under the reshut of Shemuel b. Ḥananya. The dyer Makārim b. Salāma sells to his brother Abū l-Ḥasan b. […] Written and signed by Mevorakh b. Natan. Also signed by Seʿadya b. Avraham. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Related People

2

Related Places

1

1 Discussion

Document date

last decade of Ḥeshvan 1465 Seleucid (10 November 1153–18 November 1153 CE)

Primary languages

Aramaic, Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Dated: last decade of Ḥeshvan 1465 Seleucid = November 1153 CE, under the authority of the Nagid Shemuʾel b. Ḥananya. In the hand of Natan b. Shemuʾel although not signed by him. In which Abū Sulaymān Dāʾūd b. Abū l-Khaṣīb Zurʿa confirms to owe to the trader Abū l-Maʿālī b. […] Here it is prolonged. Witnesses: Yehosef b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Rav; ʿAzaryahu b. Yehuda; Yakhin b.

Related People

8

Related Places

1

Tags

• court record
• debt
• muslim court
• poverty

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Document date

Monday, 1 Ḥeshvan 1445 Seleucid (2 October 1133 CE)

Dated: Monday, 1 Ḥeshvan 1445 Seleucid, which is 2 October 1133 Seleucid, under the authority of Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon. Avraham b. Shelomo remarries his divorcee Rafīʿa bt. Shemaʿya. […] Witnesses include: Elʿazar b. Avraham; Refaʾel b. Eliyya; Menaḥem b. Yosef; ʿAmram b. [...].

Related Places

1

Tags

• remarriage

1 Discussion

Document date

1440 Seleucid (28 August 1128–15 September 1129 CE)

Dated: 1440 Seleucid (1128/9 CE). In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. The late father’s property consisted of a perfumery, a storehouse, goods, capital and profit.

Related People

1

Tags

• court record
• halfon b. menashshe
• inheritance

2 Transcriptions 1 Discussion

Document date

Wednesday, 10 Adar 1810 Seleucid (20 February 1499 CE)

Primary languages

Aramaic, Hebrew

Dated: Wednesday, 10 Adar (אדר הנהדר) 1810 Seleucid = 20 February 1499 CE, under the authority of the Nagid Natan Sholal (here called Yehonatan). Groom: Shemuel b. Yosef b. Shela. Bride: Esther bt. Moshe b. Maymūn, virgin.

Related People

1

Related Places

1

1 Discussion

Document date

6th of Nisan 1413 Seleucid (27 March 1102 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Record #1: Names mentioned: Yefet; the parnas ʿUlla b. Shemarya ha-Kohen; [...] b. Naḥum; Abū Manṣūr b. al-[...]; Sason. […] Avraham; Shela b. Eliyya. Witnesses (judges): Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel; Avraham b. Shemaʿya he-Ḥaver; Sason b. Natan; Avraham b. Aharon he-Ḥaver.

Related People

1

1 Discussion

Partly preserved marriage contract of Yiṣḥaq b. Shelomo and Jawhara. The delayed payment of the dowry is set at 50 dinars.

Related Places

1

Tags

• ketubba
• marriage

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Document date

[4]7[..] Anno Mundi (17 September 939–21 September 1039 CE)

Primary language

Hebrew

In which Mevorakh and Manṣūr the sons of Suqlāb/Saqlāb empower Yaʿaqov b. Ṣalaḥ to claim from Shelomob. Moshe their dues. Witnesses: Yosef b. Seʿadel, Yaʿaqov b. Yosef, and Qīmawayh b. Ḥasan (? […] The validation is signed by: Shemarya b. Elḥanan, David b. Aharon ha-Levi, Ḥasan b. Mevorakh b.

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Document date

Sivan 1525 Seleucid (1214 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Legal document. Abū al-Bahā' al-Kohen Ibn al-Naḥḥāl (“the beekeeper”) undertakes to pay back his nephew Moshe ha-Kohen 66(9)0 silver dirhams, 200 dinars, and 100 irdabb …

Related People

2

Tags

• 13th c
• wheat

1 Discussion

Primary language

Hebrew

Letter signed by Makhir b. Avraham and Natan b. Yiṣḥaq addressed to an unidentified dignitary.

No Scholarship Records

Inferred date

1100–1138 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Legal document. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi (fl. 1100-1138 CE). Avraham b. Moshe ha-Kohen releases his cousin Sāda (i.e., Sitt al-Sāda) b. Abraham, the widow of his late brother Joseph, who was obliged to marry him as Joseph died without offspring, from all financial obligations resulting from her former marriage.

Related People

1

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Primary language

Aramaic

Ketubba fragment (the beginning and the signatures are torn away). Groom: Yeshaʿya b. Yehuda (his own name appears in l.16 and his father's name in l.1).

1 Discussion

Document date

Friday, 6 Ṭevet 5211 Anno Mundi (11 December 1450 CE)

Primary language

Aramaic

Dated: Friday, 6 Ṭevet 5211 AM, which is 11 December 1450 CE. Groom: Khalaf Allāh b. Yiṣḥaq. Bride: Sitt al-Banīn bt. ʿImrān, a widow. […] One of the conditions states that "the inheritance is according to the custom of Damascus." Witnesses: Shemarya b. Yosef; Avraham/ʿAṭiyya b. Yaʿaqov. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.)

Related Places

1

1 Discussion

Document date

Monday, 28 Kislev 1370 Seleucid (17 December 1058 CE)

Dated: Monday, 28 Kislev 1370 Seleucid, which is 1058 CE. Groom: Yaʿir b. Mevasser. Bride: Mubāraka b. Khalaf. No trousseau. […] Marriage payments: 1 + 2 = 3 dinars. Witnesses: Ṣedaqa b. Aharon ha-Levi; Ṣedaqa b. Yosef; Faraḥ b. Yaʿqūb; Ṣedaqa b. Shelomo ha-Kohen; Shemuel b. Maṣliaḥ; ʿEli b. Yeshuʿa; Bishr b. [...]; and Aharon ha-Mumḥe b.

Related Places

1

1 Discussion

Primary languages

Aramaic, Judaeo-Arabic

Deed of release. Yaʿaqov b. [...] releases a woman from all claims. Fragment (the beginnings of 9 lines are preserved).

No Scholarship Records

Primary languages

Aramaic, Judaeo-Arabic

Legal document. Probably a marriage contract (ketubba); similar formulae as in T-S NS J363 (PGPID 4329). Small fragment from the bottom. Mentions either "his son" …

No Scholarship Records

Inferred date

1100–1138 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe (fl. 1100-1138 CE). David b. Yiṣḥaq Ibn al-Ṣafaṭ (? אלצפט) acknowledges receipt of a sum of money from Abū l-Barakāt Berakhot b. Yaʿaqov to conduct business with it abroad. When he returns to Egypt, 1/3 of the profit will go to the investor and 2/3 to the active partner. The same David b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi appears in T-S Misc.27.4.28.

Related People

1

Tags

• ib7
• india book
• partnership

1 Transcription

Inferred date

1127–1138 CE

Elʿazar b. Shemarya remarries his divorcee Ḥasana bt. Seʿadya ha-Levi. For their previous marriage contract from 1126 CE, see Yevr. III B 634 + T-S 8J32.1 + Bodl. MS heb. f 108/61 + Bodl. MS heb. b 13/48 (PGPID 7715). (Information from Moshe Yagur and Goitein’s index card.)

Related People

2

1 Discussion

Document date

Tammuz 1411 Seleucid (1100 CE)

Primary languages

Aramaic, Judaeo-Arabic

Ṣadaqa Ibn Ṭayyib. Buyer: Moshe b. Yefet. The slave is a Nubian woman named Tawfīq.

Related People

1

Related Places

1

1 Discussion

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Colophon of a book or scroll. Includes a detailed ownership/acquisition note in Judaeo-Arabic, and underneath in a different hand a dedication to the waqf of …

No Scholarship Records

Fragment of a ketubba (marriage contract). Bride: Fādila bt. Sahl. Little else is preserved, except for part of the dowry list. (Information from Goitein’s index …

1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Dating; Unknown. Involves Moshe b. Aharon ha-Kohen, his brother Shemuel, their sister Sarah, and shares in a house. It seems that Moshe ends up with 1/3 of the house and Sarah with 1/6 of the house. Signed by Yeshuʿa b. Shemarya and Avraham b. [...]. The validation (qiyyum) is signed by Yehuda b. Moshe and Peraḥya b. Sahlān.

Related Places

1

No Scholarship Records

Document date

Shevaṭ 1332 Seleucid (1020 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Persian

Dated: Shevat 1332 Seleucid (1020 CE). Signed by ʿAzarya b. Avraham b. ʿAmmār and Saʿdān b. Daniel b. Saʿdān. Ḥana bat Yisrael b. Yaʿaqov received a payment of 25 dinars (described as qawāmī sulṭānī) in exchange for six pairs of pearls which her husband, Daniel b. Reuven b. ʿAzarya, had illegally appropriated. The pearls belonged to Ḥana and her three brothers, the Tustarī brothers Sahl, Yosef and Saʿīd.

Related Places

1

Tags

• al-tustari
• court record
• jewels
• theft

1 Transcription 1 Translation

Document date

Kislev 1274 Seleucid (31 October 962–29 November 962 CE)

Primary language

Hebrew

Polemicizes against "Kaḥshon and Shevira" i.e. Naḥshon and Sherira (b. Ḥananya, the future Gaʾon). He complains that his former letter had been disregarded, and requests to show honour to his messenger, Shelomob. ʿEli, known as b. Ṭavnay. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 54 and from the Bodleian Genizah site).

Related People

1

Related Places

2

Tags

• babylonian academies
• geonim

1 Transcription

Primary language

Arabic

On verso there is a note in Hebrew stating that a certain pamphlet (קטרס) belongs to the teacher ʿAmram b. Moshe.

No Scholarship Records

Document date

1367 Seleucid (1055–1056 CE)

Ketubba fragment (upper right corner). Dated: 1367 Seleucid, which is 1055/56 CE. Groom: Avraham. Bride: Wuḥsha bt. Yeshuʿa. The trousseau list mentions golden earrings (akhrāṣ …

1 Discussion

Document date

first third of Iyyar 1414 Seleucid (11 April 1103–20 April 1103 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Dated: first third of Iyyar, 1414 Seleucid, which is 1103 CE. Labwa b. Efrayim known as Ibn al-Malaṭī (אלמלטי) and her paternal uncle ʿEli, each of whom had been willed one-half of Efrayim's estate agree to be satisfied with the assets held by each side and to release each other from any further claims.

Related Places

1

1 Discussion

Primary language

Hebrew

A Karaite marriage contract (ketubba) between Yiṣḥaq b. Yosef and Karīma bt. Avraham, whose father is also her legal representative. Karīma was perhaps a Rabbanite, as one of the witnesses was Yaʿaqov b. Hillel ibn ʿAwkal. The early marriage gift (muqdam) was only 3 dinars, for a grand total of 77 dinars.

Related Places

1

1 Transcription 1 Translation 1 Discussion

Document date

Last third of Tammuz 1505 Seleucid (1194 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

In the hand of the court scribe Yosef b. Shemuel b. Seʿadya ha-Levi (c.1181–1209). The slave (waṣīf) is an Indian man possibly named Padan (? […] Seller: the druggist Abū l-Ḥasan Yefet b. Nadiv ha-Levi. Buyer: Abū a-Mufaḍḍal al-Sayrafī b.

Related People

1

Related Places

1

Tags

• slaves

1 Discussion

Document date

Tuesday, 16 Iyyar 1359 Seleucid (3 May 1048 CE)

Primary language

Hebrew

Yosef claims that Shūʿa b. Menaḥem al-Shaʿʿālī (perhaps the same as Yehoshuaʿ b. […] The story also involves Efrayim b. Yiṣḥaq Ibn al-Aʿraj of Malīj. Also mentions a purchase made in the city of Ḥanes (= Tinnīs).

Related Places

1

1 Discussion

Document date

Adar II 1396 Seleucid (28 February 1085–28 March 1085 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Dated: Adar II 1396 Seleucid, which is 1085 CE. Abū l-Ḥusayn Manṣūr b. Yiṣḥaq b. ʿAllūn appoints Efrayim b. Allūn ha-Kohen as his attorney. Signed by David b. Ṣedaqa b. Yisrael; ʿEli b. Efrayim b. ʿEli. The validation is written and signed by Mevasser b. Mevorakh. (Information from Goitein’s index card.)

Related Places

1

Tags

• power of attorney

1 Discussion

Document date

middle third of Kislev 1487 Seleucid (26 November 1175–5 December 1175 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

In the hand of Mevorakh b. Natan. Dated: Middle decade of Kislev 1487 Seleucid = November/December 1175 CE. In which the physician al-Shaykh al-Muhadhdhab Abū l-Faḍāʾil Yequtiel b. Moshe ha-Sar ha-Nikhbad ha-Sofer ha-Mahir Paqid ha-Soḥarim (ZL) sells his slave (waṣīf) Fayrūz who was born into slavery (muwallad) for 12 dinars to his maternal uncle al-Shaykh al-Thiqa Abū l-Barakāt Yehuda b. […] (One incidental detail is that this transaction was witnessed in the house of the seller, who was sick.) Witnesses: Yeshuʿa b. Ḥotam ha-Levi; Moshe b. Avraham ha-Levi. On verso there is a filing note in Arabic script (ʿuhdat Fayrūz).

Related People

1

Related Places

1

Tags

• filing note
• illness
• slaves

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Document date

Nisan 1488 Seleucid (1177 CE)

Primary language

Aramaic

Other names in the document are Bū l-Fakhr and [...] b. ʿUziʾel. Signed by Elʿazar b. Ṣadoq ha-Levi he-Ḥaver; Ḥisd[ay . . . .] ha-Meshorer. […] Gaʾon Yaʿaqov (ZL) and Yosef b. Daniel ha-Levi. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

1 Discussion

Document date

Adar 1522 Seleucid (1211 CE)

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Two lines were added in a different hand, reiterating the main point that it is forbidden to change these traditions, signed by [Nissim] b. Seʿadya ha-Kohen. Verso contains a liturgical composition in a different hand.

Related People

1

Related Places

1

Tags

• avraham maimonides
• liturgy
• prayer reform
• yedutun ha-levi

No Scholarship Records

Document date

21 Ṭevet 1327 Seleucid (5 January 1016 CE)

Primary language

Hebrew

In the time of Efrayim b. Shemarya (who might be called al-Ghazzī here). […] Witnesses: Yehuda b. Ḥadīd(?); [...] ha-Kohen b. Avraham; Shemuel ha-Kohen b. Ṭalyūn (aka Avṭalyon); and Yosef b. Binyamin. (Information in part from Goitein, Med Soc II, 321–22).

Related Places

1

Tags

• prison

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from an otherwise unknown Avraham b. Yosef to the relatively well-known Abū l-Faḍāʾil Ḥayyim b. Ḥananel, who was the son of the judge Ḥananel b. Shemuel (active ca.1211–49), and therefore the brother-in-law of Avraham Maimonides (1186–1237). See Fenton's article for other documents involving Ḥayyim b. Ḥananel. This letter consists almost entirely of deferent formalities and greetings.

Related People

6

Tags

• arabic address
• david i maimonides
• hananel b. shemuel
• pietism

No Scholarship Records

Inferred date

1355–1410 CE

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from the office of the Nagid David II b. Yehoshuaʿ II Maimonides (in office ca. 1355–1410) addressed to the congregation of Fustat.

Related People

1

1 Discussion

Primary language

Hebrew

Letter from Yosef b. Ezra to Yiṣḥaq Ashkenazi (not necessarily Luria, as more than one Yiṣḥaq Ashkenazi was active in trade at this time).

Related Places

2

Tags

• 16th c
• late heb
• libya
• slaves

1 Transcription

Inferred date

1066–1108 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

In the hand of and witnessed by Hillel b. ʿEli (fl. 1066–1108 CE). The dying man appoints his brother as the will’s executor explicitly stating that no court may interfere with his actions.

Related People

3

Related Places

1

Tags

• family
• hillel b. eli
• will

2 Transcriptions 1 Discussion

Primary languages

Aramaic, Judaeo-Arabic

Fragment of a marriage contract (ketubba). Groom: Efrayim ha-Levi. Bride: Sitt al-Ḥusn. Dating: probably 11th century, per Goitein.

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from Labrāṭ b. Moshe b. Sughmār, in al-Mahdiyya, to his brother Yehuda b. Moshe b. Sughmār, in Fustat. Dating: July 30 (26 Av), 1057, based on Gil's assessment. […] See also Goitein, Med Soc III, viii, B, 1 no. 36. VMR. ASE.

Related People

2

Related Places

4

Tags

• emotion
• illness
• illness letter 969-1517
• illness: children's
• illness: critical
• (+ 4 more)

2 Transcriptions 1 Translation 1 Discussion

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from Seʿadya ha-Kohen b. Hillel (aka Saʿd b. Hilāl) Rosh ha-Qahal to Ṭoviyya b. […] He was pained when a letter from Ḥalfon b. Sason to his brother arrived in Toviyya's handwriting (reading חט as כט).

Related People

2

Tags

• to edit
• unrest

1 Discussion

The list is headed by the haver ʿOvadya, presumably the great grandson of Avraham Maimonides bearing that name (b. 1297, d. before 1355). The other names also fit the 14th century, e.g Nasir ("helper," three times), Shams ("sun," 11. 4, 27), Faraj Allah ("God has helped," 11. 8, 14).

Tags

• charity
• communal
• coptic numerals
• donors
• poverty

2 Transcriptions 1 Discussion

Primary language

Arabic

Business letter in Arabic script from an unknown trader to another unknown trader regarding textiles: Siqillī, Ṭabarī, and Sūsī cloth. Second half of the eleventh …

Tags

• aodeh
• textiles

1 Transcription

Document date

Rajab 415 Hijrī (8 September 1024–7 October 1024 CE)

Primary languages

Arabic, Aramaic, Hebrew

In which an official of a congregational mosque, perhaps the chief khaṭīb, complains about delayed payments to the deputy khaṭīb Mūsā b. Azhar. The tenants of the pious foundation (ḥabs) of the mosque have fallen in arrears and owe about ten dinars for the period ending Rajab 415 AH (September 1024). He requests that a decree (manshūr, line 11: literally, an open letter, a decree without a seal) be issued to the governor (ʿāmil) and administrator (mutawallī) of the district that housed the mosque asking them to help the deputy, Mūsā b. Azhar, by supporting his efforts to extract payment from the tenants; by sending him money directly; and by generally enforcing the terms of the trust.

Tags

• dimme
• mazalim
• mosque
• petition
• sitt al-mulk

1 Transcription 1 Translation 1 Discussion