Partnership Agreement (Almería, Spain)

This fragmentary letter marks the continuation of a partnership between Ḥalfon ben Nethanel ha-Levi, an important trader much of whose business archive survived in the Cairo Geniza, and Joseph Ibn al-Naghira, a North African merchant. Ibn al-Naghira took a loan from Ḥalfon, but few details about the trading business survive. Given the distances involved, which stretch across the Mediterranean, this document has numerous witness signatures, included so as to verify its authenticity. A first set of witnesses signed the document in Almería, another set certified it in Alexandria, and yet a third set certified it in Fustāt (Old Cairo). Ellipses indicate lacunae in the manuscript.