Rabbinic Deposition.

(GENIZAH)

Egypt

circa 1150

Judeo-Arabic and Hebrew text on paper. Scribe: Mevorach ben Nathan ben Samuel Chever (whose father was an associate of Judah Halevi)

Legal document stating that a woman named Sumr bat Moshe, the widow of Isaac, and her orphaned sons, Abu’l-Hasan and Abu Ishaq, were charitably housed by the merchant of Fostat, Abu 'l-Ma’ali, known as ibn Asad (Arabic name of Samuel ben Judah). Furthermore, Asad paid off the late Isaac’s creditors. The deposition, on the part of the older son Abu’l-Hasan, attests that he and his younger brother have no financial claim against Asad. The Beth-Din validated the signatures of the two witnesses, Mevorach ben Nathan and Ezekiel ben Nathan. The signatures of the three rabbinic justices are as follows: Chiya bar Isaac, Ephraim bar Meshulam, and Hillel bar Tzadok. Transcription provided by the Genizah expert, the late Prof. S.D. Goiten, who utilizes this document several times in his work, A Mediterranean Society (1988) V pp. 357-8, 605; III, pp. 9, 428.