1 Introduction
I was privileged to be able to work in the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit between 1983 and 1993.1 When trawling through the many manuscript treasures of the Taylor-Schechter collection, I was particularly struck by the relatively large number of Arabic documents in Arabic script, the majority of which had not been published at that time. I collected together a corpus of these documents and published them in 1993 in the volume Arabic Legal and Administrative Documents in Cambridge Genizah Collections (henceforth ALAD).
The legal documents in this corpus included twenty medieval documents of sale of landed property in al-Fusṭāṭ and its environs. Many of the documents of sale recorded a transaction between a Jewish party and Muslim party. It is understandable why contracts in which only one of the parties was Jewish were not made out by a Jewish notary. In some cases, however, the transaction was between two Muslims or between two Jews. Occasionally one of the parties was a Christian.2
During a visit to the National Library of Russia in St Petersburg in 1993,3 I came across two Arabic documents of sale in the Second Firkovitch collection (II Firk. Arab. 1, II Firk. Arab. 3) that were contemporary with the legal documents from the Genizah published in ALAD. These documents complement the ALAD corpus in a number of important ways. I would like, therefore, to devote this paper to a study of these documents from St. Petersburg. Due to exigences of space, I shall publish the full text of only one of the documents (II Firk. Arab. 1).
While I was in St Petersburg, I made a preliminary decipherment of the documents and acquired black-and-white photographs. Those photographs appear at the end of this article (figs. 1–3). The two documents are complete, without lacunae. The majority of the documents in the ALAD corpus, by contrast, have survived only in fragments.
The document that is published below, II Firk. Arab 1, records on its recto the purchase of a portion of a house in Cairo (referred to as al-Muʿizziyyah al-Qāhirah) in 553 AH/1158 CE. On its verso there are two documents recording the subsequent transfer of its ownership in 555 AH/1160 CE and 572 AH/1176 CE respectively. The document II Firk. Arab. 3 records the purchase of the same house in 638 AH/1241 CE. Richards (1972, 108–112) reports discovering a document in the possession of the Karaite community in Cairo that records the later fate of this same house. According to his description of the document (he does not publish the whole text), it records on its recto the transfer of the ownership of the house in 658 AH/1260 CE. On its verso various transactions are recorded. There were transfers of ownership in 663 AH/1265 and 664 AH/1266 CE. A deed of waqf indicates that it was established as a pious foundation in 673 AH/1274 CE for poor Karaites of Cairo and Fusṭāṭ. Further deeds of waqf dated 724 AH/1324 CE indicate the extension of the range of beneficiaries of the waqf. On the verso of the document published here, II Firk. Arab. 1, there is a note in a late (post-15th century) Hebrew hand and late Judaeo-Arabic orthography that reads
So, we are able to trace the history of one particular house in Cairo from the twelfth century CE until the later Middle Ages. As can be seen from the preceding paragraph, the house was in the possession of members of the Karaite community. There is no explicit reference to Karaites in II Firk. Arab. 1, but in II Firk. Arab. 3 the purchaser is described as al-yahūdī … al-qarrāʾ ‘the Karaite Jew’, and it is clear that the later document described by Richards relates to the Karaite community. The presence of legal documents concerning Karaites of Cairo in the Second Firkovitch collection is not surprising, given that Firkovitch appears to have found most manuscripts in this collection among the Karaites of Cairo (Harviainen 1996). The various documents relating to the house are likely to have been originally kept together and passed on to successive owners and then to trustees of the waqf. Vorderstrasse (2013, 284) has argued in relation to medieval Arabic documents of sale that the documents follow people’s property and that ‘The fundamental organizing principle of archives was the properties and not the owners’. This explains why the late note relating to the waqf was attached to the earlier document II Firk. Arab. 1.
In the transaction recorded on the recto of II Firk. Arab. 1 (553 AH/1158 CE) Saʿīd al-Dawlah Abū Manṣūr, the Jewish physician, buys half a house for his wife, who has granted him the right to act as her legal representative (wakīl). He buys this from a certain Abū Aḥmad ʿAlī ibn Abī al-Qāsim, who, judging by his name, was a muslim. The internal layout of the house and its furniture are described in detail, followed by a description of its location in the Zuwaylah district of Cairo. On the right side of the verso, a faṣl ‘supplementary document’ (555 AH/1160 CE) records the transfer of ownership of half of the house to a certain Abū al-Ḥasan ibn Ḥusayn, the money changer. On the left side of the verso, another faṣl (572 AH/1176 CE) records the subsequent transfer of the half portion of the house from the ownership of Abū al-Ḥasan, who is described here as ‘the Jew’, to the ownership of his son, Hibah. II Firk. Arab. 3 (638 AH/1241 CE) records the purchase of the whole house (jamīʿ al-dār al-kāmilah) by the Jew Nuṣayr ibn Abī Isḥāq ibn Abī al-Ḥasan from Abū al-Faḍl ibn Abī Naṣr, the Jewish secretary (kātib).
2 Edition and Translation4
II Firk. Arab. 1
Parchment; 88.5 cm × 34 cm.
2.1 Recto
-
ثبت والحمد لله موفق من توكل عليه -
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله وحده [وصلوته على سيـ ]ـدنا محمد نبيـ [ـنا وا ]له وسلامة -
هذا ما اشترى الشيخ سعيد الدولة ابو منصور بن الشيخ رشيد الدولة ابو [الـ ]ـفرج اليهودى والمتطبب لزوجته على ما حكاه بنت القوم امة القادر المعزية -
الاطرابلسية اليهودية المراة الكامل ابنة معمر اليهودى الصائغ المعزى بمالها وامرها واذنها له فى ذلك وضمانه الدرك فيها من ابى احمد على بن ابى القسم -
العسقلانى المعزى بالمشهد الحسينى الشريف علي ساكنه افضل السلام والتحية والاكرام وشهوده به عارفون وله مثبتون اشترى منه لها صفقة [واحدة وعقدا ] -
واحدا جميع الحصة التى مبلغها النصف اثنا عشر سهما من اربعة وعشرين سهما شائعا غير مقسوم من جميع الدار التى ياتى ذكرها ووصفها وتحديدها فى هذ [ا الكتاب ] -
الذى ذكر هذا البائع ان هذه الحصة من جميعها له وفى يده وملكه ملكا صحيحا وحقا واجبا ثابتا فى يده وهى الدار التى بالمعزية القاهرة المحروسة بحارة -
زويلة بطرف حارة سرور اللولوى المجاورة الدار الملاصقة [بالدر ]ب المـ [ـعر ]وف بالترجمان ذات الباب المربع والدهليز يصار منه الى قاعة سفل ذات الباب المربع وعلـ [ـيه ] -
فردة باب وذات المرحاض على يمنة من دخل من باب هذه القاعة وذات الباب الثانى المربع وعليه زوج ابواب يدخل منه الى القاعة ذات مجلس حيرى بكمين وعليـ [ـهما ] -
فردى كمية كل منهما زوج ابواب منهم باب المجلس منقوش وذات المجلس المذكور وعلى يمنة من دخله خزانة بغير ابواب وعلو الخزانة كندوج وذات الخرستانان الذى فى -
مجلسها بغير ابواب والصفتين المتقابلتين وعلو كل منهما كندوج وذات الاربع خرستانات المتقابلات بغير ابواب وذات السدلا اللطيف والمطبخ الذى بجواره -
الذى هو تحت سُلم هذه الدار المذكورة الحقوق وذات السلم الذى فى دهليزها المقابل لباب قاعتها المعقود بالحجر على يسرة من دخل باب هذه الدار يصعد من عليه الى علـ [ـوه ] -
مقابل من طلع من السلم احد الكندوجين الذى هو علو صفة قاعتها المقدم ذكرها ويصعد من على المذكور الى مسترقة مطلة على وجه باب هذه الدار فيها شباك -
خشب وطاقات للتطلع وذات المرحاض وهو نهاية قناة هذه الدار المجاور لمسترقتها وذات المرافق والحقوق ويصعد من على السلم المذكور الى طبقتين متجاورتين وصفة احداهما -
انها ذات باب مربع بزوج ابواب غير منقوشة على يسرة من طلع من السلم يدخل منه فى مجاز على يمنة من دخل الطبقة الى مجلس على يسرة من دخل المجاز ذات بـ [ـاب ] -
مربع بزوج ابواب منقوشة يدخل منه الى مجلسها ذات الباداهنج على يمنة من دخل من باب المجلس وقبالته صفة وخرستانات ويدخل من المجاز الى المطبخ عليه فردة باب وعلوه كندوج فى [ ] -
باب معلق عليه وفى صدر المطبخ المذكور كندوج سفلى وذات الطاقة فى المجاز يودى النور الى قاعتها وصفة الطبقة الاخرى ذات باب مربع عليه [زوج ] -
ابواب غير منقوشة ويدخل منه الى دور قاعة مبلطة بالكذان وذات الصفة والمخدمات التى بجوارها وذات المجلس عليه زوج ابواب منقوشة تقابل صفتها ذات البا [داهنج ] -
والطاقات للتطلع وباب مربع والخرستانان المقابلان وعلى كل منهما زوج ابواب منقوشة وذات الخزانة الكسوة الذى على يمنة من دخل من باب هذه الطبقة الذى علوها الكند [وج ] -
الذى بابه فوق المطبخ الذى فى الطبقة الاولى ذات الشباك الخشب الذى يودى النور الى مُسترقتها ومرحاضها السفلى ويُصار من على السلم المذكور الى علوها ذات -
الكندوج الذى على سلمها وعليه فردة باب وعلى الكندُوج سلم مَعقُود بالحجر يصعد من عليه الى كنيسة عليها فردة باب والمرافق والحقوق ويصعد من على السلم المذكور -
الى سطوحها العالية عليها المخضرة ودور القاعة ويمشى من على السُطوح فى مجاز دور قاعتها الى طبقة عليها زوج ابواب منقوشة فيها خزانة بفردة باب على يسرة الد [ا ]خل -
اليها وفى صدرها طاقات ويحيط بها ويجمعها ويشتمل عليها وعلى سائر حقوقها كلها حدود اربعة الحد الاول منها وهو القبلى ينتهى الى الدا [ر ] -
المعروفة بابى الفرج بن سباع اليهودى الكاتب وتعرف قبله ببنت ابو البركات والحد الثانى وهو البحرى ينتهى الى الطريق الشارع المسلوك منه الى ازقة هـ [ـذه ] -
الحارة ونفاذها وفيه يشرع بابها ويطل عليه روشنها وطاقاتها والحد الثالث وهو الشرقى ينتهى الى دار تُعرف بناشية ابنة ابرهيم ابن شعيا اليهودى -
والحد الرابع وهو الغربى ينتهى الى الدار المعروفة بابى الفضل البزاز المعروفة بابن خوار بحدود جــــــــــــــميع ما وقع عليه عقد هذا البيع وحـ [ـدوده ] -
وبنائه وبابه وقاعته السفل وسلمه وطباقه ومجازه وخزانته وصفته وابوابه المنقوشة وطاقاته وباداهنجاته وطوبته ولبنه وخشبه وفضته وخزينه وما يعرف -
به وينسب اليه من حقوقها كلها بخمسة وستين دينارا ذهبا عينا وازنة محققة جيادا شرى قاطعًا ماضيا جائزا نافذا صحيحا لا شرط فيه -
يفسده ولا علة عليه تبطله ولا على سبيل رهن ولا معاملة ولا توثق فى مداينة ودفع هذا المشترى من خالص مال زوجته المشترى لها الى هذا البائع جميع -
الثمن المذكور وهو من العين الوازن الجيد المحقق خمسة وستون دينارا فتسلمها منه وصار فى يده وقبضه وحوزه وتسلم وابراه والمشترى لها من وزنه ونقده وعدده ومن اليمين علـ [ـيه ] -
او على شى منه براة صحيحة براة وقطع وفصل وسلم البائع الى المشترى جميع النصف اثنا عشر سهما المشاع مفرغ لا مشاغل له فتسلمه منه كذلك وصار فى يده وقبضه -
وحوزه ومالا من مال المشترى لها تتصرف فيه وفيما شات منه تصرف المالكين فى املاكهم بغير مانع ولا معترض وذلك بعد النظر والتفرق بالابدان فما ادرك فيما وقع -
عليه عقد هذا البيع المذكور من درك من احدٍ من سائر الناس عليهم اجمعين فضمانه على هذا البائع حتى يسلم ذلك الى من يجب تسليمه اليه من رد ثمن وقيا [م ] -
بقيمة وتسليم من قليل وكثير على اتم الضمانات واصح الكفلات واوفاها واكدها بحق هذا البيع وضمان الدرك الموصوفين فيه وقد احضر البائع فى يده كتاب يشهد -
له بصحة ملكه لما باعه النصف من الدار المذكورة وكتاب بان اصلا له وقد كتب على ظهر كل منهما اقرار يشهد بهذا البيع تاريخه تاريخ هذا الكتاب وشهوده -
شهوده وتسلمهما المشترى لمن سميت فيه وصارا فى يده حجة له وثقة لليوم ولما بَعدُ شهد على اقرار المتبائعين بما فيه وكتب فى اليوم مستهل ربيع الاخر -
سنة ثلث وخمسين وخمسمائة فيه مصلح هو المسطور ما مثاله الفرج وقناة وعلى يمنة من دخل من باب المجلس وتحتها وللتطلع وعلى يسرة الداخل اليها ومستهل -
وهو صحيح وكتب فتوح بن على وقد علم هذا المشترى ان هذه الدار مشققة الحيطان زالقة الاركان مُغدَرة وبعض جُدرانها مبنى بطوب وبخشب وانها -
لا انتفاع بها الا بعد هدمها وعمارتها وابرا البائع عن اذن المشترا لها من جميع العيوب براة قاطعة لليوم وما بعده وعلى ذلك شهد فى التاريخ
2.2 Recto, Witness Clauses
-
شهد على بن منصور بن عبد الله بن على -
على اقرار البائع والبيع وقبض الثمن والمشترى -
لمن سميت معهما بضمان الكتاب كل منهم فيه بتاريخه والمبلغ ٦٥ -
وشهد عليهما فى صحة منهما وجواز امر وهو بهما -
عارف
-
شهد على بن عبد الله بن محمد بن على -
على اقرار البائع والمشترى -
لمن سميت فيه وكتب فى تاريخه -
فى صحة منهما وجواز امر وهو بالبائع والمشترى -
لمن سميت فيه عارف -
وما علم مغيرا لشهادته هذه الى حين ادائها -
شهد عندى ذلك والثقة بالله
-
شهد هبة الله بن محمد بن الحسن -
على اقرار البائع والمشترى لمن سميت -
معه فيه بما ضمنه هذا الكتاب وكتب بتاريخه -
وشهد عليهما فى صحة منهما وسلامة -
وجواز امر وهو بهما عارف وما علم مغيرا -
لشهادته هذه الى حين ادائها
-
شهد صالح بن على بن احمد بن على على اقرار البائع -
والمشترى لمن سميت معه فيه بما فيه بتاريخ شهر -
ربيع الاخر سنة ثلث وخمسين وخمسمائة فى صحة منهما وجواز -
امر وهو بهما عارف وما علم مغيرا لشهادته هذه -
الى حين ادائها شهد عندى ذلك والثقة بالله
2.3 Right Margin
-
اشهدنى البائع والمشترى لمن سميت فيه ذلك وكتب محمد بن على بن احمد بن على فى مستهل ربيع الاخر سنة ثلث وخمسين وخمسمائة -
وشهد عليهما فى صحة منهما وجواز امر وهو بالبائع والمشترى عارف شهد عندى ذلك والثقة بالله
2.4 Recto, Textual Notes
| Line 4 |
The readings |
| Line 7 |
|
| Line 18 |
The scribe first wrote |
| Line 20 |
A redundant dot is written over the ḥāʾ in |
| Line 25 |
Nāšiyah ibnat Ibrāhīm ibn Šaʿyā al-Yahūdī. The name was first written |
| Lines 36–37 |
Apart from the last word, all other words and phrases listed as corrections are clearly later corrections in the document, either inserted above the line or written over the original. The word |
2.5 Verso, Right Column
-
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله شكرا -
اقر الشيخ سعيد الدولة ابو منصور بن الشيخ رشيد الدولة ابى الفرج اليهودى المتطبب وهو المشترى -
المسمى باطنه ووكيل زوجته المشترا لها المسمى باطنه والقائم عنها فى هذا الاقرار باحكام -
الوكالة التى بيده منها واقامته فيها مقام نفسها يقوم مقامها واصارت فعله وامضت اقرار -
فصل يقر به بيع ما يرى بيعه عنها من ربعها وعقارها بيعا قاطعا وضمانا وهذا -
كتاب المبايعة والاشهاد فيه وقبل ذلك منها قبولا صحيحا وتاريخها الثانى والعشرين من شهر -
محرم سنة خمس وخمسين وخمسمائة وشاهداها القاضيان الفقيه ثقة الدولة ابو محمد عبد الله -
بن احمد بن على بن عمر والموتمن السعيد عماد الملك امين الدولة ومكينها صنيعة امير المومنين ابو المجيد -
خليل بن نصر بن الحسن الخزرجى عند شهود هذا الفصل طوعا فى صحة عقله وبدنه وجواز -
امر غير مكره ولا مجبر ولا مضطهد انه قد انتقل عن يد موكلته وخرج من ملكها الى ملك -
ابى الحسن بن حسين اليهودى الصيرفى المعروف بابن التنيسى جميع الحصة التى مبلغها النصف -
اثنا عشر سهما من اربعة وعشرين سهما شائعا غير مقسوم من جميع الدار المحدودة -
الموصوفة بباطنه بحق الابتياع القاطع الماضى الصحيح بكتاب شهد بذلك تاريخه -
موافق لتاريخه وشهوده شهوده بثمن مبلغه من العين خمسون دينارا قبضها منه وصارت فى -
يده ولم يبق لموكلته فيها حق ولا طلب بسبب ملك ولا يد ولا سكنى ولا اجرة ولا اجارة -
ولا استحقاق منفعته بوجه ولا سبب وضمن الدرك عن موكلته ضمان الدرك بماله فى مال زوجته -
وذلك فى التاسع والعشرين من شهر ربيع الاول سنة خمس وخمسين وخمسمائة
2.6 Witness Clauses, Verso, Right Column
-
اشهدنى الوكيل -
المقر به فيه كتب القاضى المخلص -
فى الخامس من ربيع الاخر -
سنة خمس وخمسين وخمسمائة
-
اشهدنى الوكيل بذلك -
وهو المقر القاضى المخلص السعيد -
فى الخامس من ربيع الاخر -
سنة خمس وخمسين وخمسمائة
-
اشهدنى الشيخ سعيد الدولة الوكيل -
المقر بذلك وكتب شاكر بن عبد الله بن نصر بن على -
فى الخامس من ربيع الاخر سنة خمس وخمسين وخمسمائة
2.7 Verso, Textual Notes
| Line 4 |
|
| Line 5 |
|
2.8 Verso, Left Column
-
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم -
اقر ابو الحسن بن حسين بن ابو الحسن اليهودى المعزى وهو المـ [ـشترى -
المكتتب قرينه وهو يومئذ رجل كهل رقيق السمرة [ ] -
واضح الجبهة وبها غضون اشهل العينين اقنى الانف مستدير اللحيـ [ـة عند شهود ] -
هذا الفصل واشهدهم على نفسه بما فيه فى صحة عقله وجو [از امر ] -
وهو طائع غير مكره ولا مجبر ولا مضطهد انه قد خرج من [يده ] -
وانتقل من ملكه الى ملك ولده هبة الرجل الكامل جـ [ـميع ] -
الدار المحدودة الموصوفة بباطنه من ذلك ما يشهد به با [طنه ] -
النصف اثنا عشر سهما من اربعة وعشرين سهما شائعا غير مقـ [ـسوم ] -
من جميعها وتتمة الدار المذكورة يشهد بها كتاب ثان قد كتب -
على ظهره فصل بهذا البيع تاريخه تاريخه وشهوده شهوده بثمن -
مبلغه من العين الوازن الجيد المحقق المصرى مائة دينار -
برى اليه منها هذا المشترى حسب ما يشهد بذلك -
كتاب المبايعة المكتتب بينهما القاطع الماضى الصحيح الجايز -
النافذ المضمن قبض الثمن والتسليم والرويا وضمان الدرك -
والافتراق بالابدان الموافق تاريخه بناريخه وشهوده شهوده -
ولم يبق لهذا المقر فى جميع هذه الدار المبيعة يوم تاريخه -
حق ولا طلب بسبب ملك ولا يد ولا ارت ولا موروث -
ولا استحقاق منفعة ولا سكنا ولا رويا ولا اخر بوجه ولا سبب -
شهد على اقرار المقر بما نسب اليه فيه فى اليوم المبارك -
المورخ الخامس عشر من جمادى الاخر سنة اثنتين وسبعين وخمسمائة اربعة نسخ
2.9 Verso, Left Column, Textual Notes
| Line 18 |
Two diacritical dots of tāʾ are written in the document, although the word in Classical Arabic has ṯāʾ ( |
At the top right of the verso, there are remnants of two medieval notes in Arabic script. One consists of one line, the last word of which is
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אצל וקפייא קדים -
רחבת שרור -
אללולוי
-
Old document relating to a pious foundation.
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The square of Surūr,
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the pearl-dealer.
The orthography
Over the left column there are remants of a medieval note of two lines in Arabic script, none of which can be read with any certainty. There is also a note in late Hebrew script, in the same hand as the note above the right column. This note reads:
2.10 Translation
2.10.1 Recto
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It has been registered. Praise be to God. He who relies on Him is granted success.
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In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate. Praise be to God alone [and His blessings be upon] our Lord Muḥammad, his prophet and his family, and safety.
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This is what the elder Saʿīd al-Dawlah Abū Manṣūr the son of Rashīd al-Dawlah, Abū al-Faraj, the Jewish physician, bought for his wife, (whose name is) according to his report Bint al-Qawm (‘daughter of the people)’, Amat al-Qādir (‘handmaid of the Mighty One’), the Cairene,
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the Tripolitanian Jewess, an adult woman, the daughter of Muʿammar, the Jew, the Cairene goldsmith, with her money and by her command and permission to him with regard to that and (granting him authority) to guarantee against claims from a third party with regard to it, (he bought) from Abū Aḥmad ʿAlī ibn Abī al-Qāsim
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originating from Ascalon, the Cairene, in the shrine of the noble al-Ḥusayn—on its resident (i.e. al-Ḥusayn) may there be the most excellent peace, greeting, and respect. His witnesses are acquainted with him and verify his identity. He bought from him for her, with one clapping the hand [and one contract]
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all the portion that amounts to a half, twelve shares from twenty-four shares, held in common, not divided, of all the house that will be mentioned, described and whose boundaries will be identified in this [document.]
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This seller stated that this portion of all of it (the house) belonged to him and was in his possession and his ownership, with a valid ownership, a binding established right in his possession. It is the house that is in al-Muʿizziyyah, Cairo—may it be protected—in the district
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of Zuwaylah, on the edge of the neighbouring district of Surūr al-Luʾluʾlī, the house that abuts the street known as al-Turjumān, with a square doorway, and a corridor from which one enters the courtyard of a ground floor with a square doorway, in which
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is a single-leaf door, and with a washroom on the right of somebody who has entered from the door of this courtyard, and with a second square doorway, in which there is a double-leaf door, through which one enters the courtyard, with a T-shaped living room with two vestibules, over which
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there are two single chests, each (vestibule) with a pair of door leaves, of these the door of the living room is engraved; and (the house) contains the aforementioned living room and on the right of somebody who has entered it is a storage chest without doors, and over the storage chest is a cabinet; and (the house) contains two shelves, which are in
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its living room, without doors, and two facing seats, over both of which there is a cabinet, and (the house also) contains four facing shelves without doors and a small couch, and a kitchen near to it,
-
which is under the staircase of this house whose rights have been mentioned, and (the house) contains a staircase in its corridor facing the door of its courtyard that is arched in stone on the left of somebody who has entered the door of this house, on which one climbs to its upper floor;
-
facing somebody who has come up from the staircase is one of the cabinets, which is above the bench of the aforementioned courtyard. One ascends from this to a loggia, which overlooks the front of the door of this house, in which there is
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a wooden lattice and windows to look down from; and (the house) contains a washroom, which is the end of the conduit of this house, next to its loggia; and (the house) includes amenities and rights. One ascends from the aforementioned staircase to two adjacent upstairs apartments. The description of one of them
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is that it has a square doorway with a pair of unengraved door leaves, on the left of somebody who has come up from the stairs. From this one enters, through a passage on the right of somebody who has entered the apartment, into a living room. On the left of somebody who has entered the passage (there is an apartment) with
-
a square doorway with a pair of engraved door leaves, through which one enters its living room. (The house) has a ventilation shaft on the right of somebody who has entered from the door of the living room, and opposite is a bench and storage shelves. One enters by a passage to the kitchen, which has a single door, above which is a cabinet in [ ]
-
a door suspended over it. In the wall opposite the entrance of the kitchen, there is a lower cabinet. (The house) has a window in the passage, which brings light to its courtyard. The description of the other upper apartment is that it has a square doorway with [a pair]
-
of unengraved door leaves. One enters through it to a lowered reception area paved with tuff gravel. (The house) contains a bench and service rooms close to it. It contains a living room with a pair of engraved doors opposite its bench. It contains a ventilation shaft
-
and windows for looking out of, and a square door, and two facing shelves, on both of which are a pair of engraved doors. It contains a wardrobe, which is on the right of somebody who has entered from the door of this upper apartment, above which is a cabinet,
-
the door of which (i.e., of the cabinet) is above the kitchen that is in the first upper apartment. (The house) contains a wooden lattice, which brings light to its loggia and its lower washroom. One goes up from the aforementioned staircase upstairs. (The house) contains
-
a cabinet, which is on its staircase, which has a single door leaf, and above the cabinet is a staircase with a stone arch, by which one ascends to a hut, which has a single-leaf door, and amenities and rights. One ascends by the aforementioned staircase
-
to its upper roofs, on which is a garden and a lowered reception area. From the roofs, one walks along the passage of the reception area to an upper apartment, which has a pair of engraved door leaves, in which is a storage container with a single door on the left of one entering
-
it (i.e., the apartment), and on the wall facing the entrance there are windows. Four boundaries surround it, contain it and surround it and all the rest of its rights. Its first boundary, which is the southern one, extends to the house
-
known by (the name of) Abū al-Faraj ibn Sibāʿ, the Jewish secretary, and before him, it was known by (the name of) Bint Abū al-Barakāt. The second boundary, which is the northern one, extends to the thoroughfare leading from it to lanes of this
-
district and its thoroughfares, and onto this opens its (the house’s) door and its window balcony and windows overlook it. Its third boundary, which is the eastern one, extends to a house known by (the name of) Nāšiyah ibnat Ibrāhīm ibn Šaʿyā al-Yahūdī.
-
The fourth boundary, which is the western one, extends to the house known by (the name of) Abū al-Faḍl, the cloth merchant, known (also) by (the name of) Ibn Ḵuwār; with the boundaries of all that the contract of this sale entailed, namely its boundaries,
-
its structure, its door, its lower courtyard, its staircase, its upper apartments, its passage, its storeroom, its bench, its engraved doors, its windows, its ventilation shafts, its brick, its baked bricks, its unbaked bricks, its timber, its silver, its treasury,
-
all its rights, by which it is know and which are attributed to it, for sixty-five dīnārs, gold, in minted coin, full weight, verified, of good alloy, a decisive, effective, permitted, operative, valid sale, without a condition
-
that may corrupt it, without a defect that may invalidate it, it being not by way of pledge, nor trading, nor surety for a debt. This buyer paid from the clear money of his wife, for whom it was bought, to this seller all
-
the aforementioned price, this being sixty-five dīnārs, in minted coin, full weight, good alloy and verified. He (the buyer) received these from him and it came into his hand, his possession, and his ownership. He received them and released him and the woman for whom it was bought from its payment, disbursement and counting out, and from an oath upon it
-
or upon any part of it, with a valid release, a release, a decisive act and a severance. The seller delivered to the buyer all the half, twelve shares, held in common, cleared, without encumbrances, and he (the buyer) in turn received it from him and it came into this hand, his possession,
-
and his ownership, part of the property of the woman for whom it was bought. She is free to dispose of it or of whatever she wants of it in the way that owners are free to dispose of their property, without anybody preventing or obstructing. This was after they had inspected (the house) and separated from one another physically. Whatever claim relating to fault in ownership is made against them in respect of what
-
the contract of the aforementioned sale entailed by any other people, this seller is obliged to stand warranty for it and deliver that to whomsoever be owed, by way of returning a price, or vouching
-
for a value, and the handing over of anything whatsoever, little or much, with the fullest warranties, and the most valid, complete, and secure guarantees, for the sake of this sale and warranty against a claim described herein. The seller brought in his hand a document testifying
-
in his support to the validity of his ownership of what he sold, the aforementioned half of the house, and he has a document with the status of a primary document (i.e. a certificate of his original ownership), and on the verso of each of them was written an acknowledgement of this sale, its date being the date of this document and its witnesses being
-
its witnesses, and the buyer for the person named (herein) received them both and they came into his hand as a proof for him and a security for today and for the future. The acknowledgment of the transacting parties of what is in it was witnessed. It was written on the first day of Rabīʿ II,
-
in the year five hundred and fifty-three (5 May, 1158 CE). It contains corrections, including the following, which have been written (in the document): ‘al-Faraj’, ‘conduit’, ‘on the right of somebody who has entered from the door of the living room’, ‘under it’, ‘for looking’, ‘on the left of one entering it’ and ‘beginning’.
-
This is correct. It was written by Futūḥ ibn ʿAlī. This buyer is aware of the fact that this house has cracked walls, is of unstable structure, is neglected, and some of its walls are built with brick and wood, and that
-
it cannot be used except after demolishing them and rebuilding them, and he (the buyer) released the seller, with permission of the woman for whom it was bought, from the (liability of) all the faults with a decisive release for today and thereafter. This was witnessed on the date (it was written).
2.10.2 Recto, Witness Clauses
-
ʿAlī ibn Manṣūr ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAlī witnessed
-
the acknowledgement of the seller, the sale, the receipt of the price, and (the acknowledgement) of the buyer
-
for the woman named together with them in the contents of the document, each of them in it, on its date. Its amount is 65.
-
He witnessed them in sound health and legally capable of conducting their affairs, and he was
-
acquainted with them.
-
ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī witnessed
-
the acknowledgement of the seller and the buyer
-
for the woman named in it and (that) it was written on its date
-
(they being) in sound health and legally capable of conducting their affairs; and he is acquainted with the seller and the buyer
-
for the woman named therein.
-
He was not aware of any reason to change this testimony of his up to the time he performed it.
-
This was witnessed in my presence, and my trust is in God.
-
Hibat Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan witnessed
-
the acknowledgement of the seller and the buyer for the woman named
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with him in it in the content of this document and he wrote (this) on its date.
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He witnessed them to be in sound health, well,
-
and legally capable of conducting their affairs, and he is acquainted with them. He was not aware of any reason to change
-
this testimony of his up to the time he performed it.
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Ṣāliḥ ibn ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī witnessed the acknowledgement of the seller
-
and the buyer for the woman named with him in it on the date of the month
-
of Rabīʿ II, in the year five hundred and fifty-three, they being in sound health and legally capable of conducting
-
their affairs, and he is acquainted with them. He was not aware of any reason to change this testimony of his
-
up to the time he performed it. This was witnessed in my presence, and my trust is in God.
2.10.3 Right Margin
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The seller and the buyer for the woman mentioned in it called me to witness that. This was written by Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī at the beginning of Rabīʿ II, in the year five hundred and fifty-three.
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He witnessed them while they were in good health and legally capable of conducting their affairs, and he is acquainted with the seller and the buyer. This was witnessed in my presence, and my trust is in God.
2.10.4 Verso, Right Column
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In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate
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The elder, Saʿīd al-Dawlah Abū Manṣūr son of the elder Rašīd al-Dawlah Abū al-Faraj, the Jewish
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physician, he being the buyer named on the recto, and the agent of his wife for whom the purchase was made, named on the recto, and standing for her in this acknowledgement by authority of the documents of power
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of attorney that are in his hand issued by her, in which she appointed him in her place to take her place, authorised his action and endorsed the acknowledgement
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of a supplementary document, in which is acknowledged the sale of whatever he sees fit to sell on her behalf of her residence and her property, by a decisive sale with warranty. This
-
is the document of the transaction and the witnessing of it. This was received from her with a valid receipt. Its date is the twenty second of the month
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of Muḥarram, in the year five hundred and fifty-five. Her two witnesses are the two judges the jurisprudent Trust of the Dynasty Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh
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ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿUmar and the Blessed Trusted One, Support of the Kingdom, Trustworthy of the Dynasty and its Powerful One, the Protégé of the Commander of the Faithful, Abū al-Majīd
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Ḵalīl ibn Naṣr ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ḵazrajī, in the presence of the witnesses of this supplementary document, willingly, in healthy mind and body, legally capable of conducting
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his affairs, not forced, nor coerced, nor constrained, (the elder, Saʿīd al-Dawlah) acknowledged that it (the property) has moved from the possession of the woman who appointed him as her representative and has left her ownership and (has been transferred) to the ownership
-
of Abū al-Ḥasan ibn Ḥusayn, the money changer, known as Ibn al-Tinnīsī, all the portion that amounts to a half,
-
twelve shares from twenty-four shares, held in common, not divided, of all the house that is defined
-
and described on the recto, by right of a decisive, effective and valid purchase in a document that testified to that, its date
-
corresponding to its (i.e. the current document’s) date and its witnesses being its (i.e. the current document’s) witnesses, at a price amounting to fifty dīnārs, which he received from him and they came into
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his possession. The woman who appointed (her husband) as her representative no longer had any right or claim due to ownership, possession, habitation, rent, lease,
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right to usufruct, in any way whatsoever. He stood warranty for a claim from a third party on behalf of the woman who had appointed him as her agent, with a warranty against a claim with his wealth against the wealth of his wife.
-
This was on the twenty ninth of the month of Rabīʿ I, in the year five hundred and fifty-five (14 April, 1160 CE).
2.10.5 Witness Clauses, Verso, Right Column
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The agent who is the acknowledger of this called me to witness. Written by the sincere judge
-
on the fifth of Rabīʿ II
-
in the year five hundred and fifty-five.
-
The agent in this document, who is the acknowledger, called me to witness, the sincere and blessed judge,
-
on the fifth of the month of Rabīʿ II,
-
in the year five hundred and fifty-five.
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The elder Saʿīd al-Dawlah, the agent who is the acknowledger in this (document) called me to witness, written by Šākir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Naṣr ibn ʿAlī,
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on the fifth of Rabīʿ II, in the year five hundred and fifty-five.
2.10.6 Verso, Left Column
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In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate
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Abū al-Ḥasan ibn Ḥusayn ibn Abū al-Ḥasan, the Cairene Jew, who is the buyer
-
written in the adjacent document, he being on this day a middle-aged man, of pure (i.e. uniform) brown complexion […]
-
with a smooth forehead, on which are wrinkles, with dark brown eyes, with a hooked nose and a round beard, in the presence of the witnesses
-
of this supplementary document, and he called them to witness for himself with regard to what is contained in it, he being in sound mind and legally capable of conducting [his affairs],
-
willing, not forced, nor coerced, nor constrained, acknowledged that all the house that has been defined and described on the recto, (namely the portion) of this that has been testified to on the recto, a half, twelve shares from twenty-four shares, held in common, not divided, of all of the aforementioned house and its totality, has left his possession and has been transferred from his ownership to the ownership of his son, Hiba, who is an adult man. This is testified to by a second document that was written
-
on its verso as a supplementary document concerning this sale, its (the other document’s) date is the (same as) its (the document’s) date, and its witnesses are the same as its witnesses, for a price
-
amounting to one hundred Egyptian dīnārs, in minted coin, of full weight, of good alloy, verified.
-
This buyer was released from these (the hundred dīnārs after paying them) to him (the seller), as is testified to by
-
the document of the transaction that was drawn up between them, this being decisive, effective, valid, permitted,
-
operative, which includes (a record of) the receipt of the price, the delivery, the inspection, the warranty against claims from a third party,
-
and the physical separation of the parties. Its date was the same as its (this document’s) date and its witnesses were the same as its (this document’s) witnesses.
-
This acknowledger no longer had with regard to all of the house that was sold this day
-
any right, claim due to ownership, nor possession, nor legacy, nor inheritance,
-
nor right of usufruct, habitation, examination, nor any other claim whatsoever.
-
The acknowledgement of the acknowledger of what is attributed to him in it (i.e. the primary ʾaṣl document) was witnessed on this blessed day,
-
which is the date of the fifteenth of Jumādā II, in the year of five hundred and seventy-two (25 December 1176). In four copies (i.e., copies of the primary ʾaṣl document).
3 Commentary
3.1 Notes on the Text’s Contents
3.1.1 Recto
Line 1:
Line 3: The buyer has the title Saʿīd al-Dawlah (‘Blessed One of the Dynasty’) and his father has the title Rašīd al-Dawlah (‘Rightly Guided One of the Dynasty’). Such honorific titles, which were bestowed by the Fāṭimid régime, reflect the fact that the bearers had some kind of affiliation to a government office. Since the buyer is described as a physician (mutaṭabbib), this was presumably due to his affiliation to a government hospital, i.e. one founded by a Muslim ruler. It was the more prominent physicians who worked in the hospitals (Goitein 1971, 250). He may have also served in the Fāṭimid court. The Genizah documents refer to several Jews who bore such honorific titles, e.g. T-S Ar. 7.23 (
The names of the buyer’s wife Bint al-Qawm (‘Daughter of the People)’, Amat al-Qādir (‘Handmaid of the Mighty’), reflect the prominent status and wealth of her family. The latter name is attested in T-S Ar.38.85 (ALAD 39), line 11. A possible alternative reading would be
Many of the richest Jews in medieval Egypt and of those connected with the government (such as the Tustarī family) were Karaites. They, indeed, became the principal link to the government for Rabbanites, who wrote petitions to them; cf. Goitein (1971), Rustow (2008, 176–199).
Line 3: The husband acts as representative for his wife. This authority was granted to him by her through a document of power of attorney, which is referred to on the verso, right column, 3–4 (b-aḥkām al-wikālah allatī bi-yadi-hi min-hā ‘by authority of the documents of power of attorney from her that are in his hand’). Compare T-S Ar. 53.66 in the ALAD corpus (no. 16, p. 129.), in which the buyer acts as a representative for the sister of the seller. The formula in T-S Ar. 53.66 is hāḏā mā ʾištará PN1 li-PN2 bi-māli-hā wa-ʾamri-hā min PN3 ‘This is what PN1 bought for PN2 with her money and her command from PN3’, which is the formula proposed by the third century AH šurūṭ scholar Abū Zayd Aḥmad ibn Zayd al-Šurūṭī (cf. al-Taḥāwī, al-Buyūʿ III, 45.1). Our document has a fuller formula bi-māli-hā wa-ʾamri-hā wa-ʾiḏni-hā la-hu fī ḏālika wa-ḍamāni-hi al-darak fī-hā ‘with her money and by her command and permission to him with regard to that and (granting him authority) to guarantee against claims from a third party with regard to it’. Crucially this transfers responsibility for the warranty of the sale to the representative. The ALAD corpus contains documents of power of attorney (nos. 61, 62, pp. 279–280).
Numerous medieval Arabic documents are extant that record the purchase of property directly by women, e.g. P.Cair.Arab. 56 (Edfū 854 CE), in which a woman buys a house from her husband: hāḏā mā ʾištarat Yūna ibnat Ḥalīṣā ʾištarat min zawji-hā Yazīd al-jarrār manzil la-hu ‘This is what Yūna, daughter of Ḥelīṣā, has bought. She has bought from her husband Yazīd, the leather-bottle merchant, a dwelling house belonging to him’. The APD contains many more examples.
There are many references in the Genizah to women owning property, usually as a secure source of income from rent (Goitein 1983, 85).
Line 4:
Line 5: For al-Mašhad al-Ḥusaynī ‘The Shrine of al-Ḥusayn’ in Cairo, see al-Maqrīzī, Ḵiṭaṭ II, 322–323, III, 91; al-Sulūk I, 435. This was a shrine that housed the relic of the head of al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn ʾAbī Ṭālib. The head was brought from Ascalon to Cairo on the 8 Jumādā II, 548 AH (6 September, 1153 CE). The shrine, now known as Masjid al-Imām al-Ḥusayn ‘The Mosque of the Imām al-Ḥusayn’, was built in 549 AH/1154 CE under the supervision of the vizier al-Ṣāliḥ al-Ṭalāʾiʿ. Our document indicates that the legal transaction and the drawing up of the document by the notary took place in al-Mašhad al-Ḥusaynī. It is not usual in the extant Arabic legal documents from the period for the building in which the transaction took place to be indicated. Notaries were a category of certified witness, who were under the authority of a judge. We know from various medieval sources that they offered their services in public places. They would often set up their booths (ḥawānīt) next to or inside mosques. Indeed, judges would also hold audiences in mosques (Tyan 1959, 21–40).
Line 6: This division into twenty-four shares is connected with the laws of inheritance, in which the shares of the heirs are calculated in twenty-fourths (Grohmann, APEL I, 172). Since a system of partible inheritance was in operation, heirs often received part of a house. The transaction recorded here could be an attempt to consolidate ownership of the entire house (cf. Vorderstrasse 2013, 284).
Line 6:
Line 7:
Line 8: For the district of Zuwaylah (ḥārat Zuwaylah) in Cairo, see al-Maqrīzī, Ḵiṭaṭ, III, 8. This was named after a unit of troops in the invading Fāṭimid army from a district of Mahdiyyah in North Africa that was called Zuwaylah. It was situated in the north-east of the medieval city of Cairo. The document II Firk. Arab. 3 indicates that the house was in the north of Cairo (fī baḥriyyihā).
Most Jews who inhabited Cairo, Rabbanites and Karaites, since the Middle Ages until the twentieth century CE inhabited this district and it came to be known also as the ‘district of the Jews’ (ḥārat al-yahūd). In 1917 CE there were 1,096 Karaites in Zuwaylah, most were concentrated in the eastern part of the district (Meital 1995, 33–61). Our document states that the house was ‘in the district of Zuwaylah, on the edge of the neighbouring district of Surūr al-Luʾluʾlī’. I have not been able to identify the district of Surūr al-Luʾluʾlī in the literary sources.
Line 8:
Line 8:
Line 9:
Line 9:
Line 10:
Line 10:
Line 10: A ḵuristān was a shelf in the recess of a wall. The word is derived from Persian, in which it designates a pantry (< ḵor ‘food’ + istān locative suffix); cf. Goitein (1983, 66–67), Asbaghi (1988, 107).
Line 11:
Line 12.
Line 13:
Line 13:
Line 14: The term ṭāqah referred to a regular window in a house. It was without glass panes (Goitein 1983, 62). It is of Persian origin; cf. Steinglass, Persian-English Dictionary, sv
Line 14: A ṭabaqah in the medieval documents could denote the upper floor or an apartment forming part of it (Goitein 1983, 58).
Line 14:
Line 16:
Line 17:
Line 18:
Line 18:
Line 19:
Line 21:
Line 21:
Line 21:
Line 25:
Line 25: The term rawšan, which is of Persian origin, translated here as ‘window balcony’ was an alcove consisting of a bay window from which inhabitants could observe what was happening in the street below (Goitein 1983, 61). In Middle and Modern Persian rowšan means ‘light, bright’. Cf. also Middle Persian rōzan ‘window’ (MacKenzie 1971, 72).5
Line 27:
Line 28: For the terms qualifying the coins, see Khan, ALAD, p. 28. The price of the half portion of the house was 65 dīnārs (beginning of Rabīʿ II, 553 AH/8 May 1158 CE). According to the faṣl on the right side of the verso (line 14), the half portion was sold two years later (9 Rabīʿ I 555 AH/ 25 March 1160 CE) for 50 dīnārs. According to the faṣl on the left side of the verso on 15 Jumādā II 572 AH/25 December 1176) the half portion of the house was, in turn, sold to the owner’s son for 100 dīnārs. We see, therefore, that the cost of the half portion fluctuated considerably in these transactions. One factor in these fluctuations may have been differing degrees of dilapidation of the property. Prices of houses could also slump during periods of political instability (Goitein 1983, 56). The slump to 50 dīnārs in 555 AH/1160 CE coincided with the beginning of the reign of the puppet child caliph al-ʿĀḍid and the enfeeblement of the Fāṭimid state due to attempts by the Crusaders and the Sunnī Syrian rule Nūr al-Dīn to gain control of Egypt. The conspicuous rise in price to 100 dīnārs in 1176 CE may have been brought about by a rise in demand for property in Cairo after the burning of al-Fusṭāṭ by the vizier Šawār in 1168 CE, to prevent it from falling into the hands of Amalric, the king of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. After this event, a large proportion of the inhabitants of al-Fusṭāṭ moved to Cairo.6 According to the document II Firk. Arab. 3, the complete house was sold on 17 Jumādā II, 638 AH/9 January 1241 CE for 125 dīnārs.
Line 34:
Line 38:
3.1.2 Recto, Witness Clauses
Line 3:
Line 11:
Line 12:
3.1.3 Verso, Right Column
Line 10:
3.1.4 Witness Clauses, Verso, Right Column
Lines 3–4. The date of the witness clause is several days later than the date of the document.
3.1.5 Verso, Left Column
Line 3:
Line 3:
Line 4:
Line 4:
Line 4:
Line 5:
3.2 Legal Process
Written contracts did not have the status of constitutive instruments. The transactions were completed orally by means of oral acknowledgement (ʾiqrār) of the parties (see recto, 35) and the legal relations came into existence before a written record was made. The documents were declarative instruments.
The transactions in the document are described in an objective style. The parties are referred to in the third person. This reflects the fact that the document is in essence a deposition made by a notary in his capacity as professional witness.
In the transaction recorded on the recto the seller has the status of offeror and the buyer that of offeree. The text of the document, however, is written from the point of view of the buyer. The transaction is presented as the purchase of property by the buyer rather than the sale of the property by the seller and opens with the formula hāḏā mā ʾištarā PN ‘This is what PN bought’. This presentation of the transaction from the perspective of the buyer and the objective style can be explained by the fact that the legal formulary had its roots in a monumental type of legal text, which was originally intended for public display. The demonstrative pronoun originally referred to the object on which the text was inscribed. The exophoric reference of the demonstrative of the original monumental formula to a surrounding physical structure on which an inscription was written was subsequently transferred to the textual object of a document (Khan 2019).
After the document was drawn up the witnesses wrote declarations at the bottom that they had witnessed the oral acknowledgement by the parties of the transaction, that the parties were in sound health as well as legally capable of conducting their affairs, and that they are acquainted with the parties. Extant Arabic legal documents from the first two Islamic centuries do not have autograph witness clauses, but rather only a list of the witnesses’ names. In the early Islamic period written declarations of witnessing were not regarded as reliable or legally binding. Only oral testimony could validate a document (Schacht 1950, 188). By the 3rd AH, it was performed in writing by means of autograph witness clauses written by the witnesses. There appears to have been an intermediate stage in which witnesses wrote private, unofficial notes to record their acts of oral witnessing. These written notes were separate from the legal documents, which were public, official texts. Reference to the existence of these private written records is found in some extant legal documents from the second half of the second century AH and the beginning of the third century AH, where in addition to a list of witnesses there is an indication that each witness wrote a document recording his act of witnessing. The witnesses can be assumed to have made written copies of their oral testimonies for their own private records. Such private records of testimonies can be identified in some extant papyri (Khan 2019, 31–36).
When the house was subsequently sold and its ownership transferred to somebody else, this was recorded on the verso in the form of a faṣl. This literally means ‘section’. I have translated it as ‘supplementary document’. For the term see Nuwayrī, Nihāyat al-ʾArab IX, 26:13. This has the form of a record of legal acknowledgement, opening ʾaqarra PN (‘PN declared’), in which the buyer named on the recto acknowledged in the presence of witnesses that the ownership was transferred to another party.
In the document on the recto II Firk. Arab. 1, lines 34–35, it is stated that ‘The seller brought in his hand a document testifying in his support to the validity of his ownership of what he sold … and he has a document with the status of a primary document (ʾaṣl), and on the verso of each of them was written an acknowledgement of this sale, its date being the date of this document and its witnesses being its witnesses’.
This indicates that when a person bought a house (or a portion of one) two documents were drawn up. One of these is what is referred to as the ʾaṣl ‘origin, base, foundation’, i.e. a foundational certificate of his ownership. This is the document of sale written from the perspective of the buyer, opening hāḏā mā ʾištarā PN ‘This is what PN bought’, as on the recto of II Firk. Arab. 1.
The second of these was a document of šahādah ‘a document testifying in his support to the validity of his ownership’. Many such documents of šahādah from the Middle Ages are extant. They typically open with the formula šahida al-šuhūd al-musammūna ʾāḵira hāḏā al-kitāb … ʿalā ʾiqrār PN ‘The witnesses at the end of this document have borne testimony … to the acknowledgement of PN’ or slight variants of this. Examples of šahādah documents relating to the transfer of property include Vienna, National Library 10254 (ed. Thung 2006, 66–67) and Qaṣr Ibrīm 46 recto (ed. Khan 2024). Such documents can be considered to record acts of secondary witnessing (šahādah ʿalā šahādah) in order to strengthen the protection of the contract against claims (Wakin 1972, 68–70). Al-Ṭaḥāwī recommends that such šahādah documents contain a copy of the full text of the ʾaṣl document and the names of its witnesses (al-Ṭaḥāwī, III, al-Buyūʿ, 12.0–12.2).
It is possible that these šahādah documents were a development of the written copies of the oral testimony of witnesses that appear first in the second century AH, when witnesses still did not write witness clauses on the contracts themselves (see above).
When the property was sold, the ʾaṣl and the šahādah of the seller had a faṣl written on their verso recording an acknowledgement of the sale. The date and witnesses of these faṣl documents were the same as those of the new ʾaṣl document drawn up for the buyer.
3.3 Structure
The structure of the document of sale on the recto corresponds closely to that of the documents of sale in the ALAD corpus. This structure has been described in detail in Khan, ALAD, pp. 10–29, and there is no need or space to examine this in detail here. I shall restrict myself to a few remarks.
Several of the documents from the Genizah include a description of the physical features of the contracting parties, known as a ḥilyah. Most of the named parties in our document are not accompanied by a detailed ḥilyah. The exception is the seller in the faṣl in the left column of the verso, Abū al-Ḥasan ibn Ḥusayn ibn Abū al-Ḥasan, who is given a ḥilyah. The same person in the earlier document in the right column of the verso, however, is not given a ḥilyah. The explanation for this may be that the burning of al-Fusṭāṭ by Šawār in 1168 CE caused a large increase in the population of Cairo and this occurred between the writing of the document in the right column of the verso (1160 CE) and the writing of the document in the left column (1176 CE). We have already seen that this increase in population caused a conspicuous increase in the price of the property bought in 1176 CE. The practice of writing a ḥilyah in the Genizah documents reflected a dense population, in which individuals were not necessarily well-known throughout the community. They are lacking in medieval documents from rural areas of Egypt, such as al-Fayyūm. It is significant that both parties in the later document II Firk. Arab. 3, dated 1241 CE, have a ḥilyah.
The typology of the formulae of the document of sale in II Firk. Arab. 1 recto corresponds in most details more closely to that of the contemporary documents from al-Fusṭāṭ preserved in the Genizah rather than to that of documents written in Upper Egypt or outside of Egypt. It is worth mentioning, however, some details about the warranty formula.
The warranty against a fault in ownership (darak) in the event of the buyer’s title being contested by a third party7 is expressed by a formula that corresponds broadly to the one that is found in the Genizah documents, but somewhat more detailed (recto, 31–33). As in the Genizah documents, it opens with a protasis construction with the indefinite pronoun mā ‘whatever’: fa-mā ʾadraka fīmā ʿalay-hi ʿaqd hāḏā al-bayʿ al-maḏkūr min darak … ‘Whatever claim relating to fault in ownership is made against them in respect of what the contract of the aforementioned sale entailed’. The apodosis, however, opens fa-ḍamānu-hu ʿalā hāḏā al-bāʾiʿ ḥattā yusallim ḏālika ‘this seller is obliged to stand warranty for it and deliver that’, whereas the corresponding section of the warranty in the Genizah documents typically opens fa-ʿalā hāḏā al-bāʾiʿ taslīm ‘it is the duty of this seller to deliver …’ A close equivalent to the apodosis of the warranty in our document is found in the documents recording the purchase of land in the environs of Damascus in the fourth century AH published by Sourdel-Thomine and Sourdel (1965), e.g. nos. 1 and 2: fa-ḍamān mā yajib (read so) fī ḏālika ʿalā PN ḥattá yusallim ḏālika ‘the warranty of what is due in respect of this is incumbent upon PN. (He is responsible) until he delivers that’.
4 Concluding Remarks
The Arabic legal documents from Cairo that are the subject of this paper are important complements to the Arabic legal documents from the Genizah in the ALAD corpus. They give us insight into the structure of houses in medieval Cairo. They allow us to trace the fate of one particular house over several generations and the fluctuations in price due to population changes. Furthermore, they cast light on the process of drawing up documents during the sale of a house.
I would like to express here my gratitude to Stefan Reif, the Director of the Unit at that time, for giving me this opportunity.
For explanations as to why such documents ended up in the Genizah, see Khan, ALAD, p. 1.
I gratefully acknowledge the support of this trip by the British Academy.
I am very grateful to the anonymous reviewer of an earlier version of the paper who made several suggestions that helped me improve the reading of the document in places.
I am grateful to Masoud Mohammadirad for drawing my attention to this.
I am grateful to Lorenzo Bondioli, who suggested to me this correlation with the burning of al-Fusṭāṭ.
For the origin of the term darak, see Khan (1994).
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