Creator Bio
Sitt al-Khāṣṣa and Abū Manṣūr Tsemaḥ
12th Century
Little is known about the lives of Sitt al-Khāṣṣa and Abū Manṣūr Tsemaḥ, whose engagement was arranged in 1146 in Fustāt (Old Cairo). Both the bride’s and the groom’s families were wealthy. Sitt al-Khāṣṣa (“Mistress of the Elite”) was the daughter of Abū ’l-Barakāt and the granddaughter of the India trader Joseph Lebdī.
Content by Sitt al-Khāṣṣa and Abū Manṣūr Tsemaḥ
Primary Source
Betrothal Contract (Fustāt, Egypt)
This is a copy of the engagement contract of Abū Manṣūr Ṣemaḥ, son of Rabbānā Japheth [known as] the elder Abū ‘Alī, the perfumer, to Sitt al-Khāṣṣa, the daughter of the elder Abu ’l-Barakāt Ibn al…