Draft of an Adoption Contract

This court record, found in the Cairo Geniza, presents the case of a father, a certain Elijah, who gives up his sixteen-day-old daughter for adoption after his wife died following childbirth. Elijah “sells” his daughter for five gold dinars and renounces any legal claim that he may have on her because, he claims, he is unable to raise her. The use of the term sold has likely migrated from other areas of Jewish law, as neither Jewish nor Islamic law formally recognizes adoption nor allows for free individuals to be sold. It is likely that al-Sitt, a prominent member of the community, adopted this child out of charity. This document is a draft, with corrections on the side (not included here). Ellipses indicate lacunae in the manuscript.