Hiring Contract for a Tutor (Fustāt, Egypt)

This is a poorly preserved contract between a parent and a tutor. It was unusual for such a document to be written down, as most agreements to teach children were made orally. The text formalizes the contract between a woman named Malīḥa and a merchant named Abū ’l-Faḍl to teach Arabic script and arithmetic to Malīḥa’s son Hiba. As with most tutoring agreements of that time, payment was only due if the teaching proved successful. This document was written by Ḥalfon ben Manasseh, a well-known court scribe in eleventh-century Fustāt (Old Cairo), and would have been included in the court records in that city. Ellipses indicate lacunae in the document.