Karaite Bill of Divorce (Fustāt, Egypt)

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1030

This is the Egyptian bill of divorce for the Karaites.

This is the Bill of Divorce which N. M. the son of N. M. has written

for N. M. the daughter of N. M. who was my {betrothed/ wife} heretofore.

On the . . . day of the week which is the . . . day of the month . . . of the year 1347, according to the computation of the Greeks in the land of Egypt in the city of Fustāt, which is situated on the River Pishon.

Came N. M. before the Elders and said unto them, being of sound mind and none compelling him, “I make known unto you that I have divorced N. M. the daughter of N. M. who was hitherto my {betrothed/wife}. And now I have {abandoned her/sent her away} from my house and caused her to go forth from my premises. And I give unto her this her book—her bill of divorce. And I have no longer over her dominion nor power for she is not my wife and I am not her husband and behold I say before you: Thou N. M. daughter of N. M. thy name and thy designation, thou that wast before my {betrothed/wife} now art thou divorced by me and sent away from me, and removed from my control and from my premises.”

Source: JTS ENA 972.11.

Translated by Elkan N. Adler.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.

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This formulary for a Karaite bill of divorce from Fustāt (Old Cairo) differs considerably from its Rabbanite counterparts. Most strikingly, this document is written in Hebrew, while the Rabbanite tradition has such texts in Aramaic. The translation indicates where the names and dates would be inserted. In Hebrew, the space for one’s name is denoted as ploni or plonit, usually translated “So-and-so” but rendered here as N. M. This text also has prewritten options to indicate (possibly by circling, as in a modern form), for example, if the woman was his betrothed or his wife. Many formularies for procedural documents survive in the Cairo Geniza and were intended to aid courts in their work.

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Who Were the Early Medieval Karaite Jews?

7th to 12th Century
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