Will (Fustāt, Egypt)

This Judeo-Arabic deed records the will of Sitt al-Ḥusn, wife of the court scribe and scholar Nathan ben Samuel. It seems that Sitt al-Ḥusn composed it on the Sabbath, when it was forbidden to write, so the anonymous court scribe wrote it that Saturday night. Sitt al-Ḥusn provides for her own burial, gives some funds to her husband, and frees her two female slaves, Dhahab and Sitt al-Samar, who, it seems, had been converted by their owners. Unlike other wills, this one does not stipulate that wailing women should be present, which seems not to have been considered appropriate for the wife of a scholar.