Court Deed (Jerusalem)

Joseph al-Baradānī

Naḥum al-Baradānī

1060s

There appeared before us, the high court [in Jerusalem] R. Joseph and R. Naḥum, the sons of R. Yannai b. Naḥum al-Baradānī the ḥazan [cantor], and complained that their grandfather, R. Naḥum al-Barādānī, sent goods from the Maghreb, [namely] kohl and books and the like to Egypt. He appointed R. Hillel b. Isaac to take delivery of the lot, to sell…

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This court record, from the senior rabbinic court in Jerusalem and preserved in the Cairo Geniza, deals with a suit by several grandsons against their grandfather’s agent, Hillel ben Isaac. The grandsons, represented by Maṣlīaḥ ben Eliah of Sicily, seek to recover proceeds from the sale of books and of kohl, a powder used in medicines and makeup in the medieval period. They demand repayment from Hillel, who had sold the items. Maṣlīaḥ had already tried to recover the funds in the Ramla (Ramle) court but had not yet succeeded. Ellipses indicate lacunae in the manuscript.

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Creator Bio

Joseph al-Baradānī

10th Century

Active in Baghdad, the poet Joseph ben Ḥayim al-Baradānī wrote numerous piyyutim (liturgical poems), most of which were preserved in the Cairo Geniza. Joseph, like several of his contemporaries, wrote poems for each weekly Torah reading and for many other occasions, probably reciting them himself in his role as a synagogue cantor. In form, Joseph’s poetry displays the influence of Se‘adya Ga’on (882–942). Both Hayya Ga’on (939–1038) and Samuel ben Ḥofni Ga’on (d. 1013) mentioned Joseph and members of his family as prominent members of the Jewish community in Baghdad.

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