Betrothal Agreement (Fustāt, Egypt)

Joseph ben Eli, who is known as Ibn Qashqūsh, betrothed Jamī‘ bat Solomon, virgin, for the sake of a complete betrothal. Her deputy received the silver wedding ring, and he affirmed that he would pay her one dinar in advance, and twenty-five dinars bride price. The sum that he would pay later is ten . . . , and they would enter [the wedding canopy] before the Passover festival of this year.

And we, the undersigned witnesses, performed the qinyan [binding agreement] ceremony with this Joseph ben Eli, [obligating him] to comply with everything that is written above, using an object that is appropriate for a complete and strict qinyan ceremony. And this was in the middle of the month Tevet, [in the year] [1]‌443 according to the Era of the Documents, in Fustāt-Misr, which lies on the banks of the Nile. [Under the] authority of our master, Matsliaḥ ha-Kohen, head of the academy of the “Pride of Jacob,” may his name persist forever!

Nathan ha-Kohen ben Solomon ha-Kohen

Hiyya ben Meshulam

Tevet, 1444

[Postscript:] He divorced her, and she received the get [bill of divorce] from him in front of those who witnessed the delivering [of the get].

Source: CUL T-S 8J17.9, fol. 2v.

Translated by Dora Zsom.

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

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This document marks the betrothal of Joseph ben Eli and Jamī‘ bat Solomon, a young woman of little means. A postscript, written on the same piece of paper, records their divorce the following year. The unbracketed ellipsis indicates a lacuna in the manuscript.

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