ثيقة شرعيّة: T-S NS J299

الوصف

Legal document. In the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. Unsigned. Location: Fustat. Dated: Wednesday, 17 Adar 1536 Seleucid = 26 February 1225 CE, under the authority of Avraham Maimonides. Concerning two members of an orphans’ court who sell certain garments through the “great simsār,” referred to here as “munādī,” market crier or auctioneer, whose compensation is termed “dilāla,” or broker’s fee. Same cluster: T-S AS 157.434 (PGPID 38900), CUL Or.1080 J64 (PGPID 8866), and T-S NS J299 (PGPID 4311). This draft is more elaborate than the final version, and provides interesting details about auctioning in the textile bazaar, as well as procedures related to orphans' property. Those offering the testimony, presumably the brokers tasked with selling this orphan's property, make careful claims about having done due diligence to fetch the highest possible price for the goods. Jewish law requires the property of orphans to be sold by the court in public (Goitein, Med. Soc. 1:193; Goitein also cites a responsum of Maimonides: ואד֗ וראו אלזקנים במצאלחתהא פלא באס באן יבאע מן אלמלך ... בעד אלתקצי פי אלנדא ואלאשהאר ... שלשים יום רצופים בבקר ובערב ומתי לם יפעל ד֗לך פאלביע מפסוך֗. (Information in part from Med Soc 1:160, 439, Emily Silkaitis, Marina Rustow and Oded Zinger)