Legal document: ENA 3977.7

Description

Legal document, probably dating to the late Mamlūk/early Ottoman era. Mentions grains and vegetables (al-ḥubūb wa al-mazrūʿāt), al-dhahab al-Ashrafī, the Nile (baḥr al-Nīl al-Mubārak), and al-Baḥr al-Aʿzam (Mediterranean Sea). The istiʾjār clause in l4 suggests that it could be a rental/lease document however the transactions and routes suggest that it could be a sale or a partnership deed. The currency towards the end "al-nuḥās al-aḥmar al-mutaʿāmil bihā alʾān bi-l-dīyār al-Miṣrīyya" hints toward a plausible dating of this document. Goitein notes that copper coins do not begin to appear commonly in Geniza documents until the late thirteenth century and afterward (Mediterranean Society I, 360). Hence, this might be the Mamlūk-era fels/fulūs (aka jadīd post-1357CE). Another numismatic reference that might be the most useful for dating is "dhahab al-Ashrafī al-Dhāhirī"; in general, ashrafī refers to the late Mamlūk dīnār first minted in 1425CE under Sultan al-Ashraf Barsbay which stayed in circulation under the Ottomans (but which was known more commonly as sharīfī/şerifi post-1517CE). It is safe to say that this document is late-Mamlūk 15th/16th-century or much less likely early Ottoman. Needs further examination. YU.