Legal document: T-S 10J4.11
Legal document T-S 10J4.11Tags
Description
Lease of land belonging to the Qodesh, ca. 1180. Written on the surviving upper part of a leaf, this is a draft of a deed leasing a parcel of land belonging to the qodesh to Avraham ha-Levi (B. Yahya) al-Najib (al-Watiq). The parcel (saha) is in Dammuh, near the synagogue. It had been dedicated to Yesha'yahu ha-Levi b. Misha'el (Maimonides' brother-in-law) who, in a previous document, was appointed general administrator of the qodesh. The lessee is granted the right to build on the land and also to cultivate it and operate the saqiya on it. The lease is for a period of 30 years, for 180 dirhams, i.e. six dirhams a year; it is apparently a small parcel. In 30 years, it will revert to the qodesh. The purpose of the deal, from the point of view of the qodesh, might have been the revival of the Dammuh area, to prevent it from falling into decay. This was a practice known in Egypt during many centuries, taken over by the Muslim administration from the Hellenistic-Roman-Byzantine emphyteusis, meaning lease for a symbolic price, and sometimes exeption from taxes, in order to revitalize abandoned land. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 319 #75)
Edition: Gil, Moshe
Translation: Gil, Moshe (in English)
T-S 10J4.11 1v
Transcription
Moshe Gil, Documents of the Jewish Pious Foundations from the Cairo Geniza (Leiden: Brill, 1976).- בשרח
- נקול אנו הזקנים הישרים הכשרים החתומים למטה אננא קד אמצינא
- ורצינא באן נחכר אלסאחה אלתי פיהא אלביר אלמעין אלדי בדמוה אלדי
- עלי אלטריק אלמגאורה ללכניסה אלמעמורה אלמקאבלה לחצנהא ובסתאנהא
- מדה תלתין סנה //לפלאן// במא מבלגה מאיה //ותמנין// דירהם כל סנה סתה דר ליעמרהא במא
- יסהלה אללה סבחאנה לה מן רזקה ופצלה וכרמה ותבקא לה ולולדה מן בעדה
- טול הדה אלמדה ותעוד ללהקדש עלי אלחכם אלאול אלדי כאן אקדשהא
- כבוד גדולת קדושת מרנו ורבנו זקינינו וגדולינו ישעיהו הלוי החכם הנבון
- בר כבוד גדולת קדושת שרינו וגדולינו חשובינו מישאל החכם והנבון
- זכר צדיק לברכה ופעלנא דלך רוצינא בה למא פיה מן אלחט ולמצלחה
- אלאנס אלכניסה ולמגאורתהא בלעמ/א/רה למן יצלח פאתפק ראינא אנו עלי
- אחכארהא ללשיך אלנגיב כבוד מר ור אברהם הלוי הזקן הנכוד עטרת הלוים
- תאות השרים רצוי הגאונים הרחוקים והקרובים מחמד הזקינים איש
- העצה אשר להם ולנו ישמ אלוהינו ויחיה חמודו יחידו גזע השרים וינצרו אל
- שוכן מעונים משמי מרומים וכן יהי רצון מלפני רחמים ועלי[ ]
- וקע אלתראצי מנא ולאכתיאר ולם נבק לאחד פי דלך אנכאר ואגתמע ראינא
- וכט כל מנא פי הדא אלמסטור וצובנא אלראי פי דלך ואעתמדנא עליה
- וגעלנא למחתכר הדה אלסאחה אן יעמרהא במא שא ואכתאר
- וליס עליה תחכם ולא תעקב פי הדה אלמדה אד קד אמצינא דלך
Margin:
- אמצא שרעי ולמחתכרהא זראעה ארצהא ואד/א/רה סאק/יה/ עליהא
- במא ימכנה פי טול הדה אלמדה חסב טאקתה ומקדרתה ושלום
- והכל שריר וקיים:
Translation
Moshe Gil, Documents of the Jewish Pious Foundations from the Cairo Geniza (Leiden: Brill, 1976).Verso
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In thy Name, oh Merciful!
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We, the undersigned honest and able elders, declare: We had once decided
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and agreed to lease the parcel in Dammūh, in which there is the well of the spring,
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on the road adjacent to the Synagogue, may God preserve it, opposite its tower and plantation,
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for a period of thirty years to any person (who would pay) a sum of 180 dir., 6 dir. a year, in order to cultivate it as
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God, may He be praised, bestows upon him His generosity, abundance, and kindness. It would be his in permanence, and his son's alter his death,
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during that whole period, and then revert to the heqdēsh in its former status, as dedicated
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by His Highness and Holiness, our Lord and Master, Elder and Leader, Isaiah ha-Levi, a man of wisdom and sapience,
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the son of His Highness and Holiness, our Prince, Notable, and Eminent Mīshāʾēl, a man of wisdom and sapience,
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(10-11) a righteous man, of blessed memory. This we enacted and agreed upon since the cultivation by the proper person, would be profitable and useful for the people of the Synagogue and its vicinity. Therefore, we unanimously agree to
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lease it to al-Shaykh al-Najīb, the Respectable Lord and Master Abraham ha-Levi, the Honorable Elder, the Diadem of the Levites,
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the Beloved of the Princes, Cherished by the Geʾōnīm, both the far and the near ones, the Dearest of the Elders, a man of
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sense among them and ourselves, may God preserve him, and long live his son, his only child, a descendant of Princes, may God,
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who dwells in His high heavenly places, guard him. May this be the will of the Merciful. This is what
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we have agreed and chosen.We would not allow anybody to deny it, since our opinion is unanimous,
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as is the signature of each of us on this deed. This opinion we consider to be right and insist on it.
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We give permission to the lessee of that parcel to cultivate it with whatever he would like and chooses.
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There will be no interference nor claim against him during this period, since this is what we have decided
Verso, margins:
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in a legal way. Its lessee may sow its soil and operate a sāqiya on it
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as long as he can during all this period, in accordance with his means and ability. Greetings.
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Sound and valid.
T-S 10J4.11 1r
