Legal document: BL OR 12369.10

Description

Legal document in Hebrew issued in Cairo. At first glance the date appears to be Elul 5420 AM which is August-September 1660 CE. However, the unidentified witness signature bears direct resemblance to one that appears on documents from a century later (JRL L 20, BL: OR 5561B.26). Given that JRL L 20 is clearly dated 5520 AM, the document BL OR 12369.10 likely originated around that time for it to retain the same witness signature. The document BL OR 12369.10 bears two witness signatures, one very stylized Shelomo[?] al-____[?] and the other more legible: David ha-Levi Caraso. The opening lines of the document mention a group of three individuals: Avraham Sat__o[?], David Kherya, and Moshe ha-Kohen. A second group is listed in lines 14-16: R. Yonah Navon, R. Yahuda[?] Navon, and R. Shemuʾel Mjār. The latter group comprises members of the "beit din ha-gadol that is in Jerusalem" (l. 13). Due to the damage at the opening of line 13, one of the key operative words in this document is illegible– making it difficult to ascertain what specific legal action the first group of individuals is taking with reference to the second group (although "transferring" (מוסרים) is clearly visible just before the damage word). MCD.