Legal document: T-S 16.77

Description

Recto: A copy of a Bill of release with several validations by the court in Fustāt. The original deed was given by Avraham b. Yeshu'a al-Raḥbi to Yehuda b. Moshe he-Ḥazan al-Dimashqi (lines 1-11). This original deed was originally signed by Hillel he-Ḥazan b. Eli, Menashshe b. Yefet ha-Kohen, Shelomo b. Moshe, ʿUlla b. Yosef ha-Levi, Ḥalfon b. Yiṣḥaq, and Levi b. Netanel he-Ḥazan (the cantor). The names of the witnesses (copied in lines 11-12) show that it was signed in Fustāt. This original deed was also validated in Fustāt by the court of the Great Nasi David b. Daniel, by the Nasi himself as well as Yehuda ha-Kohen b. Yosef and Yoshiyahu b. Moshe (this validation is copied in lines 12-18). The title of the Nasi as 'head of all diasporas' hints at a date between late 1091 and the summer of 1094. The document before us is the copy of this deed and its validation by the court of the Nasi. This copy was compared to the original one, which was presented to the court of Yehuda b. Moshe he-Ḥazan, and its text was verified (lines 18-21). Several judges and dignitaries approved the veracity of this copy with their signatures (lines 23-29): Avraham b. Shemaʿya he-Ḥaver, Shelomo b. Mevorakh he-Ḥaver, Mevorakh b. Natan ha-Kohen, Menashshe b. Sibāʿ ha-Levi, Wahb b. Yeshuʿa, Yoshiyahu b. Moshe (the same as the one validating the original deed in the court of the Nasi?), Aharon b. Moshe, and Meshullam b. ʿEli ha-Kohen. These signatures of the copied and verified deed were further validated by the judges Yiṣḥaq b. Shemu'el (whose partial siganture is visible in the bottom line) and by Shelomo b. Yosef ha-Kohen, who signs ‘Shelomo ha-Kohen son of a Gaʾon … grandson of Shelomo Gaʾon descendant of Aharon’. This signature stresses his gaonic lineage, as opposed to his regular signaure (Shelomo b. Yosef Av) when serving in the court of the Nasi David b. Daniel, the great opponent of his family, especially of his uncle Evyatar Gaon. This could hint at a date for the validation- after the demise of David b. Daniel in late 1094 CE (see Mark R. Cohen, Jewish Self-Government, p. 110).