Legal document: Yevr.-Arab. I 328

Description

Legal record (#74) in a court register/pinqas from a Karaite beit din in Cairo (on f. 25v of Yevr.-Arab. I 328). Dated on the same "evening, month, and year" as the previous entry, so probably 23 Iyyar 5325 AM (1565 CE): which is the latest court session mentioned in the previous entry (PGPID 41533). Location/Venue: Dār Simḥa Synagogue in Cairo. In this follow-up document, Hārūn b. Abd al-Ḥaqq al-Kohen known as al-Mawardī makes an oath on the Ten Commandments in connection with the complex legal case (record #73) regarding rumors that spread about a gathering he hosted in Dammūh. The rumors centered on his wife's conduct with a Rabbanite man while Hārūn was playing ʿoud and entertaining guests. In this follow-up document, Hārūn swears that for "the rest of his life he will not return to playing ʿoud nor harp nor any other instrument from all the instruments of [musical] entertainment, not in his house nor the house of a Rabbanite nor the house of a Christian nor the house of Muslim." The oath proceeds to include other locational stipulations (within or oustide Dammūh) and perhaps stipulations related to clothing, given the mention of a fustān/dress (but possibly a specific location [bay]t fustān?). Some of these keywords are effaced or crossed out in line 16: ".[.].. ולא פי [[..ת]] פסתאן ולא פי." The end of the document mentions that this oath "is because he is a Kohen and it is upon him to maintain the proper conduct/requirements of Kohens" (לאגל אנה כהן ועליה חפט' שרוט אלכהנה). MCD.