Legal document: CUL Or.1080 J137

Legal document CUL Or.1080 J137

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Legal document. Partnership. Dated: 1215-1216 CE. This fragment emerged from the court of Avraham Maimonides. The partners ʿImrān Moshe al-Iskandarī b. Bū Manṣūr ha-Zaqen and Abū al-Ma‘ālī b. Ḥalfon ha-Levi ha-Zaqen contract a partnership. The division of profits and losses is not retained in the preserved portion of the document, but allusions to it in line 15 indicate it was outlined clearly. Line 12 suggests it was an "‘isqa under the rules of a commenda", in which case the active partner would have received 1/3 of the profits and not have been responsible for losses. The active partner, apparently Moshe, was to journey as far as Aden; that the partners were to be separated by distance suggested by the fact that Moshe takes upon himself "the avoidance of betrayal". (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", pp. 275-276)

CUL Or.1080 J137 1r

1r

Transcription

Translation

Phillip Ackerman-Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture: Jewish Economic and Social Life Seen Through the Legal Documents of the Cairo Geniza" (PhD diss., Princeton University, 2007).

Recto

  1. [the y]ear one thousand five hundred and twenty-seven [years (of the Era) of Documents, in Fusṭāṭ Egypt,]
  2. [si]tuated [on the Nile River,] jurisdiction of our lord, our Nagid Ab[raham, the outstanding Rav, the mighty hammer, light]
  3. [of the W]est, standard of the Sages, inimitable of the generation and its wonder, from East of the Sun to its West, the great]
  4. [Nagid] of the people of the Lord of Hosts, may (God) raise up his glory and enhance his honor,
  5. [‘I]mrān al-Iskandarī b. the Elder Manṣūr the Elder […] came before [us …]
  6. [“Testi]fy on my behalf using all the appropriate legal formulae and [the expressions of certainty, and all the language of claims, write]
  7. [and si]gn and give that to the Elder (A)bū al-Ma‘ālī the … […]
  8. […] (our) t(eacher) and m(aster) Ḥalfōn ha-Levi the beloved Elder (who) r(ests in) E(den), in order that he would [have proof and a legal claim from this day]
  9. [for]ward that I acknowledge before you [completely that …]
  10. […]of Fusṭāṭ coinage, precise, of [good] weight […]
  11. [dina]rs, Fusṭāṭ coinage, of good weight […]
  12. [according to the l]aws of ‘isqa, under the rules of a commenda, and I have taken [upon myself …]
  13. […] and avoidance of betrayal. I will buy with this […]
  14. […] to Aden only. I will not go towards […]
  15. […] the profit will be (divided) between us according to that which he has included […]
  16. […] … for us as well, the Elder Abū al-Ma‘ālī […]
  17. […] … and I have given […]

CUL Or.1080 J137 1v

1v
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