Legal document: CUL Add.3430

Recto

​​In the Name of the Living God.

"And they built and were successful."

"In God they will triumph and glory."

"And the Judean elders build and are successful."'

On Friday, the twenty-sixth of the month of Shevat of the year 1339 ac-

cording to the era of the Greeks," in Jerusalem, the Holy City, may it be

rebuilt soon, Amen, on this very day appeared Hezekiah, the fine young

man, son of Benjamin, before the elders signing this document and said to

them:

Give witness against me, and make the symbolic purchase from me,

write down and sign as a legal obligation on me, conveying rights, that I

make the following declaration without being compelled, mistaken, erring,

or forced, but acting in full capacity and out of my free will;

That I take, gain possession of, and marry Sarwa, the virgin maid, the

daughter of Sadaqa b. Jarir, by means of the nuptial gift, this contract, and

consummation, as ordered by Moses, the man of God, of blessed memory,

and in accordance with the law of Israel, the pure and holy.

I shall provide her with clothing for home and street, as well as food,

supply all her needs and appropriate wishes according to my ability

the extent I can afford. I shall conduct myself toward her with truthfulness

and sincerity, with love and affection. I will not grieve or oppress her but

let have her food, clothing, and marital relations to the extent habitual

among Jewish men, who... 

As nuptial gift I have assigned her fifty pieces of silver, as due to a

virgin, with an additional gift of forty good and complete gold pieces of

full weight. Of these, I have already given her five gold pieces. The fifty

silver pieces I am giving her today at the wedding ceremony, and thirty-five

good gold pieces remain as a fully certified and established debt incumbent

on me and on my possessions during my life time and after my death.

The above-mentioned Sarwa listened to the words of Hezekiah and

agreed to marry him and to be his wife and companion" in purity, holiness,

and fear of God, to listen to his words, to honor and to hold him dear, to be

his helper,'" and to do in his house what a virtuous Jewish woman is expected to do, to conduct herself toward him with love and considerateness,

to be under his rule, and her desire will be toward him.

Sarwa, out of her free will, appointed as her representative Joseph b.

Abraham ha-Kohen to take care of the affairs of her marriage. Two

trustworthy persons, Mevorakh b. David and Jacob b. Fallan, were the

witnesses of this appointment.

This Joseph, the representative, appeared before the elders and testified

that he had received from Hezekiah the preliminary payment of five gold

pieces and that he agreed to marry off the above-mentioned Sarwa to

Hezekiah with this nuptial gift on the conditions specified above in this

document.

These are the valuables brought in by Sarwa to the house of her husband

Hezekiah:

The Gold [meaning, jewelry in general]

a pair of wristbands 5 dinars

a pair of earrings 2

one finger ring of gold and three of silver 2

Jewelry total 9 dinars

 

[The Clothing]

a greenish festive robe 3 dinars

a translucent veil I

a mantle-like wimple 6

a kohl-colored 'aq(a)biyya 2

a Sicilian robe 21/2

a snow-white slip and wimple 2

a wrap 2

two white robes and a veil 2

two red robes, a cloak and two wimples 2

a Rumi bathrobe and a piece of red lādh silk 1

a kerchief for the face I

a gown of khazz silk and a pink slip 2

a linen [prayer] mantle 1/2

a Sicilian robe I

four kerchiefs and a bathrobe 1

Clothing total 30 dinars

The Copper [household and toilet utensils and

 

containers]

 

a Baghdadi bucket and a wash basin 3 [?] dinars

a basin and a ewer 2

a chandelier and an [oil] lamp 2

a Damascene pot 2

a large qashwa 11/2

a bucket 11/2

a complete set for soda ash,33 a water container, a

washtub, a small bucket, a wash basin 3

a vase with perfumes and musk 5

a box for ointments, a chest [for perfumes] and a purse 2

 

"Copper" total 22 dinars

 

[Bedding] 35

a Tabari sofa and pad 3 dinars

a brocade bed cover 3

a Buziy6n sofa 2

a quilt coverlet and six pillows 1?/2

Bedding total 91/2 dinars

Total value 611/2 dinars.

The above-mentioned Hezekiah declared in the presence of the elders

that all these valuables had come into his house and were now in his posses-

sion and under his hand; and that he had undertaken to keep them as if they

were his own; and that he would not make any change with them without

the knowledge and consent of his wife Sarwa. He took upon himself and

upon his estate after his death responsibility that nothing should be lost or

spoiled.

The two agreed between themselves that should Sarwa, God beware,

leave this world without a child from him, all that she brought in with her

would go back to her heirs from her kin. Contrariwise, her heirs would

have no claim on the final instalment of the nuptial gift incumbent on

Hezekiah.

They also agreed to keep the holidays by the observation of the new

moon and of the ripening of the ears in Eretz Israel; that they would not eat

beef and mutton in Jerusalem until the altar of God is erected; and that they

would not apply to a gentile court in exchange for the laws of the Torah.

We made the symbolic purchase from Hezekiah, son of Benjamin, with

regard to all that is written and stated above. We have written down all that

happened in our presence, signed the document and put it into the hand of

Sarwa, the daughter of Sadaqa, so that it should be in her hand as a proof,

an instrument of claims, and a testimony in accordance with the law of

Moses and Israel.

And they built and were successful [signatures].

Ṣ

Solomon b. David ha-Kohen ha-melammed, witness. Joshua b. Eli ha-

Kohen Ben Ziti, witness. Nathan ha-Kohen b. Yby, [may his] s[oul] r[est

in peace]. Joshua b. Adayah ha-Kohen, witness.

Bushr b. Abraham ha-Levi, witness. Nathan b. Nisan ha-Levi ha-

melammed, witness.

Eli b. Ma'mar, maker of potions, witness.

Omar b. Joshua, witness. Joseph b. Samuel [witness. Sim]ḥa b. Zecharia, witness.