Legal document: T-S NS 320.57 + ENA 2386.4

Description

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. In the hand of Halfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi. The case involves a husband named Yosef ha-Kohen and his wife; the husband has traveled and failed to pay maintenance for his wife and daughter. They are "hungry and without anyone" and have asked the court to investigate. This document is related to the documents found on T-S NS 320.142 (which is the current shelfmark for the manuscript cited as T-S NS 320.54 by Goitein and Weiss). Goitein writes (index card #11899) that Sitt al-Ahl, the wife of Yosef ha-Kohen, is granted 20 dirhams per month for her little daughters since her husband traveled and left her no money. (The join—ENA 2386.4—clarifies that Sitt al-Ahl is actually the daughter of Yosef ha-Kohen.) "The wife, as usual, had applied directly to the Nagid, who then ordered the court and the elders to propose an equitable solution." Apparently dated Tammuz 1437 Seleucid, which is 1126 CE. This document is discussed in Med Soc III, 192–93, 467 n.152, and also in the cluster of documents edited by Gershon Weiss, Ḥalfon, #200–02. Join: Alan Elbaum. The wording of the document is nearly identical to T-S 6J1.20, another document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe, describing a similar case. AA. ASE.