Legal document: ENA 1691.20

Description

An interesting Qaraite legal testimony (zikhron ʿedut) dated 20 Adar 5442 (1682 CE), scribed and signed by Avraham ha-Rofe ben Ṣaʿīr, one of the messengers sent from Jerusalem with news of the barley crop (aviv), together with Mordechai b. Ḥayyim ha-Kohen. As the barley was fully mature, the coming year, a leap year for the Rabbanites, will not be intercalated for the Qaraites. Messengers have been sent both to Damascus and to Fustat. The writer notes that, for the first time "in a long time," this means that the calendars of the Rabbanites and the ʿarelim (western Christians? Muslims?) have coincided, while the calendars of the Qaraites and the Franks and Maronites have coincided. The term ʿarelim, or uncircumcised, normally refers to Christians in earlier Geniza documents. However, in this context, the ʿarelim are being contrasted with the Franks and Maronites, so the writer is either drawing a distinction between western and eastern Christians, or between Christians and Muslims. ASE