Legal document: T-S J3.47

Description

Verso: in addition to the continuation of the document on recto, there is a second document written inverted in relation to recto, a draft Qaraite betrothal deed, in Arabic script, in which Abū l-Ḥasan Daʾūd b. al-Faraj ʿImrān al-Levi ha-Kohen (i.e. David b. ʿAmram) is betrothed to […] bt. Abū l-Faḍl. The bride’s father is her agent, and one of the witnesses to his appointment was Abū l-Ḥasan b. al-Jabāwi. The betrothal took place on Wednesday 15 Av 1344 ‘of the era of Alexander’ (= 14 July 1033 CE). The date is partially written in Judaeo-Arabic in the midst of the Arabic-script document, and the scribe notes that this month is "Av for most of the Qaraites, Elul for some of the Qaraites... and Shaʿbān for the Muslims." Evidently there was an intra-Qaraite controversy that year over whether to intercalate or not. Both recto and verso are shown to be drafts by their interlinear corrections and lack of signatures. (Information in part from CUDL and Goitein's note card.)