Legal document: T-S 28.17

Description

Legal document. Court proceedings. Yaʿqūb b. Yūsuf claims that Da’ūd and Ṣedaqa, sons of Ṣemaḥ b. Da’ūd al-Raqqī, have withheld profits from a partnership in a store. The brothers were also involved in long distance trading on behalf of the partnership. Yaʿqūb himself seems to have contributed the sum total of the partnership capital, amounting to four thousand dinars, which yielded a one time payment of ten dinars to Yaʿqūb and a single dinar each week, of which Yaʿqūb would receive half and the brothers the other half. Yaʿqūb also received 30 dinars each month to satisfy a debt on the store. After working as partners for a month, Yaʿqūb produces witnesses who notarize a detailed description of responsibilities for the partners (presumably the partners previously had an informal yet specific agreement). The document validates the testimony of Da’ūd and Ṣedaqa that their profits were scanty. Unlike in many other documents, the brothers are called to swear concerning the outcome of their long-distance trading. Their testimony does not preclude the possibility that Ya‘qūb will pursue further legal action against the brothers, but simply confirms that the profits represented the sum total of profits of the partnership. The identity and role of the character “Bishr”, mentioned in line 24, is unclear. It may refer to one of the witnesses, Mubashir b. Fahīd. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 163)