Cairo Genizah : Legal document

Cairo Genizah

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Attestation from the Bet Din of Minyat Zifta that Sulaymān b. Ḥasan is bankrupt ('a poor man', רגל פקיר), and that he owes three and a half dinars to Baqā ha-Levi b. Ṣāliḥ the cantor ha-Levi, who had lodged a claim against him in a Muslim court (בדיני גויים). Unable to pay for house arrest, he was put into prison, and this document attests to his pitiable state. It is dated 18 Sivan 1486 Sel. (= 9 June 1175 CE) in Minyat Zifta. According to Cohen (2005: 80), the deed is in the hand of Šabbetay b. Abraham, but he does not sign. There are five signatures: Šeʾerit ha-Kohen b. Yaḵin ha-Kohen, Ṣedaqa b. Hillel ha-Kohen, Beraḵot b. Yaḵin, Josiah b. David, and Nadiv b. David. The document is translated in Cohen (2005: 79–80), though he doesn't give Baqā ha-Levi b. Ṣāliḥ there his full name. Verso is blank.</p>