Oxford, Bodleian MS. Heb. a. 3.5

Bodleian Library (Oxford, United Kingdom)

One leaf document

Paper

Black (carbon based)

Calamus

No ruling can be seen

37

1151

12th Century CE

Wednesday, 21 Ṭevet 1462 Seleucid (11 January 1151 CE)

Minyat Ashna (near Fustat)

Malīj

Judeo-Arabic

(Other)

Legal document. Partnership agreement.

Recto
Proceedings (of what) took place before us—we, the undersigned witnesses—thus:
Mr. Kathīr b. Abraham (who) r(ests in) E(den) came before us, and he had with him a document from
our lord Samuel the Nagid, the great Nagid of the people of the Lord of Hosts, prince
of princes, Nagid of the Nagids, right (hand) of royalty, crown of the Nesi’ut, may his
service be eternal, established forever like the moon. It (the document) demanded the appearance of the widow of Binyām
b. Ibrahīm (who had come) summoning him to the Glory of the Negidut in the matter
of the orphans of the aforementioned Binyām. Indeed, they only have what he provided for their needs,
namely, the shops which their father bequeathed them in the town of Malīj, near
Fusṭāṭ Egypt. That which he assessed for their subsistence has not been collected from their rent.
Thus the two judges fixed for them a single dinar each month
for their provisions and clothing . They (the judges) released them from the declaration
which their father swore, which was under the care of the two courtiers (our) tea(cher) and m(aster)
Shemariah ha-Kohen, the fullness of beauty, and his partner (our) tea(cher) and m(aster) Samuel b.
14. (his) h(onor), g(reatness, and) h(oliness, our) tea(cher) and m(aster) Judah, known as (I)bn Asad, (who) r(ests in) E(den), (an amount) worth twenty
dinars which will be in the hand of Kathīr, their paternal uncle, who will trade with it and will add its profit
to that which will be collected from the rent of the shops, and he will give them a single dinar
each month. He came and took ten raṭls of silk in our presence
equivalent to the twenty dinars, from the two aforementioned courtiers,
(our) tea(cher) and m(aster) Shemariah ha-Levi and (our) tea(cher) and m(aster) Samuel. (Our) tea(cher) and m(aster) Kathīr b.
Abraham said, “Be witnesses for me, performing a qinyan from me, effective immediately; write and sign
for me with all the appropriate legal formulae and expressions of certainty
and with all the language of claims, that I have received and taken
these twenty dinars, and it has come into my possession and custody.
I have taken upon myself (responsibility for) any danger to it; and I will send to the sons
of my brother Binyām, (who) r(ests in) E(den), the orphans, a dinar each month, without
refusal or resistance, nor demanding proof, nor
defect by means of a defect reducing the payment of this amount.” We performed a qinyan with
Mr. Kathīr b. Abraham (who) r(ests in) E(den), a complete and weighty qinyan, with an implement suitable for doing so
concerning all that written and detailed above. That which was before us,
we wrote and signed; and that took place on Wednesday
the twenty-first day of the month of
Ṭevet which was in the year 146261, in the town of Minyat Ashna,62 which is near
Fusṭāṭ Egypt, which is situated on the Nile River, the jurisdiction
of our lord Samuel the great Nagid, Nagid of the people of the Lord of Hosts,
may his service be eternal, established forever like the moon. Proper and clear and enduring.
Solomon b. Zer‘a (who) r(ests in) E(den) Peraḥya ha-Kohen b. Aaron (who) r(ests in) E(den)
Jachin ha-Kohen b. Saadiah (who) r(ests in) E(den)

Following appeals by his deceased brother Binyam's widow to the court, Kathīr b. Avraham takes over the maintenance (1 dinar a month, an aboslute requirement) of his sister-in-law's orphaned children as a sort of partnership. The sources of this funding are a) rent revenue from shops in Malij left to the children by Binyam and b), the profit earned by Kathīr from 20 dinars’ worth of silk from estate of Binyam. Unusually, the "partnership" profits are not split according to a fixed percentage, but rather the children, as the "silent partner", receive a fixed amount each month. This is effectively a long-term loan or trust created under the structure of a partnership agreement.

Per Goitein, Shemuel b. Yehuda ibn Asad, previous caretaker of the orphans, was apparently a regular caretaker and trustee for orphans.

No vowels or accents

From the Genizah, 1896.

990053386180205171

https://www.nli.org.il/en/discover/manuscripts/hebrew-manuscripts/itempage?vid=KTIV&scope=KTIV&docId=PNX_MANUSCRIPTS990053386180205171&SearchTxt=Heb.%20a.%203.5,AND (Date accessed: 2026-01-12)

https://genizah.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/catalog/volume_5 (Date accessed: 2026-01-12)

P. Ackerman-Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture" (PhD diss., n.p., 2007);

Available online through the Princeton Geniza Project at https://geniza.princeton.edu/documents/2511/ (accessed January 12, 2026).