Geniza Lab

Levirate case in which a widow appoints an attorney to sue her brother-in-law with the demand either to marry or to free her. Dated: 20 Sivan 164. The dating clause is written clearly, but there's a key to interpreting it. Ashtor interpreted it incorrectly as (5)164 (AM) = 1404 (History of the Jews in Egypt and Syria under the Mamluks, vol. 3, p. 100 n. 2). Goitein corrected Ashtor's reading to 1204 because, as with many other 13th c documents in the geniza, you have to add 4800 to the stated date, so 4964 AM = 1204. To write 4964 in Hebrew, you would have to use a lot of characters, since the alef-bet only covers up until 400. So 4964 would be דתתקסד (that is, 4(000) + 400 + 400 + 100 + 60 + 4). But since in 1204, everyone knew the 4000 + 400 + 400 part, they just omitted it and wrote 164. So the document dates to 1204.