Geniza Lab

Ketubba formulary written by the cantor Seʿadya b. Ṣedaqa ha-Ḥazzan. This man is known to have served as cantor, judge and scribe in the Egyptian town of Minyat Zifta. He probably was a descendant or other relative of the different Seʿadya b. Ṣedaqa ha-Ḥazzan, who signed a document in Damascus in 1031 CE (ENA 17.22). This Seʿadya had a characteristically Palestinian handwriting. Documents preserved in his hand include a marriage contract which he wrote at Minyat Zifta in 1110 (TS 12.494). The bride name is ʿAzūz (bt. Isḥāq, as in TS NS 313.4 [MAF, JMP, II. no. 9). Probably the two forms were written at Minyat Zifta, in 1093/94 (See M. A. Friedman, Jewish Marriage in Palestine, II, p. 108).