Geniza Lab

Deed of sale of a house. Only the recto was photographed. Dating: Likely c.1170 CE, based on the reference to “our [mast]er Sar Shalom, the av beit din of the whole of Israel." Location: Damascus ("which dwells on the rivers Parpar and Amana," as in 2 Kings 5:12). The document records the sale of a house owned by Elʿazar ha-Zaqen (the elder), the member of the yeshiva, to the "heqdesh (pious foundation) of our master Ezekiel the prophet (and) priest, peace be upon him”. The sum mentioned is sixteen dinars, and the money is to be paid in Ḥadrakh, not far from Damascus. (Information from Gideon Bohak, "The Jewish Texts from the Qubbat al-Khazna," in The Damascus Fragments, ed. d'Ottone Rambach et al.)