Geniza Lab

Prenuptial agreement in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi. Join by Amir Ashur. Fragment A (CUL Or.1081 J34) contains 18 lines and fragment B (ENA 4011.14) contains 9 lines; fragment B connects with fragment A in line 17. The man is named Menashshe. The woman is named Banāt bt. Shelomo, aka Sitt al-ʿItra—maybe identical with the widow in ENA 2558.4. Ashur posits that the deed was written before 1127, the year Masliah ha-Kohen entered office and the word reshut begun to appear in such deeds. Lines 11-12 set a date for the marriage, meaning the deed was written prior to the wedding day. The agreement is presented in the first person reducing the probability that it is a betrothal agreement. The fact that the document refers to the bride as 'mamlukatuhu' (his betrothed or his fiancee; fiancee is more probable) shows that the agreement was made after the engagement took place. It is possible that during the engagement no agreement was written or that the agreement was not comprehensive and therefore this agreement was written. Despite the fact that the manuscript is incomplete it is probable that the bride represented herself, despite the fact that her father was alive: the groom testifies that he handed over to the bride the money directly. Moreover, there is no mention of a representative of the bride. The document has not been published or mentioned elsewhere.