Geniza Lab

Legal document. Record of release. Dated: 1169. Location: Fustat. Likely in the hand of Mevorakh b. Natan b. Shemuel. Onetime business partners Abū al-Faraj Yeshu‘a and Abū al-Riḍā release one another from partnership obligations. Line 13 refers to the “oath of partners”, in which the partners swear that they have not engaged in malfeasance or negligence with partnership assets. This phrase is a statement made at the termination of a partnership, particularly where partnership assets have been lost; reports of partnership profits are often more frequent and are often performed during the life of the partnership. The release clauses pair “loan” (qarḍ) with commenda (qirāḍ) because of the linguistic relationship between the two. The release clauses are mutual. Signed by [unclear] b. Ya'aqov ha-Melammed. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 51-53)