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Wuhsha al-dallala

al-Wuḥsha al-Dallāla (died after 1104), whose given name was Karīma bint ʿAmmār, was a Jewish-Egyptian businesswoman ("dallāla", or broker) active in the 11th and 12th centuries. She is known to history by way of documents deposited in the Cairo Geniza.[2][3]

Early life

Wuhsha's father was ʿAmmār. If he's the same ʿAmmār as the one who appears immediately before her on a list of contributors to charity, then he's ʿAmmār the Rosh ha-Qahal (Head of the Community) in Alexandria. This ʿAmmār was a banker.[1]

ʿAmmār the banker had at least 3 daughters and 2 sons.[4] In her will, Wuhsha mentions 1 brother and 2 sisters, one named Ṣibāḥ.[5]

Wuhsha was married to a man named Arye b. Judah, but they divorced.[4] Wuhsha had a daughter, Sitt Ghazāl, from this marriage.[4]

Business

She was known as al-dallāla, the broker. However, her business appears more like a banker or pawnbroker. She provided loans, for which precious objects were given as security.[1]

Relationship with Hassun

One document tells the story of how Wuhsha came to the cantor Hillel ben Eli and asked for advice. She had an affair with a man known as Hassun of Ashkelon, and was pregnant. They had "contracted a marriage before a Muslim notary" — effectively a civil marriage — but had not had a Jewish marriage, though they were both Jewish.[a] She was afraid he would deny paternity of the child she was pregnant with. Hillel ben Eli advised her to get caught in flagrante with Hassun so that these people could then testify to her child's paternity. She did this and thus her son, Abu Saʿd, was publicly acknowledged as Hassun's son.[7] Wuhsha was concerned with establishing that Abu Saʿd's birth was merely irregular, that he was not a mamzer.[8]

This scandal resulted in her being expelled from the synagogue of the Iraqi community living in Cairo on Yom Kippur.[7] Yom Kippur is the Fast of Atonement, and traditionally even excommunicated persons are permitted to join the community on that day, making this a very big deal.[6]

Will

In her will of 1104, she donated her vast fortune to various institutions and charitable subjects within the Jewish community of Cairo.[9] Her will deals with an estate of 700 gold dinarss.[10]

Wuhsha's daughter, Sitt Ghazāl, is not mentioned in the will, which may indicate that the two women had become estranged by that point.[4]

Wuhsha and Hassun appear to have fallen out. Her will forgives his outstanding debt to her of 80 dinars, but she also says that to him "not one penny shall be given".[11]

Also see

Notes

  1. ^ The historian Shelomo Dov Goitein speculates that this Muslim marriage may have been fictious, a lie told to Hillel ben Eli to make her relationship look slightly more respectable. If true, Hassun would've been entitled to a portion of her estate under Islamic law, which — as seen in her will — he did not get.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Goitein 1967, p. 226.
  2. ^ Simonsohn, Uriel (2023-03-16), "In Quest of Female Power in the Medieval Near East", Female Power and Religious Change in the Medieval Near East (1 ed.), Oxford University PressOxford, pp. 1–28, doi:10.1093/oso/9780192871251.003.0001, ISBN 978-0-19-287125-1, retrieved 2023-07-18
  3. ^ Melammed, Reneé Levine (April 1997). "He Said, She Said: A Woman Teacher in Twelfth-Century Cairo". AJS Review. 22 (1): 19–35. doi:10.1017/S0364009400009211. ISSN 1475-4541. S2CID 162522827.
  4. ^ a b c d Goitein 1978, p. 347.
  5. ^ Goitein 1967, p. 229-230.
  6. ^ a b Goitein 1978, p. 351.
  7. ^ a b Goitein 1967, p. 236-238.
  8. ^ Goitein 1967, p. 237.
  9. ^ Melammed, Renée Levine (2018-04-08), "A Look at Medieval Egyptian Jewry and Environs: Challenges and Coping Mechanisms as Reflected in the Cairo Genizah Documents", From Catalonia to the Caribbean: The Sephardic Orbit from Medieval to Modern Times, Brill, pp. 100–114, ISBN 978-90-04-37671-7, retrieved 2024-01-20
  10. ^ Burns 1996.
  11. ^ Goitein 1967, p. 231.