Up for sale is an exceptional and historically significant Ottoman Empire legal document (manuscript scroll) spanning over 60 years of legal updates, featuring multiple official seals (muhur), Ottoman Turkish script, and rare Hebrew annotations.
This document chronicles a fascinating real estate transaction and continuous land tenure involving high-ranking Ottoman officials and members of the Ottoman Jewish community during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Historical Content & Context:
The Origin (1196 AH / 1781 AD): The initial text details the voluntary sale of real estate property belonging to the Treasury Kethuda (Hazine Kethudasi) Yusuf Efendi for a sum of 30 Akce.
The Jewish Community Connection: The document later details that the property's possession/usufruct rights (mutasarrif) were transferred to Yasef, son of Salamon (recorded in the text as Yasef veledi Salamon), under the condition of paying an annual ground rent/tax (mukataa) of 30 Akce.
Chronological Layers: The document contains six distinct officially sealed legal annotations and updates stretching chronologically from 1196 AH (1781 AD) to 1259 AH (1843 AD), showcasing decades of continuous institutional memory.
Hebrew Marks: Features authentic Hebrew script notes on the margins/reverse, used by the contemporary Jewish merchants or community leaders for registration and archiving.
Item Specifics:
Type: Multi-sealed Ottoman-Jewish Legal Manuscript / Property Deed.
Date Range: 1196 AH – 1259 AH (1781 AD – 1843 AD).
Language: Ottoman Turkish (Arabic script) with Hebrew marginalia.