Document on Buying Gethsemane Garden by Three Brothers from Bosnia in 1681 - Text and Context

Abstract

This paper presents a document dating from 1681 (1092 Hijra year): the document confirms the sale and endowment of figs and olives seedlings as well as the other properties on the land of Madrasa al-Ṣalāḥiyya in Jerusalem, which was implemented by the means of the so-called al-ḥikr. The brothers from Sarajevo, Pavle, Jakov and Antun, purchased this particular property and bequeathed it to the Franciscan monks who lived in the monastery al-‘Amūd (Monastery of the Holy Saviour) in Jerusalem and to the poor Christians that required alms from the brothers. The curious issue in this case is the prevailing opinion of scholars that the space that is the subject of the sale in this document is the space of Gethsemane garden, one of the most important Christian holy sites.