[If] a house collapsed upon a man and his wife —- the husband's heirs claim [that] the wife died first and then the husband, [while] the wife's heirs claim [that] the husband died first and then the wife —- Beis Shammai say: They divide [the estate]. But Beis Hillel say: The property retains its status; the kesubah is in the possession of the husband's heirs; the possessions which enter and go out with her are in the possession of the father's heirs.

[If] a house collapsed upon a man and his mother, all agree that they divide. Said R' Akiva: I agree in this [case] that the posses-sions retain their status. Said Ben Azzai to him: On the disputed issues we are pained, and you come to dispute the unani-mous?

An open document [has] its witnesses on the inside; and a bound [document has] its witnesses on the outside. An open one whose wit-nesses wrote on the outside, and a bound one whose witnesses wrote on the inside, are both invalid. R' Chanina ben Gamliel says: A bound one whose witnesses wrote on the inside is valid, because he can make it an open one. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: All in accord with the custom of the land.

An open document requires two witnesses, and a bound one, three. An open one in which one witness is signed, and a bound one in which two witnesses are signed, are both invalid.  [If] he wrote in it, “one hundred zuzin, which are twenty selas,” he receives only twenty [selas]. [If he wrote,] “one hundred zuzin which are thirty selas,” he receives only a maneh. [If it stat-ed,] “silver zuzin which are ...” and [the rest] was erased, it is not less than two [zuzin]. Silver selas which are ...” and [the rest] was erased, it is not less than two [selas]. “Darkons which are ...” and [the rest] was erased, it is not less than two [darkons]. [If] above was written, one hundred [zuzin], and below, two hundred [zuzin], [or] above two hundred and below one hundred —- everything follows the bottom [statement]. If so, why is the top written? So that if one letter from the bottom should be erased, it will be derived from the top.