Geniza Lab

Marriage contract (ketubba), in the Palestinian style, from Ṣā, Egypt (Sa al Hajar, a village on the east bank of the Rosetta branch of the Nile, in the delta, next to the ancient Egyptian city of Sai's/Sai), in 1081 C.E. The bride is a divorcée, and the advanced marriage gift is only two dinars while the dowry totaled a mere five and one/third dinars. (Ed. Friedman, Jewish Marriage, vol. 2, 175-81) EMS

Fragment of a marriage contract of Sittuna with some items of dowry. Dated ca. 1000. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 413, and from Goitein's index cards)

Detailed Karaite marriage contract of Elazar b. Shemarya and Rebecca bat Yosef. Dated Tishri 1512/ September 1200, Cairo. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 409)

Marriage contract between Eli b. Qimoy and Sutayt b. Yair, written by Shemarya b. Elhanan. Dated 1306/ 994-5. (Information from Bareket, Shafrir misrayim, p. 272)

Part of a ketubba for Ratab (רתב) bat [...] b. Isaac ha-Kohen ha-Sar and Yeshuʿa ha-Kohen [b. ...]. Dated Marḥeshvan 1604 (= 1292 CE) in Fusṭāṭ. The names of witnesses are not preserved. Written under the jurisdiction of David b. Abraham Maimonides. There is a decorative heading in larger letters in which many of the letters are decorated with crude fleurs de lis. (Information from CUDL)

Marriage contract (ketubba); line two begins with the phrase "on the river," the only clue to establishing the provenance of the document. Dated 4844 A.M. (1084 C.E.) (Friedman, Jewish Marriage, vol. 2, 217-26) EMS

Large fragment of a marriage contract. Dated from the early 11th century. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, 378, 417)

Digest of a marriage contract. Location: Fustat. Dated: 14 Elul 1405 Seleucid, which is August 1094 CE. Groom: Yakhin the cantor. Bride: Sitt al-Kull, a virgin. Marriage payments: 50 + 105 = 155 dinars. The fragment also contains drafts of various legal documents (one involving the rent of a house in Qaṣr al-Shamʿ and 125 dinars; another involving Abū l-Surūr's claim that he came to Fustat with 25 dinars and spent it all) and letters (one to a judge called al-Rayyis), and many jottings. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 406, Goitein's index cards, and CUDL.)

Legal document concerning a wife agreement to the reduction of her delayed marriage gift from 70 to 20 dinars and renounces the title of trustworthiness granted her in the marriage contract. Dated Nisan 1437/April 1126. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 256, 412, 483)

Betrothal deed, in which Yisrael b. Daniel (groom-to-be) betroths Sittuna bat David b. Avraham (bride-to-be), dated Sunday, 11th Tammuz 4767/1318 (= 1007 CE), in Fustat. The bride’s father is her representative, as witnessed by David b. Shemaʿya, and Kalaf b. Avraham. The marriage gift is 250 dinars, of which 100 dinars has already been advanced. (Information from CUDL)

Ketubba with a valuable dowry listing gold jewellery, pearls, rubies, and turquoise, second half of the 15th century. (Corrected by comparison with photocopy of MS & Goitein's notes) (Z.F.)

Poem on the occasion of a marriage, followed by a letter from Shelah b. Nahoum, probably from Tyre, to Abu al-Khair Efrayim ca. 1085, which continues on verso. (Information from CUDL)

Lower part of a marriage contract (ketubba). Written and signed by Avraham b. Shabbetay. Groom: Yefet b. Nissim. Bride: Sitt al-Dār bt. Yiṣḥaq. Location: Fustat. Dated: Sunday, 21 Adar 1374 Seleucid, which is 1063 CE. On verso of Halper 339, there is Hebrew poetry (written after the document was torn up). (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 47, 532.)

Ketubba for Muʿazaza bat Mevorakh, a divorcee, and Meʾir. Written under the jurisdiction of Sar Shalom ha-Levi (1171–1195 CE) and witnessed by Levi ha-Levi b. Abraham. Dated the 4th of the month, in Fusṭāṭ. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Abū l-Faraj, in Alexandria, to his son-in-law Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Early 13th century. Abū l-Faraj admonishes Shelomo to treat his wife Sitt Ghazāl well, and informs him that Shelomo's aunt (who is also his mother-in-law) is not coming to check that her daughter is well but rather coming to arrange a marriage between her son and Shelomo's niece, because she is the owner of 9/24ths of a house belonging to the family. He opens the letter with his preoccupation for Shelomo's illness and his happiness upon learning of Shelomo's recovery (r6–10). He also wishes a speedy recovery to Shelomo's mother (Sitt Rayḥān). (Information in part from CUDL.)

Karaite marriage contract, dated ca. 1000. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 407)

Ketubba for Mikhal bat Sason b. Yefet and Saʿadya b. Nathan, in the hand of Nathan ha-Kohen b. Shelomo ha-Kohen. Verso: part of another document relating to the same couple, dated 1451 of the Seleucid Era (= 1140 CE) in Fusṭāṭ, witnessed by Nathan ha-Kohen b. Shelomo ha-Kohen and Joseph b. Ayyūb ha-Levi. The bride’s father, Sason b. Yefet, is known from T-S 13J2.17 (dated 1116 CE), T-S 13J6.21, and T-S 8J4.23 (dated 1110 CE). (Information from CUDL)

Part of a Karaite betrothal deed from the time of the Nasi Ḥezekiah b. Shelomo b. David, dated 9th Shevaṭ 1373 of the Seleucid Era (= 1062-1063 CE) in Fusṭāṭ. It is identified as a betrothal deed and not a ketubba because the quotation from Hosea 2:21-22 is typically found in betrothal deeds. The names of the couple are not preserved. (Information from CUDL)

Marriage contract (ketubba). Dated: 23 Shevaṭ 1393 Seleucid (= 1082 CE). Location: Probably New Cairo. Groom: the nasi and head of the Jews David b. Daniel b. ʿAzarya (in office 1082–94), son of the gaʾon Daniel b. Azarya (in office 1051–62). Bride: Nāshiya bt. Moshe b. Aharon ha-Kohen, the daughter of a Qaraite notable, who brings in a dowry of almost 900 dinars (or over 1100 dinars?). As the bride is from a prominent Qaraite family, and the groom is a high-ranking Rabbanite, there are special clauses in the contract stating that the groom will not force the bride to compromise her Qaraite principles, and the bride will join her husband in observing the Rabbanite feasts. Attested by the Bet Din and witnessed by Yequtiʾel b. Moses, Nissim b. Maḥbūb, Shelomo b. Yiṣḥaq, Yeḥezqel b. ʿEli he-Ḥaver, Hodaya b. Yoshiyya, Yosef b. Shemuel, Yosef b. Elʿazar, Ṣedaqa b. Muvḥar, Aharon b. Avraham, Netanel b. Yefet he-Ḥaver, the cantor Aharon b. Avraham, Hillel the Cantor b. [...], Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq. (Information from CUDL and Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 136, 456.)

Ketubba (marriage contract).In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Location: Fustat. Dated: Monday 26 Adar II 1426 Seleucid, which is 1115 CE, under the authority of the Nagid Moshe b. Mevorakh. Groom: Shemarya b. Menashshe ha-Kohen. Bride: Malīḥa, a virgin and a poor woman. Marriage payments: 5 + 10 = 15 dinars. Dowry = 28 1/3 dinars. (Information from CUDL and Goitein's index card.)