Geniza Lab

Marriage contract (ketubba), fragment. Includes a portion of a dowry list. Signed: Ḥalfon b. Mevasser; Elʿazar ha-Mumḥe; Mevorakh b. Avraham. On verso there are a few words in Hebrew, significance unclear.

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: 12 Ḥeshvan 1467 Seleucid, which is 1156 CE. Groom: Peraḥya b. Tiqva ha-Levi. Bride: Sitt al-Thanāʾ bt. Avraham. Signed by Berakhot b. Shela ha-Kohen, Nadiv b. Yeshuʿa, and Shelomo b. Shemuel ha-Levi. Approved by Ḥiyya b. Yiṣḥaq, Efrayim b. Meshullam, and Hillel b. Ṣadoq. (Information from CUDL.) See also Goitein's index card.

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.)

Marriage contract (ketubba). Fragment (long vertical strip from the right side). Very similar to T-S 12.659 (Friedman, JMP, doc. 6). Groom: David. Date and other details are not preserved. Witnessed by Simḥa b. [A]haron ha-Kohen, Yehuda b. ʿImrān, Yaḥyā b. Nahum, Sāliḥ b. Ḥasan ha-Levi, Avraham b. Pinḥa[s] ha-Kohen, Nuʿmān b. ʿUmar. (Information from CUDL and Friedman's edition.)

Recto: Marriage document (ketubba) in Palestinian style executed in 979/980. (Friedman, Jewish Marriage, vol. 2, 226-36) Verso: The end of a halakhic treatise on clean and unclean animals, meat preparation etc. (Infromation from CUDL)

Fragment of a marriage contract (ketubba). Dating: Likely 10th century, based on handwriting. This fragment begins toward the end of the dowry list. Groom: Saʿīd. Bride: Malīhā, a virgin. The dowry amounts to 456 1/3 dinars. The items are listed in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Hebrew, and the document preserves the complete text of the divorce clause. (Information from Friedman, Jewish Marriage, vol. 2, 53–54.) On verso there is the Hoshaʿnot liturgy for the end of Sukkot. (CUDL)

Fragment of right side of a marriage contract

Part of a ketubba for Abū l-Munā Ṭiqva b. Berakhot (groom), who is remarrying his divorcee. Dated 14[..] (12th century CE) in Fusṭāṭ, invoking the authority of the Nagid [Sam]uel (b. Ḥananya, 1140-59 CE). (Information from CUDL)

Part of a ketubba for Sitt al-Ḥasab (bride). Most of the text is too badly faded to read. (Information from CUDL)

Part of a ketubba with no details preserved. (Information from CUDL)

Segment of a court testimony. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi (Date: 1100-1138). Regarding dowry arrangements after the renewal of a lost ketubba. The ketubba of Abu l-Fadl Ṣadoq b. Ḥalfon b. Moshe and his wife […] bt. Berakhot b. Yehuda ha-Levi was lost when the Franks (‘May God ruin them’) captured Tripoli (Lebanon, in 1109 CE) and Abū l-Faḍl and his wife were taken prisoner. On verso there is Genesis 1:1-3. (Information from CUDL)

Part of a ketubba for Shelomo (groom), in the hand of Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya (1014-57 CE). (Information from CUDL)

End of a ketubba for the bride [...] bat Hillel ha-Levi. Witnessed by Judah ha-Kohen b. Yefet, Ṣedaqa b. Baqā, Hārūn b. Judah, Aaron [...] and Isaac b. Ṣed[aqa]. (Information from CUDL)

Part of a ketubba for [...] bat Meshullam (bride). Witnessed by Ṣedaqa b. Ṣemaḥ. (Information from CUDL)

Part of a ketubba, mostly illegible. (Information from CUDL)

Marriage contract (ketubba) concerning a wealthy and influential family. Dated: 18 Kislev [48]41, which is 1080 CE. (Gil thinks 4741 AM and 979/80 CE.) The groom is [...] b. Shelomo from Damascus. The bride is [...] bt. […] b. [… ha-Ko]hen ha-Gizbar ("the treasurer") b. Shemuel b. Moshe ha-Kohen […] al-Qazzāz, and her agent is her uncle. Moss. VII,118.1 is in the hand of the same scribe (though probably not a join), and the Khalaf ha-Kohen ha-Gizbar mentioned there may be identical with the [...] ha-Kohen ha-Gizbar mentioned here. (Information in part from CUDL and Friedman, Jewish Marriage, vol. 2, 356.) EMS. ASE