Geniza Lab

Muslim marriage contract. In Arabic script. Dating: Unknown. Written in a calligraphic hand, in pairs of two lines separated by moderately wide spaces. For other such marriage contracts (though none have this layout), see Khan, ALAD, docs. 32–34, especially doc. 32 (T-S 18J1.10), which shares some of the same formulae. The top of the document are missing. This fragment begins in the section describing the duties of husband toward wife and vice versa. The bride's legal guardian (waliyy) for the purposes of the marriage is her brother Abu ʿAlī Ḥasan b. ʿAbd al-Aḥad b. Faraj. Mentions [...] al-Anmāṭī and Isḥāq b. Muḥammad al-Maghribī who attest that the bride is free, Muslim, a virgin, mature, and sound of mind and body. The groom is called a faqīh (jurisprudent). There are two witness signatures preserved (which need examination). Found (and joined) by Alan Elbaum and edited by Naïm Vanthieghem.

Instructions for the wedding ceremony.

Marriage contract, upper right portion, between Yosef b. Mawhūb and Sittān bt. Mevasser b. Yeshuʿa, written in Tyre, dated (not completely legibly) from the destruction of the Temple, along with blessings and pious wishes for the redemption of Israel. The text is a Hebrew rendition of an Aramaic-Palestinian-style marriage contract. Items in the dowry list include gold coins, earrings and a wristband. The brother of the bride, Yeshuʿa b. Mevasser, acts as her agent and representative. Dating: 11th century. On verso is the beginning of Kitāb ḥudūd al-bulūgh wa-l-idrāk (Treatise on the attainment of majority), possibly by Shemuʾel b. Ḥofni. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document; marriage document. Three unrelated texts: Two contracts (ketubah and deed of sale) and a commentary on Genesis 12. Fol. 1: commentary on Genesis 12. Fol. 2: deed of sale? ‘Imrān is mentioned. Looks like the hand of Avraham b. Nathan Av (or Hillel b. Eli). Fol. 3: Small and damaged fragment from a ketuba. On verso remains of color decoration. Hebrew, Aramaic, Judeo-Arabic. AA

legal document, mentioning the elder Abū Isḥāq probably relates to marriage agreement. The monogamy clause is apparent. צIt is possible to assume that the bride was Karaite, based on the term ואנה לא יחללהא[ת ...] ט (AA)

Fragment from a Karaite ketubba for Sitt al-Faḍl and Judah. Ca. 11th century. Olszowy-Schlanger (1998:375) notes that the additional marriage payment of 13 dinars is one of the smallest listed in Karaite marriage contracts. (Information from CUDL)

Ketubba of Tujjār marrying Ḥalfon; on verso trousseau list. (Information from CUDL)

Marriage contract (ketubba) from Tyre, ca. 1079. Preserves the full name of the groom and a notable phrase for the promise of mohar. (Friedman, Jewish Marriage, vol. 2, 460-1) EMS

Marriage contract in Palestinian style (small scrap from the concluding lines). VMR

Marriage contract (ketubba) probably from Tinnis, Egypt, early eleventh century.

Small piece of a Palestinian-style marriage contract (ketubba), preserving part of the volition formula and the statement of the wife's obligations. (Information from CUDL)

Marriage contract (ketubba) probably from Tyre, 1089-1099.

Fragment of a Karaite ketubba for […] bat Ṭoviyya and ʿOvadya b. Ṣedaqa b. Ḥalfon b. ʿAlūn. In line 3 the word בת was originally written בן and then corrected. Olszowy-Schlanger (1998:375) reads the bride’s name as al-Tifrat. The bride’s agent is Yefet b. Menashshe. Dated [1]3[..] of the Seleucid Era (= at the latest 1087 CE), probably in Egypt. (Information from CUDL)

Fragment of a marriage contract, the section listing the outfit of the bride. ( E. Bareket, Shafrir misrayim, 267, and from Goitein's index cards)

Fragment of a marriage contract between ʿEzra b. Menahem and Jawhara bt. [...], a virgin. Dating: mid-11th century, since ʿEzra b. Menaḥem signed T-S 10J28.2 in 1052 CE. Marriage payments: 5 + 15 = 20 dinars. Grand total: 60 dinars (so the dowry was 40 dinars). (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 398.) See also T-S NS 327.146.

Trousseau list as part of a ketubba. Mentions cloth and currency. (Information from CUDL)

Trousseau list as part of a ketubba. Mentions cloth and currency. (Information from CUDL)

Ketubba with trousseau list, mentioning quantities of money, clothes and chests. (Information from CUDL)

Notes for a marriage contract between Abu al-Karim Shabbetay b. Avraham and the divorcee Mudallala bat Yehuda ha-Levi involving a dowry of 102 dinars plus a house. Drafted in Cairo ca. 1140. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 387 and 403)

Fragment of a marriage contract from the 11th century. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, 411)