Geniza Lab

Ketubba (marriage contract). A four piece join from an early 11th century Palestinian style ketubba from Tinnīs. Groom: Mevasser b. Yiṣḥaq. Bride: ʿAzīza bt. Ḥasan. Location: Tinnīs (Egypt). Written by Ṣemaḥ the cantor. Dating: Between 942/43 and 1033/34 CE.

Marriage contract (ketubba). Upper left corner. Location: Fustat. Bride: Sitt al-Ahl bt. [...] ha-Kohen Rosh ha-Qahal.

Marriage contract (ketubba). Lower right corner. Signed by Shelomo Kohen b. Yehuda and Ḥalfon ha-Levi b. Shelomo.

Marriage contract from Damascus, 956, which records a marriage gift of 225 dinars (of which only 25 were advanced) and a dowry evaluated at 395 dinars. (Friedman, Jewish Marriage, vol. 197-9) EMS

Marriage contract (ketubba). Beginning only. Dated: 20 Kislev 1550 Seleucid, which is 29 November 1238 CE. Groom: Yosef b. Yaʿaqov. Goitein's index card suggests that the Nagid at this time is already David I, but it is not clear if he deduced that from the phrases in the document or if he already knew that Avraham died before this date. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Marriage contract of Faḍā'il b. Yosef and Sittunā, signed in Abyār. Dated: December 1070 CE. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 388)

Formulary for a marriage contract, Qaraite/interdenominational. Dated: 1036 CE, at the time of Ṣemaḥ Nasi. One sheet is possibly missing in between, and with it the details about the tosefet and the nedunya. Information in part from Goitein's index card

Marriage contract for Shelomo b. Yosef and Munā bt. ʿAmram. From somewhere in Egypt. Dated 1086/87 CE (1398 Seleucid).

Fragment of a marriage contract between the bridegroom X b. Yosef [the great Rav] and the bride Sitt al-Adab daughter of Yehuda b. Nissim the sar b. Masliah the haver, the judge. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 103)

Copy of a copy of a ketubba from Ashkelon, 1100.

Verso (original use): Marriage contract (ketubba). Central piece. In the hand of Mevorakh b. Natan. Groom: Mordekhay b. Saʿadya ha-Levi. Bride: Sitt al-Kuttāb. Containing many items of dowry with realistic values. Dated: [14]76 Seleucid = 1164/65 CE, under the authority of Daniel ha-Nasi. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, 367, and Goitein's attached index card.)

Marriage contract of a ransomed captive woman, Damascus, possibly [10]82/3 or [11]82/3.

Karaite marriage contract of the groom Hezekiah and the bride Sarwa written in Shevat 1339/ February 1028 in Jerusalem. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 50, 376)

Karaite ketubba (marriage contract) from Jerusalem, January 1028.

Ketubba (marriage contract), formulary, found inside of a Palestinian prayerbook. The booklet also contains formularies for a bill of divorce and the husband's instructions to the scribe and witnesses for issuing that deed. For the location, the bill of divorce gives "City X, adjacent to Ẓoʿan Miẓrayim (=Fustat), which is situated on the river Nile." There is also a poem dedicated to "our lord Evyatar (b. Eliyyahu)," who was the Gaon during the last two decades of the elevent century. There are eleven additional leaves from the same booklet in MS. Dropsie 211. Information from Mordechai Akiva Friedman.

Ketubba from Cairo dated 22 November 1822 (8 Kislev 5583), for Khalīfa Pipa and Sulṭāna bt. Nissim Qanini (?). The grand sum of the ketubba is 32000 medins (מך).

Ketubba, illuminated, from 1840/41 CE ([5]601), left half only.

Bottom part of an illuminated ketubba, probably 18th or 19th century.

Ketubba, illuminated, from Rashid, no earlier than 1740 CE (55[..]).

Ketubba, beautifully illuminated, from Cairo, dated 16 April 1821 (14 Nisan 5581) for Ḥayy Dayyān b. David Dayyān and Mazal Ṭov bt. Yehuda Dayyān. The couple are likely paternal cousins. The document is cut in the shape of a dome, with a heading depicting birds, trees, and a building structure overseen by a sun and an eye. The bride and groom sit in one room, holding hands. The border of the document is decorated with the twelve signs of the zodiac. (Information from CUDL)