A ketubbah (“writ”) is a pre-nuptual contract that specifies many of a groom’s obligations to his bride in the event of divorce or the death of the husband. Rooted in ancient traditions, the ketubbah, the purpose of which is to protect a woman’s interests, was for much of its history a genuine contract, the specifics of which could be modified for individual relationships.

The ketubbah in front of you is from the Cairo Genizah. An ordinary Genizah is a place where sacred Jewish writings that can no longer be used are stored until they are sent for burial. But the Genizah in the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat (Old Cairo) was unique in two significant respects: (1) none of it was ever sent for burial, so it accumulated for nearly 1000 years, from the founding of the synagogue until the discovery of the Genizah by Europeans in the mid-19^th century; and (2) the Jews behind the Genizah apparently felt that Hebrew letters themselves were sacred, so anything written with Hebrew characters, including secular documents and writings in Arabic, for which Jews used Hebrew letters, was thrown into the Genizah.

This ketubbah is written in Hebrew, unlike common ketubbot, written in Aramaic. This indicates that the ketubbah is written for Karaite (= “scripturalist”) Jews, Jews who rejected rabbinic authority and respected only the authority of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). Their allegiance to Hebrew is a reflection of their identification with the biblical text, itself written in Hebrew. The evidence of the Cairo Genizah shows that Karaite Jews continued to be far more populous than was once believed, constituting perhaps as much as 50% of the local community.