A Ketubbah, meaning “writ,” is, traditionally, a pre-nuptual contract that stipulates the obligations a groom takes upon himself should he divorce or pre-decease his wife. Through the Middle Ages, the vast majority of ketubbot (pl. of ketubah) looked like common contracts, which were very rarely enhanced with simple decoration. But beginning in early modernity, ketubbot were more commonly magnificently decorated, and they remain one of the most outstanding media for Jewish artistic creativity. 

This magnificent ketubbah from Herat, Afghanistan, shows the unmistakable influence of the local visual culture. The decorative program, the colors, and the Moorish arches that frame the floral decorations and blessings at the top, all announce its Islamic home (note the complete absence of human and even animal figures). The rhyming blessings under the arches and embedded in the border, commonly found on Afghani Ketubbot, all celebrate the joy and promise of the wedding being celebrated.