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; eventually, though, the formula of the ketubbah was standardized.  

The ketubbot produced in Yemen were typically simple certificates, written on paper in black ink and only occasionally adorned with modest geometric patterns. This colorful and elaborate parchment ketubbah from San’a is therefore striking in its use of two colors and floral motifs. The custom of decorating ketubbot began much later in Yemen than in European countries, and this document is the earliest known decorated ketubbah from Yemen. The fact that its decoration avoids the representation of humans (and, in this case, other creatures) is characteristic of ketubbot from Muslim lands, where (with Persia being the one significant exception) the prohibition on at least human figures was strictly observed by both Jewish and Muslim artists.