Jewish marriage contract

ketubba

“Their descendants will be known among the nations / and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge / that they are a people the Lord has blessed.

I delight greatly in the Lord; / my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation / and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, / and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

Isaiah 61:9-10

Illuminated Manuscript. Ketubbah (Jewish marriage contract). Traditionally written in Talmudic-era Aramaic, the ketubbah (Hebrew for “written thing”) details the groom's obligations toward his future wife after marriage. For the financial protection of the bride, the ketubbah also states how much the husband or his family must pay or promise to pay if he decides to divorce without cause or in case of death. Jewish marriage contracts produced in the Near Fast are usually written on paper, and their decoration is strongly influenced by Islamic art in their lack of figures and the use of aniconic motifs. Persia was the main center of ketubbah illumination in the Islamic world. The text of the contract occupies the center of the page, while biblical verses form the inner and outer frames. Verses from Isaiah (61:9-10) form the outer frame of the ketubbah. The the groom’s name is “Elijahu ben Matitja(hu)”, the bride’s name “Batscheva bat Ja’akov”.