Fragment of the lower part of a ketubah or marriage contract between Isaac bar David, son of David bar Abamari, and Reina, daughter of Salomó ha-Cohen bar Nehemiah

Date: 1200 - 1300

Archive: Historical Archive of Girona

Document type: Textual

Reference code: AHG. Col·lecció de manuscrits hebreus de l'Arxiu Històric de Girona, 15

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Description: The preserved fragment does not contain the header of the document where the details of the contractors and their affiliations are recorded, nor the place and date when the families met to formalize the contract, although it can be said that it is a document related to families from a Girona area. The first part of the document (lines 1-5) presents the t’naim or conditions related to the distribution of the goods of the contract, in case of natural dissolution. As also stated in other Catalan quetubas, the contract establishes the right of the bride’s heirs to recover the property contributed by her family in the event of her death. To allude to the heirs, the word yoresh is used, although there is no specification as to whether it is the parents, siblings, or other relatives. However, everything seems to indicate that the clause does not refer to the descendants of the marriage. Therefore, we would be facing a t’nai that would condition the marriage relationship until the birth of a son or daughter or to ensure its consolidation (after a period of one or two years). The second part of the ketubah (lines 5-9) reproduces a ketubah model collected by R. Simó ben Tsemah Duràn. In this fragment of the ketubah it is recorded that the bridegroom takes responsibility for the marriage contract, the ajovar and writes it so that they are paid from his goods and possessions: all his goods, even the shirt off his back, will be mortgaged to ensure payment, without the need for the permission of any rabbinic court (bet din) or anyone (any person in the world), and all this, according to the custom of Israel, without it being considered as a mere formula of a document The groom, therefore, guarantees the fulfillment of all financial obligations, although we are missing the part of the document that specifies exactly what they are. After pointing out that everything is firm and stable, the contract ends with the signatures of the groom and two witnesses: Natan, son of Yosef, and Isaac ha-Leví, son of Yosef, son of Samuel ha-Leví; these must be two adult men, of good repute and not related by blood.

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