Karaite-Rabbanite Ketubah (Fustāt, Egypt)

. . . the twenty-third day of the month of Shevat, in the year 1393 [1082 CE] in the [Era of Documents] . . . its location. That the honorable, dignified, our holy teacher and rabbi, our prince, David ha-Nasi, the nasi of the exiles of all Israel . . . to . . . [son of Daniel] the great, head of the Academy of the Pride of Jacob, may the memory of the holy and pure man be for a blessing, said to Nāshiya, a young lady, a virgin, the bride, daughter of the honorable, dignified, our holy teacher and master, our master, our leader, Moses ha-Kohen, the banner of the Jews, their strength and the joy of their glory [see Ezekiel 24:25], son of the honorable, dignified, our holy teacher and master, Aaron //ha-Kohen//, may his rest be in the Garden of Eden:

“Be to me a wife, in accordance with the law of Moses and Israel, and I will work, feed, honor, and support you [like the men of Israel] who work, feed, honor, and support their wives faithfully. If this young lady, Nāshiya, will listen to me and be my wife, I will give her twenty-five silver zuz, the dowry of virgins [see Exodus 22:16] . . . I will add to her marriage contract three hundred gold dinars. I will give her one hundred dinars from this sum, and leave over and above it two hundred //good, fine-quality// gold dinars, which will have the status of a dowry that she has brought from the house of . . . 123 gold dinars for her silver vessels; 143 gold dinars for her clothing; one hundred dinars . . . for expensive bedding, 132 gold dinars for copper vessels; forty-four gold dinars as [a down payment] in gold . . . as well as that which I possess in the value of twenty gold dinars.”

Thus, the sum total of her marriage contract—the dowry, the addition [mohar], and the dowry she brought with her—is one thousand one hundred gold dinars . . . and our nasi, this David, the nasi of the exiles of all Israel, accepted the responsibility upon himself //of twenty-five silver zuzim// and upon his heirs after him, that it can be collected from the best part of the property, possessions, and money that I own under all [the heavens] . . . both real estate and movable property, even from the shirt on my back, and this is not a transaction with questionable consent, nor a template of documents. Rather, it has the obligations of all marriage contracts, as instituted by the sages and which are universally observed . . . our nasi, this David, has also accepted upon himself that if, God forbid, this Nāshiya passes away without offspring, then [?]‌ half of this dowry will go to her father’s house, in accordance with the custom of the rabbis of the land of Israel, and in accordance with the statement of . . . He also accepted upon himself that he will not force his wife Nāshiya to sit with him alongside a Sabbath candle, nor to eat the fat of a rump,¹ nor to profane her festivals [according to the Karaite calendar], on the condition that she observes the festivals [according to the Rabbanite calendar] with him. . . .

We have completed the act of acquisition from the honorable, dignified, our holy teacher and rabbi, our prince, David ha-Nasi—the nasi of the exiles of all Israel, son of the honorable, dignified, our holy teacher and rabbi, our master, our prince, Daniel ha-Nasi, . . . [head of the Academy of the Pride of] Jacob,” may the memory of the holy and saintly man be for a blessing—for the virgin Nāshiya, the bride, daughter of the honorable, dignified, our holy teacher and rabbi, our master, our leader, Moses ha-Kohen, the banner of the Jews, their strength and the joy of their glory. . . . She thereby acquired all that is written and detailed above, and everything is confirmed and established.

The following additions were included between the lines: “ha-Kohen”; “good, fine-quality”; “twenty-five silver zuz.”² These are all confirmed, and this is their verification. Also, the letter alef from “her marriage contract” is hanging above the line, and the letter yod from “that it can be collected” is written over an erased spot on the parchment . . . and this is their verification, and this marriage settlement document is entirely in order, confirmed and established. In accordance with the principle that “one may not learn from the last line” [see b. Bava Batra 162a],³ it was necessary to write . . .

. . . the head of the court over all Israel, great-grandson of Solomon Ga’on

Jekuthiel ben Moses

Nissim ben Maḥbub

Solomon ben Isaac

Ezekiel ha-Kohen ben Eli he-ḥaver [fellow].

Hodaya ben R. Josiah, “Av”

Joseph ben R. Samuel

Joseph ben Ma‘ud.

‘Arqah ben Muvḥar

Aaron ben Abraham

Nathaniel ben R. Yefet he-ḥaver

Hillel ha-ḥazan [the cantor] [ . . . ]

Abraham bar Isaac.

Source: CUL T-S 24.1.