Karaite-Rabbanite Ketubah (Fustāt, Egypt)

This excerpt from a long marriage contract, one of several ketubot between Karaites and Rabbanites, confirms the marriage between Rayyisa bint Sa‘adya and Yeḥya ibn Abraham. The contract sets forth stipulations for mutual religious toleration, as all ketubot between Karaites and Rabbanites did. As was generally the custom, the contract follows the wife’s practice, in this case Karaite. This marriage was in fact a remarriage. After being widowed from a first marriage, Rayyisa had married and then divorced Yeḥya. The couple then reunited. For reasons that are not entirely clear, the wife contributed one of the largest dowries mentioned in ketubot from the Geniza, totaling 719 dinars. (The listing of the dowry materials is not included in this excerpt.) The husband’s mohar (bridal gift) was much smaller, an uncommon discrepancy. If Rayyisa died before her husband, the dowry would revert to her daughter from her first marriage, or to another heir from her own family. Ellipses indicate lacunae in the document.