Oxford, Bodleian MS. Heb. a. 3.4

Bodleian Library (Oxford, United Kingdom)

One leaf document

Paper

Black (carbon based)

Calamus

No ruling can be seen

40

11th Century CE

1010s-1020s

al-Ramla

(Other)

Court copy of a Karaite ketubba

Verso
… this affair, in a full, valid qinyan, and also in addition
… her ketubba. The total of the belongings including half a house
… and a half. And Solomon ben ᶜAmram declared before
… [that] all these belongings arrived to his house, and together with the half of the house
… [are under his jurisdiction, with him] and in his possession, and that he took upon himself to keep them
[like everything that belongs to him, and will not change anything from them] without the knowledge of his wife, and without her consent.
[He also took upon himself the responsibility for this ketubba] and upon his estate after him, except for what
[is lost or worn out. And if], God forbid, this Ḥusn leaves this world
[without a child from this husband of hers, all that] she brought with her will return to her heirs from her paternal family, and
[this Solomon, her husband, will not owe] anything from the delayed mohar. And they united themselves in agreement
[both together, that they will behave] in purity and honesty, and that they will observe
[the festivals of the Lord according to the sighting of the Moon, and finding] the aviv in the Land of Israel. And we performed the qinyan with
[the dear groom, Solomon ben ᶜAmram], about what is written and explained above
[and we wrote, signed and gave to Ḥusn daughter of] David, to be in her possession as a proof, and right and testimony,
[according to the custom of Moses and Israel, may they build] and prosper. There follow the names of the witnesses
… Yeḥai ben ᶜEli ha-Kohen, witness;
… Yeshuᶜa ben Thābit ha-Levi ha-Shulḥanī, may he rest in peace, witness;
… ben Isaac ha-Levi known as al-Qaṭā'if, witness;
… Mahbūb [?], witness; Efraim ben Moses, witness;
… Yeshuᶜa ben Khātim, witness; Menaḥem ben Isaac, witness;
… ᶜEli, the scholar, ben 'Ismaᶜil said
… the scholar, al-Bairūtī [said]: I was present
… [when] this ketubba was copied from the original document
[and I saw] that it was exact. And
one of the witnesses in the original document was Menaḥem ben Isaac
the beadle of the Middle Synagogue in Ramle.
And he was summoned to the court in Ramle
and certified about the correctness of this testimony
29. saying: I recognise the correctness of this
ketubba. I was present, and
the matter [in the copy] is as it was said in it [the original version].
… and we wrote, signed and gave to Ḥusn daughter
[of David to be in her possession as proof, right and testimony] according to the custom of Moses and Israel, may they build and prosper.
David ben Isaac (bar Yeshai) ha-Kohen, the scribe, witness; Jehuda [?] …
Bishr ben Abraham ha-Levi, may he rest in peace, witness;
Parḥōn ben Mevorakh ha-Levi, witness; Efraim …
Mevorakh ben Nathan, witness; Isaac ben …
Abū ᶜAli Ḥabīb ben David, witness;
willingly accepted …

Court copy of a Karaite ketubba (marriage contract), Ramla. Ca. 1030 (per Friedman) or 1010s-1020s (per Olszowy-Schlanger). Bride: Ḥusn bt. David. Groom: Shelomo b. ʿAmram. The dowry list doesn't survive except mention of half of a house.

No vowels or accents

From the Genizah, 1896.

990053386170205171

https://www.nli.org.il/en/discover/manuscripts/hebrew-manuscripts/itempage?vid=KTIV&scope=KTIV&docId=PNX_MANUSCRIPTS990053386170205171&SearchTxt=Heb.%20a.%203.4,AND&__cf_chl_tk=D3C3NZF0xM8cWCxD_G.650B (Date accessed: 2026-01-12)

https://genizah.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/catalog/volume_5 (Date accessed: 2026-01-12)

J. Olszowy-Schlanger, Karaite Marriage Contracts from the Cairo Geniza (Brill, 1997); 41.

M. Gil, Palestine During the First Muslim Period (634–1099)‎ (in Hebrew) (Tel Aviv University, 1983), vol. 2, 306.

Available online through the Princeton Geniza Project at https://geniza.princeton.edu/documents/507/ (accessed January 12, 2026).