Decorated paper ketubah, for the wedding of Avraham son of Moshe HaLevi and Rosa daughter of Yosef Shabtai Tajir of Sofia. Kyustendil, Bulgaria, 3rd Elul, 5656 [August 12, 1896].

Ink and paint on paper.

Ketubah on a very large paper sheet, with the upper part illustrated meticulously with two gilt decorations, a crown with flower arrangements, a Star of David inscribed within a circle with various permutations of letters and a pair of birds. The ketubah text appears in Sephardic cursive script, to the right, with signatures of witnesses Rachamim Yisrael Berechiah and Menachem son of Yehudah HaLevi at the edge. To the left appears the Tenaim text, signed by the same witnesses, with the dowry below signed by Rachamim Yisrael Berechiah.

A Jewish community existed in Kyustendil since the 16th century; at the beginning of the 20th century it was inhabited by 1,200 Jews.

59.5X86.5 cm. Overall good condition. Many folds. Some stains. Tears, mainly to upper part and across folds, professionally restored. Gilt decorations at top partially lacking.

Only one ketubah from Kyustendil is documented on the NLI ketubah site, from the JTS collection (KET 250).