Ketubbah from Calcutta

Unknown artist

Ketubbah

Manuscript on paper

Calcutta, 1866

The Jews of India comprised three distinctive groups, each with its own history and customs: the Jews of Cochin, the Bene Israel, and the Baghdadi Jews. The Jews of Cochin are considered the oldest Jewish community in India, having reached the Malabar Coast of southwestern India around the 6th century BCE, following the Babylonians’ destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem. The Bene Israel, the largest among the three groups, are believed to have settled in India between the eighth century BCE to the sixth century CE, although  other theories attribute their appearance in India to 14 members of the Ten Tribes of Israel rescued from the wrecked ship off the Konkan, a coastal plain on the western coast of India, not far from the present-day Bombai, approximately 2,000 years ago.  The Baghdadi Jews, the youngest ethnic group, arrived from Persia to India’s western coast in the second half of the 18th century and played a significant role in developing British commerce in the region.

By the late 18th century, approximately 100,000 Arab-speaking Jews from Aleppo, Baghdad, Basra, and other parts of the Ottoman Empire resided in India’s major cities, such as Bombay (Mumbai) and Calcutta (Kolkata).  

Only a limited number of the Jewish marriage certificates, or ketubbot, from India have survived, and they are now held in museum and library collections. The exquisite brightly colored, decorated ketubbah on display, dated 1866, showcases the artistry of the Baghdadi Jews residing in Calcutta, then the capital of British India. The layout of the ketubbah is rather uniform for all three groups of Indian Jews. It features a traditional superscription in the upper portion that consists of an invocation of God, charms and texts of blessings, and words of well-wishing. The text of the superscription is distributed among two symmetrical “windows,” architectural  elements commonly found in many Iraqi ketubbot.  

Two fish facing each other, symbols of fertility, separate the upper part from the lower part, which contains the text of the actual marriage contract. This particular contract, between a bride named Hanah bat Avraham Yosef Dvek ha-Kohen [Hanna Dwek] and a groom, Netanel Hai ben Yosef Tsemah Dvek ha-Kohen [Netanel Hai Dwek], was signed on 8 Elul, 5626 (August 19, 1866), in Calcutta, India.

The upper and lower parts are united by a richly decorated outer frame adorned with flowers, foliage, and numerous small red peacocks, creating an air of joy and festivity. At the top of the ketubbah, two smiling tigers in heraldic poses, their tails held high, exemplify symbols of strength and protection. The medallion between them, with Hebrew abbreviations, announces: “With the help of God we will do and succeed; my help comes from God, maker of heaven and earth.”

The artistic design of this ketubbah is an excellent example of integration of inherited traditions, such as architectonic windows, and local Indian cultural and artistic influences, such as peacocks and tigers.