Antique Jewish marriage license? A Sigfredo Pastor painting

Assyrians and Kurdi Jews still use aramaic, but yes, it's mostly reserved for talmud study and rituals. I have studied some talmud, but in fact once you are familiar with the format of the ketubbah, as it's a ritual contract, you don't need to understand the language. You simply go to the imaginary dotted lines where the date, the place and the names are. There is still some research involved after that, as Hebrew town name spellings can be very challenging to match with local language spellings. However, my expertise in ketubbot doesn't come from knowing Hebrew or Aramaic but from working in the auctioneering business and now in a heritage research institute. Most Hebrew speakers won't be able to read or understand this type of ketubbahs - it's like reading a medieval manuscript for English speakers. There are traditional groups (sephardi and maghrebi Jews) who preserve the usage of solitreo but mostly it's gone.

 

There are a lot of languages like that, darnitt. Forced into "scholars only" by one thing or another.

 

Do you think it's older than 1918 date - or was Aramaic still spoken/written then?

 

Still is, in spots. I ran into some ladies in a store back in the 90s and I asked them what language they were using. It turned out to be Aramaic. I'd forgotten about the incident. As to the contract, you're asking the wrong Ruth.(LOL)

 

Traditional ketubbahs always state the date of the marriage according to the Jewish calendar. Here it's wednesday, Sivan (=name of month) 13th, 5679 (=year), which was June 11th, 1919.
Also, traditional ketubbahs are in Aramaic regardless if people speak it or not, and in traditional Judaism (as opposed to reform and other groups) there's isn't a choice in the matter; it's simply the ritualistic language.

 

Thank you!

 

Most welcome. I love old ketubbahs (and equally detest the restrictive marriage institution they represent!).

 

Thank you @RuthEP I am really fascinated by this one. And agree re: restrictions.