Marriage Contract. Manuscript in Hebrew in distinctive cursive Hebrew script in black ink on paper, uniting the bridegroom Shalom the son of Pinchos with the bride Tziporah the daughter of Yissachar.

(KETHUBAH)

Sukhumi, Georgia

4 Nissan, 1947

Within colorful decorative geometric border with Stars-of-David and fanciful scrolls. Upper portion above the text display prominent fish motif - an allusion to fertility and good luck, along with blessings wished for the bride and groom.

Sukhumi is the capital of Abkhazia, a disputed territory and autonomous republic within Georgia located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus. Historically, Ashkenazic, Georgian and other Jews comprised this territory’s Jewish population, growing in the mid-19th century when Abkahzia joined the Russian empire. The Jewish community of Sukhumi was officially recognized by Soviet authorities in 1945 although Abkhazian Jews suffered like the other Jews of the Soviet Union during Stalin’s anti-Jewish campaigns and Sukhumi synagogue was pulled down by the authorities in 1951. As a result of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict of 1992-93 the Jewish community of Sukhumi has essentially ceased to function.