ABSTRACT
Virginity,intheeyesofearlymodemRomanJews,wasanestimable
possession.Tensoftextsdiscussthe"miqrebiltitahor,"thetaleofa
younggirl,asyoung-infact,asayearold,butnormallyaboutfouror
five-playing,huggingherfatherattheSabbathtable,orwatchinga bridalprocession,whofalls-oftenoffastrawchair,witha"piercing
straw"seat-andasaresultbloodisseenonhergown.Reliablematrons aresummonedaswitnesses,sothatbrightmaritalprospects-unlikethe
now"putatively"puncturedhymen-remainedintact.Not,however,
shattered;forJewishlawmadeitnearlyimpossibletoequatetheabsence
ofvirginity'ssignswiththeabsenceofvirginityitself.Onlyeye-witness
testimonyseemstohavesufficedtoprovethat.Theritualofan inspectionrecordedbyanotary(muchastheparallelritualdisplayofa
bloodyconjugalsheet)wasprimarilyaguaranteeagainstembarrassment
and,more,falseclaims.Itwasalsovenerable:sincetalmudictimes,girls
who"lost"theirvirginitythroughinjurywereknownas"mukot'ets."
AndtheclassiceleventhcenturyFranco-Germancommentaryof
SolomonbenIsaac,Rashi,reiteratesthattheconjugalsheetdefends againstfraud.'