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.'