Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. A ketubah (: ; "document"; pl. ketubot) is a special type of . It is considered an integral part of a traditional , and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride. The rabbis in ancient times insisted on the marriage couple entering into the ketubah as a protection for the wife. It acted as a replacement of the biblical mohar - the price paid by the groom to the bride, or her parents, for the marriage (i.e., the ). The ketubah became a mechanism whereby the amount due to the wife (the bride-price) came to be paid in the event of the cessation of marriage, either by the death of the husband or . It may be noted that the biblical mohar created a major social problem: many young prospective husbands could not raise the mohar at the time when they would normally be expected to marry.