Ora Berger אורה ברגר The jewellery of the Jewish bride in Sana'a as a cultural and artistic message – the 18th century

new article: The Ostriches Pentateuch Rada’ (South Yemen) End of the Twelfth Century (JTS L66)

TEMA, JOURNAL OF JUDEO-YEMENITE STUDIES, No. 11, 2011, was published and includes my article: The Ostriches Pentateuch, Rada? (South Yemen) End of the Twelfth Century (JTS L66).
(Pictures from the article available here).

Ostriches are found in three Hebrew Illuminated Bibles from Yemen. Each was scribed and painted in a different town: Rada’ (רדאע), south Yemen, Aden and San’a. The fact that three different Jewish scribes in three different places in Yemen made the same art decision to paint ostriches in an Hebrew Pentateuch, clearly suggests that the idea of ostriches was important to Jews in Yemen. It is therefore not surprising that the earliest Jewish art program from Yemen showing ostriches, known today, belongs to an Hebrew Illuminated Bible. The focus and the aim of this article are to understand why.

It should be noted that only a few Hebrew Illuminated Bibles from Yemen have survived and those from the twelfth and thirteen centuries were not researched yet. Although L66 is documented in the Lutzki catalog, which is the inside catalog of the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York, (henceforth JTS), its art program was never researched.

If you would like to buy TEMA please contact Hagit Goodman at: hagoda@barak.net.il