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. (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 Sanaa. 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 of Yemen. It is therefore not surprising that the earliest Jewish art program showing ostriches, known today, is in an Hebrew 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 it 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