My name is Ora Berger. I’m an Israeli scholar in the field of Art History. My B.A., M.A and Ph.D. are from the Art History Department in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

Regarding Jewish Yemeni jewels, I take the Art history point of view. This is unique attitude in Israel, where the main research on the subject is from the Folklore point of view. The first Art history scholar of Jewish Yemeni jewels was Mordechai Narkiss. His theory was that Yemeni jewels are ‘frozen’ Hellenistic jewels. My Ph.D. dissertation contradicts his theory by showing that Jewish jewels in Yemen had been developed as part of Islamic Art in Yemen.

While Folklore research of Jewish Yemeni jewels focuses in the 20th century, my M.A. thesis focused on the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. My Ph.D. dissertation focused on the 18th century.

My postdoctoral research is: ‘Yemen – Synagogues and Hebrew Illuminated Bibles: The Immanent Connection’. In 2014, The Ben-Zvi Institiute for the Study of Jewish Communities in the East, Jerusalem, awarded me with a research grant for the subject.

In this blog, I’ll publish some of my articles and the results of my research. I’ll be happy to get in touch with researchers who can contribute to my research, or by others who think I can contribute to their research. I’m available at oraberger AT yahoo.com

My Academic Degrees:

• 2007 – Ph. D. in Art History. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
  Dissertation subject: The Jewellery of the Jewish Bride in San’a as a cultural and Artistic Message – The 18th century.
• 1987 – M.A. in Art History CUM LAUDE. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Thesis subject: ‘The Jewellery of the Jewish Bride in San’a: San’a 1859-1950 – Israel 1950-1983’.
• 1978 – B.A. in Art History CUM LAUDE (Classical Art  & Middle Ages Art).