Baessler-Archiv, volume 58, 2010, was published and pp. 53-90, includes my article: Anklets: כ‘לאכ‘ל Khalakil

Yemeni jewels are very famous, however those from the eighteenth century are less scrutinize. In the frame of my Ph.D. dissertation I showed fourteen different types of Jewish jewels adorned by the Jewish bride at Ga bir al-azabקאע ביר אלעזב the Jewish neighborhood outside Sanaa and Rada’ רדאע. That includes anklets, known as כ‘לאכ‘ל in Judeo-Yemeni script, which is the Hebrew writing of the Yemeni speaking (http://www.oraberger.co.il). Jewels in couplets, such as ankletes, hardly survived from Yemen from the eighteenth century. That turns the pair of כ‘לאכ‘ל Khalakil from 1771/2 by the Jewish silversmith Salem Kasil to a test case of Jewish and Yemeni Art.

This paper is concerned with an intact original pair of Khalakil that shows ostriches and fishes as its iconography. I wish to focus on that pair of stamped anklets, signed by Salem Kasil – a Jewish silversmith from Ga bir al-azab קאע ביר אלעזב, the Jewish neighborhood outside Sanaa – as a test case of Jewish and Yemeni Art. The target is to shed light on כ’לאכ’ל Khalkil as a Jewish safeguard, due to its unique iconography of ostriches and fishes. 

The iconography of ostirches in the context of Khalkil was never researched before and is shown here for the first time. The silversmith Salem Kasil chiseled his name סאלם קסיל in Judeo-Yemeni script on it. The tabi, which is the official stamp of the Zaydi imams, dates it to 1771/2 and shows al-Mahdi as the ruling Imam. At the essence of its existence lie four questions. First, why ostriches and fishes? Second, is it a new iconography of Yemen? Third, what is the art formula of ostriches and fishes in Yemen and what we can conclude out of that? Fourth, is it the same כ’לאכ’ל(pl.) of the Jewish bride of the classical Cairo Geniza community (ninth – thirteenth centuries)?

כ‘לאכ‘ל Khalakil would be examined from the point of view of Art history. The basis is the crossroad of Jewish thought and Yemeni art formulas regarding ostriches and fishes. Examples of ostriches and fishes as Yemeni brands would be provided since Antiquity up- till the twentieth century. כ‘לאכ‘ל Khalakil present the only  jewels known to us today made by Salem Kasil and signed by him.

The Jubilee Volume in honor for Prof. Yosef Tobi , entitled: Ayelet Oettinger & Danny Bar-Maoz (eds.), Mittuv Yosef, Yosef  Tobi Jubilee Volume. (3 volumes). Haifa, was published and its volume II [the non Hebrew volume], pp. xviii-xlv, includes my article: The Earliest Known San’a Hebrew Illuminated Pentateuch, San’a, Yemen, 1206. (Pictures from the article available here).

Yemeni Hebrew illuminated Biblesi are famous, however, those from the thirteen century were not researched yet. The aim of this article is in respect of the earliest known illuminated Pentateuch, Sanaa 1206, now in the JTS, New York. I wish to shed light on its art program, from both Jewish and Islamic Art in Yemen, as well as, its relationship with the Art of the Cairo Geniza community.

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.

The Earliest Known Sansa Hebrew Illuminated Pentateuch, Sansa, Yemen, 1206, in JTS, New York, is much earlier than the well known ”The Sansa Pentateuch”, Sansa 1469,  in The British Library, London.

The art programs of the two were never juxtaposed and never compared. I intend to do that in a different article.

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

As part of  The International Conference on Jews of Yemen: Identity and Heritage, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, State of  Israel, 18-19 October 2010, I gave a lecture on: ‘Do we have the Shalom Shabazi Pentateuch? Its Art program‘.

Baessler-Archiv, volume 57, 2009, was published and pp. 75-101 includes my article: The Scorpion.
The phenomenon of pilgrimage to Taizz, south west Yemen, to the grave of the Jewish and Yemenite Poet Shalom (Salim) al-Shabazi (1619-1680+) is well known. However, the scorpion in that context has been less scrutinized. I wish to focus on the phenomenon of pilgrimage to his grave, by Jews and Muslims, from the point of view of art history. The target is to shed light on the scorpion as a symbol of fertility. The basis is the belief that visiting his grave will cure infertility. While being there, the appearance of an alive scorpion was considered a sign of cure.

The scorpion will be shown in four new types of Jewish jewels, from the Jewish community at Ga bir al-azabקאע ביר אלעזב outside Sanaa, dating to the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, as well as, its origin in Jewish and Islamic art and belief.

From 1882 till 1950 Jews of Yemen made ‘Aliyah’ (come back) to Israel. This had turn Israel, to the only place in the world, to research phenomena of Jews of Yemen, in real time, of its still happening in Yemen, including jewels. The Scorpion is the main iconography of four types of jewels brought into Israel, yet, still in use in the Jewish community at Ga bir al-azab קאע ביר אלעזב outside Sanaa in parallel time: Labbah (s.), Lazem (s.), Khoratah (s.) and Aqrabe (s.).

All the four are new types dated to 19th and 20th centuries, not known in the 18th century in Sanaa. There is no scorpion at all in Jewish iconography in the Jewish community at Ga bir al-azab קאע ביר אלעזב in the 18th century, except only from one type of jewel dated to the end of the 18th century/the beginning of the 19th century, of which I named “Humat al-aqrab”(s.) – “Scorpion’s Venom” (http://www.oraberger.co.il/phd/).

This paper is concerned with the scorpion in the above mentioned new types of Jewish jewels. At the essence of its existence lie three questions. First, whose scorpion is it? Second, is the scorpion a new iconography in Yemen? Third, what is the art formula of the scorpion and what we can conclude out of that?

Creative Commons Israel wrote a news item (in Hebrew) about my Ph.D. available for download with their Attribution-Share Alike license.

I’m happy to be one of the first researchers to use a Creative Commons license for their Ph.D. in Israel. I hope more researchers will follow.

As part of Seminar for Arabian Studies (SAS) 2009, I presented two posters regarding Hebrew illuminated Bibles from Yemen. I also participated in the special workshop ‘The Development of Arabic as a Written Language’ and consulted with them regarding a problem in Arabic writing in ‘carpet pages’ in Hebrew illuminated Bibles from Yemen.

See more info at my conferences page.

My Ph.D. dissertation is the first in Israel on Jewish jewels in Yemen in the 18th century. I decided to publish it under the Attribution-Share Alike license. It can be download by clicking on its title: The Jewellery of the Jewish Bride in San’a as a cultural and Artistic Message –  The 18th century. The synopsis is in English (pp.1-29) and the dissertation is in Hebrew (pp.30-348).