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Sample Sources

The sources below are those contained in our three curated collections—covering themes of Passover, Gender Roles, and Holocaust Resistance. They represent a fraction of the thousands of sources that will be available when the full site launches in 2024.
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The day my heart was troubled doubly

The day my heart was troubled doubly,By your love, O crown unto my head,Delight and joy were mine beside the sheepfolds,When your beauteous traits were joined to me.Lovely are your dancing steps, you…

Upon Leaving Lisbon

Here is the infamous [city] gate, the one of the olive branch and the sword, for those who leave, it is so closed and for those who enter, so open. If in you peace is exiled you cannot offer that…

Uncle Isidore

When I observe a toothless ex-violinist, with more hair than face, sprawled like Karl Marx on a park seat or slumped, dead or asleep, in the central heat of a public library I think of Uncle Isidore…

Burning Holy Books

Holy books, said my friend, angry, there’s no such thing. Books, books: let them talk to us about books. It was a hot night.   At noon light rips through the room, and everything’s clear: over the…

A Prayer

Blessed art Thou, Lord, our God, King of the Universe, Who has kept us and protected us, and supported us until this day it would be better we had never seen. You deprived us of nothing, neither…
Oval clay piece with figurine of naked woman decorated with headdress, necklace, bracelets, and anklets, and holding a lotus flower.
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Figurine of Female Deity

Figurine of female deity, Tel Batash, 14th century BCE. Similar plaque figurines of naked women, often with breasts and genitals emphasized or with pregnant bellies, were very common in the ancient…
Terra-cotta figurine of pregnant woman cradling belly.
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Plaque Figurine of Pregnant Woman

In this terra-cotta plaque figurine from Tell Beit Mirsim, 6 inches (15 cm) high, the pregnant woman’s arms cradle her belly and her navel and genitalia protrude. Incisions indicate the eyes, the hair…
40 clay seals showing impressions of images or alphabetic inscriptions.
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Bullas from Jerusalem

The backs of many bullas, like those shown here from the City of David in Jerusalem, have impressions of the strings that once tied the rolled document and marks from the papyrus fibers of the…
Seal with carving of archer shooting a bow and Hebrew inscription.
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Seal of Hagab, with Archer

This phosphorite seal, found in the plaza of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, portrays an archer with a bow prepared to shoot. The quality of the carving is very high. The depiction of the archer is…

The Song of the Humble

Music with a light Israeli/jazz groove starts playing. The percussions play along the scene in a question and answer routine as if they were the immigration officer Inquiehush meets…
Terra-cotta figurine of women with long hair playing frame drum.
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Woman Playing Frame Drum

The drumhead of this Phoenician-style terra-cotta figurine from Shikmona (south of Haifa) is recessed, suggesting that the drum had only a single head. Figurines like this are typically found in…

Magyar Jew or Jewish Magyar?

The belated adoption of the first law of Jewish emancipation has led to the assumption that it had no practical value. True as this statement may be technically, it nevertheless needs further…