Gravestone of Mordechai Franco Mendes and His Wife Sara Franco Mendes

1687 and 1696

Tombstone flat on ground of panels of scenes with figures and animals above and below arch-enclosed Hebrew inscription.
This gravestone in the oldest Jewish cemetery in the Netherlands (est. 1614), that of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish Community of Amsterdam, is inscribed in memory of Mordechai Franco Mendes (d. 1687), member of a well-known merchant family, and his wife, Sara Abendana (d. 1696). It lies flat on the ground, as is the custom for Sephardic gravestones. Panels above and below the arch-enclosed epitaph bear biblical scenes, including the binding of Isaac and the dream of Jacob’s ladder.

Credits

Photo by Laura Leibman. Courtesy of the Jewish Atlantic World Database.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.

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