Six-Language Dictionary

Solomon Pinḥasoff

1908

Image

Printed page of Hebrew text with decorative border. — Title page of the second edition of a six-language (Hebrew-Aramaic, Persian, Russian, Spanish, Arabic, Turkish) dictionary published in Jerusalem in 1908.

Credits

Solomon Pinḥasoff, Sefer milim shishah (Jerusalem: Raphael Ḥayim ha-Kohen, 1908).

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 7.

Moses’ Death

Mendes da Costa was best known for the reliefs he sculpted for buildings in Amsterdam (many of which were figures of animals) in the style of the Niewe Kunst, the Dutch variant of Art Nouveau. But he…

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Seal impression with figure holding two ibex-like animals.

Seal Impression of a Male Figure Holding Two Caprids

Images of this type—with a male figure holding two caprids (probably ibexes) by the horns—are dubbed “master of the animals” and are seen throughout the ancient world. They often represent a female…

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Jacob’s Ladder

One Who Is Rebellious:To obey commandments of which merely the ear is aware,Yet remain deaf to urges that shake the whole being;To regard as good the former,Which reveal the soul so as to abandon it…

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Creator Bio

Solomon Pinḥasoff

1845–1927

The polyglot Solomon Babajan Pinḥasoff (Shlomo ben Pinḥas Babajan) was born in Kabul to a family of merchants originally from Mashhad (today in Iran) and had a traditional education. In 1858, his family moved to Samarkand (today in Uzbekistan), where his Jewish studies included Bukhari (Judeo-Tajik) translations of Scripture and rabbinic commentaries. The Pinḥasoffs were active members of the Samarkand Jewish community, serving as members of the rabbinical court and as emissaries to Jerusalem. A founding member of the Jerusalem Bukhari Quarter, he permanently settled in the city with his family in 1907. In addition to his Six-Language Dictionary (Hebrew-Aramaic, Persian, Russian, Spanish, Arabic, Turkish), Pinḥasoff also wrote and translated a number of other books. He is buried on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives.