Torah Ark Curtain

Artist Unknown

Late 18th–Early 19th Century

Textile with woven image of two hands at bottom beneath censer and decorative borders.
This Torah ark curtain from Gördes, Turkey, features an archway flanked on either side with double columns and a hanging lamp, a motif common to both Islamic prayer rugs and mats and Ottoman Torah ark curtains. One theory is that the design was brought to the Ottoman Empire by Jewish weavers fleeing Spain in the fifteenth century. In Islamic iconography, the lamp symbolizes God’s radiance. For Jews, the lamp represents the “eternal light” suspended in front of the Torah ark in synagogues.

Credits

The Jewish Museum, New York. Gift of Dr. Harry G. Friedman.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 6.

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Related Guide

Material Culture, 1750–1880

Many types of objects—furnishings and clothing, jewels and medals, wares crafted by Jews or specifically for use by Jews—are included in the Posen Library.

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