Showing Results 81 - 90 of 144
These are modern reconstructions of the Ark of the Covenant. Chests with images on top and with carrying poles are known from ancient Egypt. The depictions of the cherubs here are based on winged…
Idol-quickening instructions, Babylonia, 6th century BCE. The “mouth-washing” ritual was a ceremony for transforming a newly manufactured idol into a living deity. The instructions include these…
This bull figurine, 7 × 5 inches (17.5 cm × 12 cm), was cast in bronze with considerable detail. It combines highly realistic features—horns and ears, genitalia, legs and hooves—with more stylized…
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…
Figurine of calf and shrine, Ashkelon, 1600 to 1550 BCE. Some of the non-anthropomorphic figurines found at Israelite sites had religious significance, especially model shrines (such as the Model…
Though discovered in a private home in Beersheba, this 9.5-inch-high × 11.5-inch-wide (24 cm × 29.5 cm) pot, or its contents, was probably dedicated to the sanctuary. The inscription kodesh or kadosh…
The inscription “your brother,” written on the inside of this bowl from Beth Shemesh, may indicate that the bowl was designated for receiving or collecting offerings (perhaps of food) for the poor…
This Torah curtain was donated to the Altneuschul (Staranova Synagogue) in Prague in 1602 by Natan ben Issachar (called Karpel Zaks), and Hadassi bat Moses, who commissioned it, as attested to by its…
For German Jews, it was traditional in the wedding ceremony for the groom to perform the ritual of breaking a glass in remembrance of the destruction of the Temple by hurling it or banging it against…
The use of wall niches for Torah scrolls was a feature of some of the earliest synagogues and continues today in Mizrahi communities. This striking faience-tile mosaic structure would have decorated a…
