Img. ID: 3382
Sacred and Ritual Objects  

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The silver Torah shield is rectangular and terminates by a semicircular arch.

The Tables of the Covenant are depicted in the center, inscribed with the beginning of the Ten Commandments. The tablets are flanked by a unicorn on the right and by a lion on the left. The two beasts are depicted in their bust, back to back while the unicorn which has a collar around his neck, is regardant, and the crowned lion is gardant and has a human face.

Above the tablets is a stripe bearing a dedicatory inscription. In two lines from right to left in square and blacked letters, it reads:

"ז"נ )זו נדבת( ר' אברהם ב"ר )בן רבי( לוי הכהן עם בנו)י( שמואל"

"This is a donation of Rabbi Avraham son of Rabbi Levi Ha-Cohen with his son Shmuel."

The stripe is surmounted by the joined hands of the priestly benediction on which a crown is mounted. The fingers and the crown are raised over the shield's upper border. Below the tablets is a medallion bearing the date. In square filed letters it reads:

"שנת ##תרס"ב" "The year (5)662 (1902)"

The lower inscription which mentions the year 1902 is written over an old inscription that was erased and there are just unclear remains of it.  The date 1902, inscribed over an old inscription can not serve as an indication of the time that the shield was produced and an earlier date must be accounted.

The medallion is surrounded by a flower-like frame and is flanked on both sides by a horn of plenty from which emerge flowers and leaves. A similar design of flowers forms a background to the upper part of the Torah shield which is all framed by a wieded line.