Obj. ID: 11388
Sacred and Ritual Limoni, Tbilisi, late 19th century (?)
The tower-shaped finial consists of a shaft, a body and an apex.
The shaft is cylindrical and tapers upwards. The bottom of the shaft is encircled by a ring. A dedicatory inscription is inscribed on the shaft, proceding from the top downwards in two lines of square filled letters:
רחמן בכר יונתן##בגדאדישווילי !The merciful Bakhar Yonatan Bagdadishvili!.
The body of the finial comprises six facets surmounted by a dome. Each facet bears verses from the book of Psalms. The inscriptions are written in square filled letters decorated with zigzag lines and read, from top to bottom:
תורת##יהוה##תמימה##משיבת##נפש: עדות##יהוה##נאמנה##מחכימת##פתי: פקודי##יהוה##ישרים##משמחי##לב: מצות##יהוה##ברא##מאירת##עינים: יראת##יהוה##טהורה##עומדת##לעד: !משפטי##יהוה##אמת##צדקך##יחדך:!)תהילים י!ט:ח',ט',י'(. (Ps.19:8,9,10)## An additional inscription encircles the lower part of the entire body: האל תמים##דרכו אמרת##יי צרופה##מגן הוא##לכל החוסים##בו!)תהילים י!ח:ל!א( (Ps.18:31).
A dome comprising six facets surmounts the body. Each facet bears a triangular arch which frames a Star of David and foliate motifs, mounted over the inscriptions. Chains with globular bells hang from the top corner of each facet of the body, while flattened hemispherical bells hang from the apex of each triangle on the dome. The top of the dome is decorated with vertical dotted lines which enclose symmetrical designs of a tree flanked by fish. The apex is composed of a flat circular medallion which surmounts a flat vertical bar. THE medallion bears a Star of David with a blue bead in the center. The bar is mounted on a circlet in the shape of a six-petalled flower.
