Obj. ID: 14797
Sacred and Ritual Objects  Torah case, Iraq, 1864

The wooden Torah^case consists of a body and a crown.

The cylindrical body is covered with blue velvet. The centre and the upper and lower borders of the body are encircled by silver friezes decorated with a foliate pattern. Silver, cartouche-shaped plaques are attached to the body. The plaques are decorated with a vase of flowers.##The body's upper border is surmounted by a lily-shaped crenellation.

The case has two hook clasps. The inner face of the case is covered with cotton, bearing a foliate pattern. The onion-shaped crown is composed of a main section, a crest and an apex.

The main section is covered with blue velvet. Eight silver plaques, similar to those on the body, are attached to it. An undulating crest surmounts the crown, ending in a bud-shaped apex. The crest is covered with silver plaques which are decorated with a geometric pattern at the bottom and a cartouche-motif above it. Around the middle there is a large ring with two rows of rhombuses. The crest's upper section bears vertical bands, every other one decorated with a foliate pattern. Twelve chains hang from the crest's centre, carrying drop-shaped bells.##Two iron rimon mounts are fixed to the crown.

The crown's inner face is covered with mirrors, bearing a dedicatory inscription. Two cartouches with a floral depict the rims of the mirrors. A yellow paper band below the mirrors bears an inscription written in filled black letters. It reads:

בתנאי שבכל מקום שיירצו בעלי הסת' )הספר תורה(

The inscription continues on the left:

להוציאו ולהניחו במק' )במקומות( אח )אחרים( הר' )הרשות( בידם !

For the sake of the owners of the Torah scroll (int.) who want to take it out and put it in other (int.) places (int.) the permission (int.) is in their hand!

The dedicatory inscription on the crown's inner face is written in green filled letters in eight rows, and reads:

וזאת ## התורה אשר## שם משה לפני ## בני ישראל אלה## העדות והחוקים ## והמשפתים אשר## נתן יי בינו ובן בני ##ישראל בהר סיני

Deut. 4:44, followed by Lev. 26:46

תיק זה ## עם םפר תורה ##שבו קודש ליי על## נשמת המרוחם יצחק ## יוסף יחזקאל סומך ## תהי נשמתו צרורה## ב'ח' )בצרור החיים( בשנת אבוא## אליך וברכתיך !

This case ##and the Torah scroll ##inside it, is dedicated to the Lord for ##the soul of he who has found mercy, Isaac ##Joseph Ezekiel Someh, ## may his soul be bound up ## in the bond of life (int.), in the year(5)624=(1864)!