Obj. ID: 279
Sacred and Ritual Torah case (Libya, 1896)
The ten faceted wooden Torah case consists of a body and a coronet.
A pair of faceted annulets encircles the upper and the lower borders of the body. Ten knobs for the Torah case wrapper are set between the upper borders one on each facet.
The case opens into two halves in the middle of the front facet, while the back one is separated from the rest by two pairs of hinges.
A dedicatory inscription, composed of Biblical phrases, is situated on two plaques which form a pointed arch and are located at either side of the front facet. The inscription goes from right to left and in square filled letters reads:
"וזאת התורה##זכה וברכה [שמ' ב' 32]##מפנינים יקרה##ערוכה בכל##משמורה##אשר פעל## ועשרה##היקר##הר ציון בן##שמואל##חסאן הי"ו [=ה יחיהו וישמריהו]##ואמו מיתה##מפת##כמר ונשלם##יום שמחת##תורתינו##הקדושה##שנת תרנו".
Translation: This is the Torah scroll, pure and clear, (Ex. 2,23) which he created and executed, the illustrious Rabbi Zion son of Samuel Hassan, may the Lord sustain and protect him and his mother Mitah, finished and completed the day of holy joy of our Torah. The year (5)756 (1896)."
The single clasp is located under the inscription.
The inner face is plain wood. Two rectangular partitions are set at the top and at the bottom of each half. The lower one has a rectangular hollow handholder. The upper one is decorated with horizontal openwork composed of a rhomboid in the center flanked by a pair of crescents and a pair of lilies.
Two insert holes for the staves are at the top of the case.
The ten-faceted coronet tops the body. Each facet is composed of an openwork foliate scroll design.
