Obj. ID: 566
Sacred and Ritual Torah case, Iraq, 1938
The wooden Torah^case consists of a body and a crown.
The cylindrical body is covered with blue velvet. Silver cartouches, decorated with a vase and flowers, are nailed to the body. Silver bands, bearing a dedicatory inscription, encircle the upper and lower borders. A lily-shaped crenellation intermittently with red plastic beads encircles the upper border.
The case has two hook clasps and two pairs of hinges at the back. The inner face of the body is covered with cotton. There are two round insert holes for the rods at the top of the case. The onion-shaped crown is composed of a main section, a crest and an apex.
The main section is covered with blue velvet and the same silver cartouches. The silver crest is undulating and consists of a conical lower part and a globular upper part. Five chains with beads are attached to the globular section. The crest is decorated with vertical bands which bear a floral pattern and blanck bands intermittently.
It is surmounted by a bud like apex.
Two rimon are fixed on the top of the case. The inner face of the crown is covered by a white paper covered by glass.It bears two inscriptions which are framed with apointed arches.They are flancked by two floral motives. The inscriptions are written in black filled letters.
The inscription on the right reads:
"תיק##זה וספר תורה##שבו עשתה##אותו האשה##גרגייה בת ח')חיים(## דהוד סופר"
"This Torah case and the Torah scroll in it, were made by the woman Gorgia the daughter of Haim Daud Sofer."
The dedicatory inscription on the left reads:
"למנו' )למנוחת( ##המרו' )המרומם( שאול ## יצחק חיים##מתלון נע' )נוחו עדן( נפ' )נפטר(##יום י' אדר## שנת התרצח' "
"For the repose of the exalted Saul Isaak Haim Matalon. May he rest in Eden.Passed away at the 10 of Adar the year 5698$$1(11.2.1938)." There are paper bands below the plaques, bearing an inscription, in black filled letters.
The inscription in the right read:
"לע"נ גרג'ייה בת שמחה ובת ח')חיים( ר)?( דוד סופר"
"For the exaltation of the soul of Gorgia the daughter of Simha and Haim (?) David Sofer"
The inscription on the left reads:
"נפ' )נפטר( י"א מר חשון תשל"ט תנצב"ה"
"Passed away at 11 Marheshvan (5)739$$1(11.11.1978), may her soul be bound up in the bond of life."
The dedicatory inscriptions on the upper and the lower bands start from the left encircling the body. It is chased in squere outline letters.## The upper inscription reads:
תיק זה וסת')=וספר תורה( שבו עשתה אותו האשה גרג'ייה בת ח' דהוד סופר מבת' )מנשים באהל תברך( למנו' )למנוחת( המ' )המנוח( שאול יצחק חיים מתלון."
"This Torah case and the Torah scroll in it, were made by the woman Gorgia the daughter of Haim Daud Sofer blessed shall she be above women in the tent.(a part of Judg. 5:24).Fir the repose of Saul Isaac Matalon ."
The lower inscription reads:
על מנת בכל מקום שירצו בעלי הסת')=הספר תורה( להוציאו ולהניחו למקומות אחרים הרשות בידם ובי' כוח'."
"For anywhere that the owners of the Torah scroll want to take it out and transfer it in other places, the permission is in their hands and their representatives."
