Obj. ID: 6122
Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts Munich High Holidays and Sukkot Mahzor, Franconia, late 13th - early 14th century
The Munich Ashkenazi Mahzor is a medium-sized 14th-century manuscript which includes the prayers for the High Holidays and Sukkot. Several folios are missing at the beginning, between various pages and at the end. The Mahzor may have included the rest of the prayers for Simhat Torah, and other holidays as well.
The Mahzor served as one example of the western Ashkenazi rite in Goldschmidt's scientific edition of the High Holiday prayers (Goldschmidt 1970, I:52). However, although the majority of the prayers and piyyutim follows the western Ashkenazi rite, some piyyutim seem to follow the Polish one. For example, the ofan for the morning service of the first and second days of the New Year holiday כבודו איהל כהיום (fols. 5-5v and 57-58) includes an addition of a section והחיות ישוררו which corresponds to the rite ofPoland (Goldschmidt 1970, I:53).
Shalev-Eyni refers to a similar phenomenon in the Tripartite Mahzor, where two alternative piyyutim for the evening service are written for each day, each representing a tradition typical of different geographical regions. Accordingly, the inclusion of several variants may suggest the mixed population of the community where the Tripartite Mahzor was produced (Shalev-Eyni 2010:13). A similar conclusion may explain the reason for the two different rites, the western Ashkenazi and the Polish, appearing side by side in our Mahzor. The mobility of Jews inEuropeat the beginning of the 14th century raises difficulties in localising any particular liturgical manuscript according to the content of its piyyutim and in determining its exact source. Thus including several variants in one mahzor, as in ours, points to its production for a community of Jews who originated from different regions.
According to Goldschmidt, in most communities only the 21st and 22nd lines of the piyyut אתה מבין תעלומות לב are recited in the morning service of the Day of Atonement (fols. 140v-141v). In our manuscript, the first few lines are vocalised and the rest are not, which could suggest that they were not read (Goldschmidt 1970, II:48). The piyyutאתה מבין סרעפי לב is recited only in some communities (fols. 142-144v; Goldschmidt 1970,
II:298-301).
Moreover, two other piyyutim which appear in the afternoon service for the Day of Atonement (אמונת אם נוטרת, fols. 197v-198v; אפאר למלכי בקודש, fols. 198v-199) are recited in the rite of Poznan, a city in western Poland(Goldschmidt 1970, II:611 and 613). In the musaf for the Day of Atonement (fols. 151-196) the amidah with the magen שושן עמק אוימה (fols. 151-167) including a section ובשורם מלאכי מרומים was recited only in some communities, amongst them Frankfurt-am-Main and Metz (fol. 162; Goldschmidt 1970, II:396). The selihot for the musaf includeאת הברית ואת החסד (fols. 183v-184v), usually recited in afternoon service (Goldschmidt 1970, II:636), אנא אדון רחמים (fols. 184v-185), usually recited in morning service (Goldschmidt 1970, II:256), אלה אזכרה recited according to the eastern European rite (fols. 185-187v; Goldschmidt 1970, II:568) and the section: זאת קראתנו וסיפרנו (fols. 187v-188) recited in the rite of Poland (Goldschmidt 1970, II:573). The piyyut אנא השם הנכבד והנורא (fols. 216-217) is part of the morning service prayers for the Day of Atonement, and does not belong here (Goldschmidt 1970, II:205).
An instance of our text following neither the western Ashkenazi rite nor the Polish rite is to be found in the evening prayers for the Day of Atonement (fols. 85-86v), where the sequence of verses determines the rite (Goldschmidt 1970, II:12-16). The order of verses in Avinu malkenu (fol. 150-150v), when compared to Goldschmidt, matches neither the western Ashkenazi nor the Polish rites, which suggests that our scribes also used a different textual exemplar (Goldschmidt-Fraenkel 1981:312).
Furthermore, several piyyutim in our Mahzor are not recited in most communities, for instance the piyyut אתה מבין תעלומות לב in the evening service prayers (fols. 94-95; Goldschmidt 1970, II:48); and three piyyutim for the morning service of the Day of Atonement:הגוים אפס (fols. 129v-130), מלכותם באברך (fol. 136-136v) and ויאתיו כל עבדך )fol. 138-138v; Goldschmidt 1970, II:186, 426, 198 respectively). On the other hand, the piyyut כי אנו עמך follows the western Ashkenzi rite (fol. 139-139v; Goldschmidt 1970, II:290). In the morning service for the second day of Sukkot, the magen אוימתי בחיל כיפור in the repetition of the amidah (fols. 228v-231v) is usually recited on the first day, except in western Ashkenaz, where it is recited on the second day (see Goldschmidt-Fraenkel 1981:98). This Munich Mahzor also contains later inscriptions by several hands of the 14th-15th centuries, some adding piyyutim particular to the rite ofPoland in the margins.
The Mahzor's modest dimensions in comparison to some of the large Ashkenazi mahzorim for cantors of the 13th century (e.g. the Worms Mahzor of 1272 from Würzburg), reflect the trend towards producing smaller Hebrew and Latin manuscripts for personal use from the early 14th century on (Shalev-Eyni 2010:14). Indeed, the relatively small size with no instructions for the cantor suggests that our Mahzor was intended for personal use.
It was copied by two scribes who were also responsible for its decoration. Scribe A copied and profusely decorated less than a third of the Mahzor (fols. 1-71v), while Scribe B copied the main part of the Mahzor
(fols. 72-250v) but added few decorations, among which are initial words with wrigglework or rosettes and catchwords. It is interesting to note that Scribe B, when taking over, attempted to imitate the script of Scribe A, but further on his individual characteristics are revealed: his script is squat, wider and more stable in comparison to that of Scribe A. While Scribe A encloses his catchwords for quires within pen-work animals and hybrids, Scribe B writes his catchwords vertically and decorates them with dots. However, from the very beginning Scribe B changed the poetic shape of the text of the piyyutim, cf. the transition of hands where Scribe B copied the two-column verses of the piyyut מלך עליון in continuous straight lines, except for the refrains (fols. 71v-72).
In the section by Scribe A, the name Moshe is decorated by a simplified crown drawn in brown ink (fol. 48v) which may indicate the name of the scribe.
The style, motifs and pen-drawings employed by both scribe-artists are related to the scribal art produced by Jewish scribe-artists in the region ofFranconiaduring the 13th and 14th centuries. The decoration by our scribes is mostly executed in brown ink, as is the text. Scribe A sometimes adds green, red and yellowish colours.
The decoration includes an illustration of a man blowing the horn (shofar) with his foot raised on a stool, drawn next to the relevant text (fig. 1). This image appears in several other manuscripts produced inGermanyin the second half of the 13thand 14th centuries. The custom of placing a foot on a three-legged stool while blowing the horn was common in Germany in the Middle Ages in order to ward off Satan (Sperber 2003, VII:242-245; Róth 1962:4); and the ram's horn alludes to the ram which was sacrificed instead of Isaac, as well as the Lord's promise to Abraham that he will multiply his seed (Gen. 22:1-18).
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Fig. 1: Blowing the hornת Munich High Holidays and Sukkot Mahzor. Munich, BSB Cod.hebr. 86, fol. 40 |
Fig. 2: Moses with the Tablets of the Law, Munich High Holidays and Sukkot Mahzor. Munich, BSB Cod.hebr. 86, fol. 39v |
A smaller marginal text illustration appears on fol. 11, illustrating the cantor or reader as the bust of a man praying next to a lectern. The illustration is set in the upper margin, above the word 'rule' (מלוך) in the text, which is also written in small script above the lectern, alluding to our Mahzor.
Scribe A, besides his liking for dragons and hybrids, shows his love for literal word illustrations, allusions and puns. The horn-blower is depicted next to the text which describes how the horn should be blown (fig. 1).
The winged Moses on the other hand (fig. 2) is not mentioned in the text, but the Tablets of the Law which he holds represent the twice mentioned תורתך (Your Law; fols. 39v-40). Since Moses appears on the page opposite the horn blower, the depiction could also allude to the sound of the horn accompanying the Revelation onMount Sinai(Ex. 19:16-20).
The lions (fols. 13v, 23v, 24v, 57) representing the Almighty King and the King allude to God and are common in Hebrew manuscripts, for example the maned lions in our Mahzor (fols. 13v, 23v, 24v-fig. 3) similarly found in the Tinted Mahzor of c.1300 (fig. 4).
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Fig. 3: Lion as a King, Munich High Holidays and Sukkot Mahzor. Munich, BSB Cod.hebr. 86, fol. 24v
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Fig. 4: Lion as a King, Tinted Mahzor, Franconia, c.1300. London, BL Add. 26896, fol. 371v. (Jerusalem, CJA Documentation) |
Similarly, depicting a sickle moon and stars in the initial word אתיתי (fig. 5) for the second day of New Year,
is an allusion to the birth of the new moon (molad Tishre) on the first and not the second day of the month of Tishre. The depiction originated in the yozer for morning service אות זה החודש (Sign of this month) for the Sabbath before the new moon of Nisan (molad Nisan), which in illuminated Ashkenzi mahzorim is usually illustrated with a crescent moon accompanied by one or more rosette stars, for example in the Worms Mahzor
of 1272 (fig. 6). It is also possible that the rosette within the upper right arm of the letter Aleph of the אתיתי initial represents the sun, which together with the moon symbolises the lunisolar nature of the Jewish calendar.
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Fig. 5: Inhabited initial word MunichHigh Holidays and Sukkot Mahzor Munich, BSB Cod.hebr. 86, fol. 60v |
Fig. 6: Decorated initial word WormsMahzor Würzburg, 1272 Jerusalem, NLI, Heb. 40781, I:26v (Jerusalem, CJA Documentation) |
The entwined dragons representing the word יחד (together, fol. 37v) or the dragons supporting the word תומך (support, fol. 39), literally illustrate the relevant words. The monkey smelling an apple illustrates a pun on the word אף (af) which in the text means 'despite' (fig. 7), but can also mean 'nose'. Our artist chose to depict the olfactory sense. A similar monkey, though unconnected to the text, decorates the initial word of the
yozer מלך אזור גבורה (fig. 16, top left). This motif appears as a drollery, for example in a German 14th-century Latin Breviary
(fig. 8), the like of which could have inspired our artist.
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Fig. 7: A monkey smelling an apple MunichHigh Holidays and Sukkot Mahzor Munich, BSB Cod.hebr. 86, fol. 21 |
Fig. 8: A monkey smelling an apple Latin Breviary Germany, 14th century Lucerne, Zentral- und Hochschulbibliothek, P 4.40, fol. 155v (Raeber 2003, colour pl. 9) |
A dominant feature of the decoration programme of our Mahzor is the initial word surrounded by wrigglework and inhabited by dragons, dogs and grotesques executed in spared-ground technique (figs. 9, 10 and 26).
This type of initial word is prevalent in the scribal art of Ashkenazi manuscripts dating from the turn of the 13th to 14th century, produced in the region of Franconia, southGermany. The use of similar motifs and technique
are found, for example, in the initial words of the David Siddur of 1308 (fig. 11), the Tinted Mahzor of c.1300 (fig. 12) and the Würzburg Siddur of c.1304 (fig. 13). However, the variety and posture of the animals and hybrids inhabiting the initial words in our Mahzor (figs. 9, 10, 26) are strikingly similar to those in the Dragon Heads Mahzor from the last quarter of the 13th century (cf. figs. 14 and 15).
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Fig. 9: Inhabited initial word MunichHigh Holidays and Sukkot Mahzor Munich, BSB Cod.hebr. 86, fol. 31v |
Fig. 10: Inhabited initial word MunichHigh Holidays and Sukkot Mahzor Munich, BSB Cod.hebr. 86, fol. 54 |
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Fig. 11: Inhabited initial word David Siddur Franconia, 1308 London, BL Add. 26970, fol. 50 (Jerusalem, CJA Documentation) |
Fig. 12: Inhabited initial word Tinted Mahzor Franconia, c.1300 London, BL Add. 26896, fol. 268 (Jerusalem, CJA Documentation) |
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Fig. 13: Inhabited initial word Würzburg Siddur Würzburg, c.1304 Oxford, Bodl.Can.Or. 1, fol. 14 (Jerusalem, CJA Documentation) |
Fig. 14: Inhabited initial word MunichHigh Holidays and Sukkot Mahzor Munich, BSB Cod.hebr. 86, fol. 6v |
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Fig. 15: Inhabited initial word Dragon Heads Mahzor Franconia, last quarter of 13th century London, BL Or. 42, fol. 1 (Jerusalem, CJA Documentation) |
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The many variations of animals and hybrids with which Scribe A decorated the margins of our Mahzor, surrounding initial words and letters or enclosing catchwords, can also be compared to those appearing in contemporary German Ashkenazi manuscripts, especially those produced in the Franconia region, e.g. our animals and hybrids (figs. 16-17) can be compared to similar ones in the Franconian Siddur and Haggadah
(figs. 18-19), for example the deer (cf. figs. 17 with 18-19), the eagles (cf. figs. 19 and 24), and particularly the unicorns with the down-turned horn (cf. 16 and 19) if compared to the Munich Incomplete Ashkenazi Mahzor
of the 14th century (fig. 20); and the colophon page of the Pentateuch of Gershom bar Eliezer of 1304 (Oxford, Bodl.Can.Or. 91, fol. 307; Narkiss 1984:45 and fig. 41).
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Fig. 16: Decorated initial word MunichHigh Holidays and Sukkot Mahzor Munich, BSB Cod.hebr. 86, fol. 2v Fig. 18: Hunting scene Franconian Siddur and Haggadah Franconia, early 14th century Oxford, Bodl. Opp. 645, fol. 30 (Jerusalem, CJA Documentation) Fig. 20: Pen-drawn animals Incomplete Ashkenazi Mahzor Franconia, end 13th-beginning 14th century Munich, BSB Cod.hebr. 422, fol. 130v (Jerusalem, CJA Documentation) |
Fig. MunichHigh Holidays and Sukkot Mahzor Munich, BSB Cod.hebr. 86, fol. 5v
Fig. 19: Pen-drawn animals Franconian Siddur and Haggadah Franconia, early 14th century Oxford, Bodl. Opp. 645, fol. 97v (Jerusalem, CJA Documentation)
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17: Decorated catchword
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Fig. 21: Decorated catchword MunichHigh Holidays and Sukkot Mahzor Munich, BSB Cod.hebr. 86, fol. 55v
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Fig. 22: Marginal pen-drawn hybrid Tinted Mahzor Franconia, c.1300 London, BL Add. 26896, fol. 184 (Jerusalem, CJA Documentation) |
Similarly, the crude hybrids consisting of large rounded heads and a wide, rounded lower body in our Mahzor (fols. 48, 55v-fig. 21; 59) can be compared to the hybrid in the Tinted Mahzor (fig. 22).
In addition to the similarities mentioned so far, it is possible to see that the decoration programme as a whole in our Mahzor follows the Ashkenazi tradition. As in several other Ashkenzi mahzorim the richest decorated initials belong to yozer for the morning service (figs. 23-24). The yozer indicates the beginning of the morning services for each event during the liturgical year, even when it is preceded by other prayers. As such the elaborate initial of the yozer is the visual marker which divides the manuscript into its liturgical units (Shalev-Eyni 2001:57-58 and Table V).
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Fig. 23: Decorated initial word of yozer MunichHigh Holidays and Sukkot Mahzor Munich, BSB Cod.hebr. 86, fol. 2v |
Fig. 24: Inhabited initial word of yozer MunichHigh Holiday and Sukkot Mahzor Munich, BSB Cod.hebr. 86, fol. 54 |
However, our scribe emphasised initial words for prayers and piyyutim which are not yozer, such as the enlarged initial המלך (fig. 25) for the prayer preceding the yozer for the morning service, which follows directly afterwards (fig. 24); and especially the initial word אפד for the qedushtah, the first piyyut for the musaf service (fig. 26). Both initials occupy the upper part of the page and are colourfully decorated, but they detract from the prime importance of the yozer within the decoration programme of the Mahzor.
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Fig. 25: Decorated initial word MunichHigh Holidays and Sukkot Mahzor Munich, BSB Cod.hebr. 86, fol. 53 |
Fig. 26: Inhabited initial word MunichHigh Holidays and Sukkot Mahzor Munich, BSB Cod.hebr. 86, fol. 19 |
As for the decorated initial words executed by Scribe B, his initials are uncoloured, placed within the text column and surrounded by wrigglework incorporating foliage extensions, acorns and two birds (figs. 27, 28). Inclusion of motifs in the wriggly lines by Scribe B appears in several early Ashkenazi manuscripts, such as the grotesque in the Worms Mahzor (fig. 29), and the animals' heads in the Munich Ashkenazi Mahzor for the Whole Year
(fig. 30) both fromFranconiain the last quarter of the 13th century.
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Fig. 27: Decorated initial word by Scribe B MunichHigh Holidays and Sukkot Mahzor Munich, BSB Cod.hebr. 86, fol. 84v |
Fig. 28: Decorated initial word by Scribe B MunichHigh Holidays and Sukkot Mahzor Munich, BSB Cod.hebr. 86, fol. 151 |
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Fig. 29: Decorated initial word WormsMahzor Würzburg, 1272 Jerusalem, NLI Heb. 40781, I:125 (Beit-Arié, facsimile 1985) |
Fig. 30: Decorated initial words Munich Ashkenazi Mahzor for the whole year South Germany, last quarter of the 13th century Munich, BSB Cod.hebr. 4, II:43 (Jerusalem, CJA Documentation) |
The decoration by Scribe B, albeit sparse, shows that he paid full attention to the large initial words. Nevertheless, why one initial remained unfinished is inexplicable (fol. 196v; see Illuminated Documents) while the following one was fully decorated (fol. 219v).
To conclude, our manuscript follows the traditions of Franconian scribal art, particularly of the end of the 13th
and the beginning of the 14th century. The importance of our manuscript lies firstly in its mixed text which shows western and eastern Ashkenazi piyyutim, the latter mostly added. It could thus suggest a heterogeneous community, perhaps including immigrants fromPoland.
Secondly, its decoration shows the wealth of motifs and their variants with which the scribe-artists felt free to amuse themselves regardless of dexterous execution, which does not allow for a proper stylistic analysis. There are many such manuscripts with similar motifs and decoration programmes, some mentioning places of origin in Franconia. Hence it is possible to attribute our manuscript, with discretion, to the same region.
sub-set tree:
Both sides of the parchment are similarly treated.
Text space: (190-195) x (143-150) mm.
14th-century binding (305 x230 mm), rebound in the original binding. Dark brown leather over wooden boards,
blind-tooled on the upper cover with two squares, enclosing at the top a medallion with two entwined dragons and below a hunter on a horse aiming an arrow at an unseen target, with his dog jumping up in front of a tree. Both depictions are carved sideways and bordered by bands stamped with rosettes on left and right. Separating the upper and lower squares is a band of parallel diagonal lines punctuated with small roundels.
Framing the entire composition are bands of an incised fishbone motif with a large open rosette in a square at each corner. The lower cover is divided into four rectangles, each sub-divided by an X into four triangles each enclosing a three-lobed foliage motif, all incised. The dividing bands are stamped with small roundels.
The spine is divided into four squares by three double cords. The top and bottom squares are incised as chequerboard stamped with roundels. The two centre squares have incised foliate motifs. The spine has head and tail bands. Holes at the corners and centres of the front and back covers indicate lost decorative metal bosses. One hole at the edge of the front cover and three at the back suggest clasps and straps (see Schmidt-Künsemüller 1980, No. 177, p. 30, figs. on p. 167; Geldner 1958, pl. XV, fig.15 and p. 22).
The decoration was executed by Scribes A and B in brown ink while copying the text. Scribe A used red, green and yellow ochre colours (e.g. fols. 39v, 53). The drawings on fols. 95 (bird), 107 (chain), 115 (human head) and 215 (crown) were added by a later hand in light brown ink.
Scribe A
I. Text and word illustrations:
1. 4 Text illustrations, two of which illustrate the New Year prayers. The first (fol. 39v) depicts a winged
Moses with the Tablets of the Law, alluding to the verse in the text: "it is written in your Law" (ובתורתך כתוב
לאמור); the second depicts a man blowing a horn (shofar) next to the text which states how to blow it
(fol. 40); the third depicts a cantor or reader inscribed "rule" (מלוך) above the word in the text (fol. 11);
while the fourth depicts a crescent moon and stars within the initial word for the second day of the month,
alluding to the inception of the New Year (fol. 60v).
2. Literal word illustrations: a monkey smelling an apple next to the word אף (literary 'nose'; fol. 21); two
connected dragons holding an acorn, supporting the word תומך ('support'; fol. 39).
II. Marginal decoration consisting of decorative motifs, dragons and grotesques (e.g. fols. 18, 34, 36, 51v, 52,
59); other motifs include lions (e.g. fols. 23v, 24v), a bust of a bearded man with a Jewish hat sitting on a
chair and reading from a book on a lectern (fol. 38v), dragons kissing (e.g. fols. 38v, 48), a hound chasing a
deer (fol. 42v), and birds (e.g. fol. 71).
III. Decorated initial words and letters:
1. Inspared-ground technique (stem height: 42-70 mm), some surrounded by wrigglework, dragons, dogs and
grotesques inhabiting the letters (fols. 6v, 19, 31v, 54, 60v). Some letters are filled in with dark brown ink
(e.g. fol. 13v), others are coloured (e.g. fols. 19, 60v). One initial word is surrounded by animals and a
dragon (fol. 54), and one includes a sickle moon and stars alluding to the New Moon (fol. 60v).
2. Surrounded by zoomorphic motifs: large initials (stem height 20-40 mm) in display letters filled in with
dark brown ink (stem height 20-40 mm), sometimes surrounded by wrigglework and decorated by rosette
roundels on the stems of the letters (e.g. fol. 25v). The words are surrounded by confronting animals such
as a dragon facing a seated hybrid and a lion, a unicorn (fol. 2v), an owl being attacked by giant birds and a
snake (fol. 5); a peacock, snakes, lions, a monkey and dragons, hybrids and grotesques (e.g. fols. 2v,12v,
20, 22, 25v, 27, 33v, 36, 41v, 53, 54 (see category II, 1 above), 57, 63, 70), sometimes painted in green or
red ink (e.g. fols. 53, 57) or surrounded by wrigglework only (e.g. fols. 1v, 25v, 66v). That on fol. 52v is
effaced.
The hybrid animals adjacent to the initial word "The animals" (וחיות) may serve as a text illustration
(fol. 27).
Small initial words and letters filled in with dark brown ink and decorated by various motifs extending
from the letters into the margins, such as foliate motifs (e.g. fols. 22v-23, 57v, 58, 70), birds kissing
(e.g. fol. 57v), hybrids (e.g. fols. 30, 30v, 58, 71), acorns (e.g. fols. 60v, 61, 62, 69v, 70v), a deer
(e.g. fol. 70v), fleurs-de-lis (e.g. fol. 9), rosettes (e.g. fols. 5, 5v, 9), trees (fol. 11v) and spirals
(e.g. fols. 5v, 64).
IV. Decorated catchwords surrounded by or enclosed within animals attacking grotesques and dragons (fols. 13v,
21v, 29v, 45v, 55v, 71v). Some of these may be text illustrations, such as a deer enclosing the word "animal"
(חיה) on fol. 5v, and that on fol. 37v depicting two hybrids with entwined tails enclosing the catchword
'together' (יחד). One is a hunting scene of a dog with a broken chain chasing a deer (fol. 63v).
V. Two decorative bearded heads forming the flag of the letter Lamed (fols. 20, 22). One is a bearded Janus
face wearing a Jewish hat and surrounded by three dragons (fol. 20).
Scribe B
I. A crown in the upper margin of fol. 215, indicating the importance of a particular prayer on the Day of
Atonement.
II. Several decorated initial words, filled in with dark brown ink (stem height 20-43 mm), mostly decorated
with wrigglework or rosettes set in the stems of letters (e.g. fols. 79, 82v, 84v, 95v, 151, 219v, 246); one is
incomplete (fol. 196v).
III. Decorated catchwords, written vertically and decorated with rosettes and dots (e.g. fols.79v, 226v).