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Obj. ID: 2042
Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts
  Munich Liturgical Pentateuch, Franconia, late 13th century

© Bayerische Staatsbibliothek , Photographer: Unknown, 2008
Summary and Remarks

The manuscript with its large dimensions is a typical Franconian liturgical Pentateuch of the second half of the 13th century. It can be attributed more specifically to the last decades of the 13th century from its mixed practice of ruling: the pricking in both outer and inner margins is “modern”, whereas the ruling by stylus keeps to the “old” method (Beit-Arié 1981, p. 84). It is written in three columns with the massorah and the Targum verse by verse, and in addition to the haftarot and Five Scrolls it contains the book of Job and sections of Jeremiah (1:1-23:6) and Isaiah (34:1-35:10). Apparently it was intended for reading the haftarot in the synagogue rather than for personal use (Shalev-Eyni 2010, pp. 9-10 and n. 55).

 

 

Fig. 1: Micrographic decoration

 

Fig.2: Micrographic decoration Munich Liturgical Pentateuch Former and Latter Prophets Munich, BSB Cod. hebr. 2, fol. 64v Germany, the second half of the 13th century London, BL Or. 2091, fol. 324 (London, BL Website; Jerusalm, CJA documentation)

 

 

Fig. 3: Micrographic decoration The Jonah Pentateuch South Germany, c.1300 London, BL Add. 21160, fol. 184 (London, BL Website; Jerusalem CJA documentation) Munich Liturgical Pentateuch

 

Fig. 4: Micrographic decoration Fig. 5:Micrographic decoration Munich Liturgical Pentateuch Paris Bible Munich, BSB Cod. hebr. 2, fol. 204 Franconia, 1294/95 Paris, BnF hébr. 6, fol. 268v (Sed-Rajna 1994, Cat. 71, pp. 183-187)

The micrographic decoration of our Pentateuch recalls several South German Bibles produced in the last decade of the 13th century. Compare for example our manuscript (fig. 1) with the 13th-century South German Bible in London (fig. 2). In both the geometrical and dragon motifs surround the text space as well as the initials and extend along the lower margins, similar to the South German Jonah Pentateuch of c.1300 (fig. 3).

The geometrical interlaces with pen-drawn dragon's heads at their ends on the left of the lower margins of our Pentateuch (figs. 1, 4), are similar to another Franconian Bible of 1294/95 (fig. 5).

 

Fig. 5:Micrographic decoration, Paris Bible, Franconia, 1294/95,  Paris, BnF hébr. 6, fol. 268v

(Sed-Rajna 1994, Cat. 71, pp. 183-187)

Fig. 6: Full-page micrographic panel

 

 

Fig. 7: Full-page micrographic panel Munich Liturgical Pentateuch Pesah ben Ephraim Prophets and Hagiography Munich, BSB Cod. hebr. 2, fol. 153v Franconia, c.1300 New York, JTS MS L228a, fol. 19 (Jerusalem, CJA documentation)

Of special interest is the full-page micrographic panel at the end of a quire in our manuscript (fig. 6). Its broad frame recalls in shape and details the micrographic panel framing the initial word opening the book of Joshua in the Franconian Prophets and Hagiography by Pesah ben Ephraim of c.1300 (fig.7). Both panels contain inhabited medallions, and those in the upper corners enclose similar heraldic eagles.

 

Fig. 8: Inhabited medallions Fig. 9: Inhabited medallions Vatican Bible Paris Bible Germany, 1294 Franconia, 1294/95 Vatican, BAV Cod. Urb. ebr. 1, fol. 829v Paris, BnF hébr. 5, fol. 119 (Jerusalem CJA documentation) (Sed-Rajna 1994, Cat. 71, pp. 183-187)

The two-legged hybrids within the lower medallions in our frame (fig. 6) recall those in the Vatican Bible of 1294 (fig. 8), as well as those in the initial word panel of the Paris Bible of 1294/95 (fig. 9).

Fig. 9: Inhabited medallions, Paris Bible  Franconia, 1294/95 Paris, BnF hébr. 5, fol. 119 (Sed-Rajna 1994, Cat. 71, pp. 183-187)

Fig. 10: Hunting scene, Munich Liturgical Pentateuch Munich, BSB Cod. hebr. 2, fol. 64

 

Fig. 11: Hunting scenes Munich Liturgical Pentateuch Rashi Biblical Commentary Munich, BSB Cod. hebr. 2, fol. 64 South Germany, Würzburg, 1232/33 Munich, BSB Cod. hebr. 5, II:122v (Jerusalem, CJA documentation 2012)

A noteworthy drawing in our manuscript is that of the two dogs at the end of Exodus chasing an animal which is out of sight (fig. 10). This snippet of a popular hunting scene (fig.11) suggests that the two dogs serve as a decorative motif rather than a symbolic one (see remarks in Munich, BSB Cod. hebr. 5, fol. 122v).

The only text illustration in our Pentateuch is of the Hanging of Haman and his ten Sons on the gallows (Esther 7:10, 9:6-10; fig. 12). The dangling figures outlined in the micrography of the massorah magna are similar to the dangling birds (fig. 13), and recall the Four Creatures of Ezekiel’s Vision, illustrating the text in the Jonah Pentateuch from South Germany of c.1300 (fig. 14).

Fig. 12: Hanging of Haman and his Sons Munich Liturgical Pentateuch Munich, BSB Cod. hebr. 2, fol. 261

Fig. 13: Massoretic text shaped as dangling birds Munich Liturgical Pentateuch Munich, BSB Cod. hebr. 2, fol. 252

 

Fig. 14: The Four Creatures of Ezekiel’s Vision The Jonah Pentateuch, South Germany, c.1300 London, BL Add. 21160, fol. 285 (Narkiss 1984, fig. 44)

The hanging of Haman and his Sons is often depicted in the Jewish art of Western Europe from the 13th century on, but the iconography differs from our manuscript. In Ashkenazi Bibles and mahzorim Haman and his sons are usually hanged from the branches of a large tree, which fills an entire text column. One example is in the Kalonymos Bible from Ulm of 1238 (Wrocław, University Library, M.1106, fol. 301v; Narkiss 1986, p. 82, fig. 5; Sternthal 2008, p. 51). A similar depiction is found in the Michael Mahzor from Regensburg of 1258 (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Mich. 627, fol. 15), as well as in the Laud Mahzor from Franconia of c.1260 (fig. 15).

Fig. 15: Hanging of Haman and Sons Laud Mahzor Franconia, c.1260 Oxford, Bodl. Lib. Laud. Or. 321, fol. 51 (Sed-Rajna 1983, fig. 25)

 

Fig. 16: Hanging of Haman and his sons, Regensburg Pentateuch Liturgical Pentateuch Regensburg, c.1300

Jerusalem, IM MS180/52, fol. 157v Paris, BnF hébr. 53, fol. 130 (Jerusalem, CJA documentation) 

Fig. 17: Hanging of Haman's Sons  North France, third quarter of the 13th century (Sed-Rajna 1994, Cat. 60, p. 152)

However, a comparable scene to that in our manuscript, albeit depicting a two-tiered gallows, is found in the Regensburg Pentateuch (fig. 16). Haman is hanging separately above his sons. A similar gallows appears in another Ashkenazi Liturgical Pentateuch from Northern France of the mid-13th century (fig. 17). In this example the sons are not depicted but represented by ten double ropes arranged in two tiers; that for Haman is missing.

The hanging of Haman and his Sons is unique to Ashkenazi iconography. They are considered descendants of Amalek, and like him were destined to annihilation (Horowitz 2006, pp. 95-96). Since the Ashkenazi Jews suffered frequent persecutions at that period, the depiction of the hanging of Haman and his sons alludes to their wish to see the destruction of their enemies (Kogman-Appel 2005, pp. 187-208). On the other hand, in Christian art Haman is usually depicted hanging without his sons, as a prefiguration of the crucifixion of Christ. One example is in the Hortus Deliciarum from Alsace of 1167-1185 (fig. 18).

Fig. 18: Hanging of Haman Hortus Deliciarum Alsace, before 1176 - c.1196 (Green et al. 1979, fol. 60v, fig. 89) In our Pentateuch, Haman, and his Sons are depicted without heads (fig. 12). The convention of avoiding human features or distorting them by depicting hidden faces or animal heads was prevalent in South German Hebrew manuscripts of the 13th and 14th centuries. Yet the way chosen by our artist to avoid showing the human face is unique: each pair of figures shares a single visor without heads, recalling that in the Michael Mahzor of 1258 (e.g. fols. 4v, 11; van Boxel and Arndt 2010, p. 49, fig. 27). The phenomenon of avoidance of human features in Ashkenazi manuscripts has been studied by several scholars over the last sixty years (e.g. Ameisenowa 1949, pp. 21-45; Narkiss 1983, pp. 49-62; Mellinkoff 1999) though without a satisfactory conclusion.

In the late 16th or the beginning of the 17th century, our manuscript was in the possession of Shlomo Ulma of Augsburg or Prague (see History) who owned two other manuscripts: the French Talmud of 1342 (Munich, BSB Cod. hebr. 95), and the 1309 Levy Pentateuch of Brussels (Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Ms. Levy, 19). At some point, the Ulma family sold our manuscript to the Stadtbibliothek Augsburg olim MS 98 (now Staats- und Stadtbibliothek Augsburg), from whence it reached in 1806 the Hofbibliothek in Munich, together with 113 manuscripts and prints (informed by Dr. Paul Gerhard Dannhauer, former curator of the Oriental Manuscripts Department in BSB Library, Munich).

9 image(s)

Name/Title
Munich Liturgical Pentateuch | Unknown
Object Detail
Monument Setting
Unknown
Date
Late 13th century
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Unknown
Origin
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Congregation
Unknown
Site
Unknown
Period
Unknown
Period Detail
Collection
Germany | Munich | Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (BSB)
| Cod. hebr. 2 (Steinschneider 1895, No. 2)
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Iconographical Subject
Unknown |
Textual Content
Unknown |
Languages of inscription
Unknown
Shape / Form
Unknown
Material/Technique
Vellum, II + 331 + II leaves.
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
Full page: (388-390) x (307-313) mm.
Text space: (282-290) x (215-219) mm.
Height with massorah: (352-364) mm.
Height
Length
Width
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Condition
The top and bottom parts of almost all the decorations were trimmed by a later binder. Fol. 256 is torn across the width of the page and repaired by sewing. The lower margins of fols. 1, 154 and 155 are partly cropped; deep cut in upper margins and text of fols. 206-256.
Extant
Documented by CJA
Surveyed by CJA
Present Usage
Present Usage Details
Condition of Building Fabric
Architectural Significance type
Historical significance: Event/Period
Historical significance: Collective Memory/Folklore
Historical significance: Person
Architectural Significance: Style
Architectural Significance: Artistic Decoration
Urban significance
Significance Rating
0
Ornamentation
Custom
Contents
Pentateuch alternating with Targum Onkelos for each verse, Five Scrolls, Haftarot, and Job, Jeremiah 1:1-23:6 and Isaiah 34:1-35:10. Vocalized and massorated (except for Isaiah). Pentateuch: Genesis (fols. 1-64), Exodus (fols. 64v-117), Leviticus (fols. 117-153). Full-page in micrography at the end of Leviticus (fol. 153v), Numbers (fols. 154-204), Deuteronomy (fols. 204-249v). Five scrolls: Ruth (fols. 250-252), Ecclesiastes (fols. 252-256), Song of Songs (fols. 256v-258v), Lamentations (fols. 258v-260v), Esther (fols. 261-266). Haftarot for Sabbaths and Holidays according to the Ashkenazi rite (fols. 266-305v). Job (fols. 305v-317v). Jeremiah 1:1-23:6 (fols. 318-331). Isaiah 34:1-35:10 (fols. 331-331v).
Codicology

Material

Vellum, II + 331 + II leaves.

Measurements

Full page: (388-390) x (307-313) mm.

  Text space: (282-290) x (215-219) mm.

Height with massorah: (352-364) mm.

 

Scribes

Two scribes:

Two scribes: Scribe A: The main scribe writes most of the text (fols. 1-317v) and all the plain and decorated massorah, except that of Scribe B. Scribe B: Text of fols. 318-331v: the massorah in foliate roundels in the lower margin and outlines of the initial word דברי (fol. 318: Scribe A writes the plain massorah to the end).

Script The main text is written in square Ashkenazi script in dark and light brown ink; the massorah magna and parva are in small square Ashkenazi script in light brown ink

. Number of Columns Main text: Written in three columns, each 60 mm wide; end of Job (fol. 317v) in two columns. Ends of books in the Pentateuch are in shaped text (fols. 64, 117, 204, 249v). First and second Songs of Moses (fols. 83-83v, 245v-247), Song of Deborah (fol. 245v-247) and Song of David (fols. 297v-298) are written in brickwork pattern ) Meg. 16b).

The number of lines Main text: 30-31 lines per column. Massorah magna: 2 lines at the top and 3-4 at the bottom.

Ruling by a stylus on hair side of each bifolium. Most quires are ruled by stylus, except for plummet used to emphasize ruling which was not deep enough (fols. 293v-331). Main text: 30-31 horizontal and 2 + 2 + 2+ 1 lines (first three quires) and 2 + 3 + 3 + 1 (the rest of the manuscript). Massorah magna: 3 horizontal lines at the top and 4 at the bottom. In addition, 6 horizontal lines are ruled across the width of the page at the top, middle and bottom of the text column (e.g. 293v-296, lines 1 and 3, 15 and 17, 28 and 30).

Pricking Noticeable in all margins; sometimes there are separate pricks for massorah magna in the lower margins (e.g. fols. 35, 117, 154, 258).

Quires 41 quires of 8 leaves each, except for I8+1 (single last folio with catchword), XLI8+2 (single last two leaves to end of text). The quires are numbered in Arabic numerals in grey and red plummet (from back to front) at the lower left-hand corner of the final verso of all quires, e.g. fols. 9v: 40; fol. 17v: 39; fol. 25v: 38 etc. The last quire (41st) is numbered 1 on fol. 329v (instead of 331v, the end); the penultimate quire (40th) is not numbered. Quire structure: I8+1 (1-9v: single last leaf with catchword); II8 (10-17v); III8 (18-25v); IV8 (26-33v); V8 (34-41v); VI8 (42-49v); VII8 (50-57v); VIII8 (58-65v); IX8 (66-73v); X8 (74-81v); XI8 (82-89v); XII8 (90-97v); XIII8 (98-105v); XIV8 (106-113v); XV8 (114-121v); XVI8 (122-129v); XVII8 (130-137v); XVIII8 (138-145v); XIX8 (146-153v); XX8 (154-161v); XXI8 (162-169v); XXII8 (170-177v); XXIII8 (178-185v); XXIV8 (186-193v); XXV8 (194-201v); XXVI8 (202-209v); XXVII8 (210-217v); XXVIII8 (218-225v); XXIX8 (226-233v); XXX8 (234-241v); XXXI8 (242-249v); XXXII8 (250-257v); XXXIII8 (258-265v); XXXIV8 (266-273v); XXXV8 (274-281v); XXXVI8 (282-289v); XXXVII8 (290-297v); XXXVIII8 (298-305v); XXXIX8 (306-313v); XL8 (314-321v); XLI8+2 (322-331v: two last single leaves). The quires are arranged according to the Gregory rule, although the differences between hair and flesh sides are hardly visible.

Catchwords Horizontal undecorated catchwords to quires in square script in the lower left-hand corner of the last verso of almost every quire.

Hebrew numeration

None Blank leaves None

Scribes
Script
Number of Lines
Ruling
Pricking
Quires
Catchwords
Hebrew Numeration
Blank Leaves
Direction/Location
Façade (main)
Endivances
Location of Torah Ark
Location of Apse
Location of Niche
Location of Reader's Desk
Location of Platform
Temp: Architecture Axis
Arrangement of Seats
Location of Women's Section
Direction Prayer
Direction Toward Jerusalem
Coin
Coin Series
Coin Ruler
Coin Year
Denomination
Signature
Colophon
None
Scribal Notes

Scribal notes:

Fol. 40, at the end of the lower massorah:שגיתי בזה כי הוא שייך למעלה בעמוד (I erred since it belongs at the top of the page).

Fol. 197v, correction of a text missed by the scribe.

Fol. 277, outer margin, inscribed in dark brown ink in semi-cursive script: כאן מסיים ההפטרה/ ודילגתי לעיל כי לא/ מצאתי בטופס יותר/ וההפטרה מתחלת/ ויהי ימים רבים (The haftarah ends here, and I skipped the preceding (text), for I did not find more (text) in the exemplar; the haftarah, however, starts with "And it came to pass after many days" (I Kings, 18:1; according to the Ashkenazi rite, haftarah to Parashat Tisa תשא is read in the month of Adar)). A similar inscription appears in the inner margin of fol. 277v: הפוך הדף/ לעיל ותמצא/ כל ההפטרה/ עד ה' הוא/ האלהים (Turn back the leaf and you will find the entire haftarah until the “Lord is the God” (I Kings, 18:39)).

Fol. 305v, at the end of the haftarot section, is a rhymed inscription in a semi-cursive script: נשלמו הפטרות של כל השנה שבח ותודה לשוכן מעונה (The haftarot for the entire year were completed, praise and thanks to the Lord). Massoretic notes by Scribe A: The massorah magna, written along the outer margin, is accompanied by a note within a frame stating that it should have been written at the top of the page according to Tikkun Ezra, e.g. fol. 82v: הבאים/ בראש/ הדף/ תיקון/ עזרא/ הסופר, and fol. 107v: שמר/ בראש/ הדף/ תיקון/ עזרא/ הסופר.

Fol. 139, in the outer margin inscribed: מפי מור' ה'ר'/ שמשון/ נקדן (According to my teacher, Shimshon the vocalizer).

Watermark
Hallmark
Group
Group
Group
Group
Group
Trade Mark
Binding

German binding of the end of the 16th century, probably done while the manuscript was in the possession of the Ulma family (see History).

Similar off-white front and back leather covers on wooden boards. In the centre of each cover is the imperial emblem of a double-headed eagle with a scepter and globe, over stamped on an octagon which originally decorated the centre of both covers. The emblem is enclosed in rectangular frames, some of which are blind-tooled with foliate scrolls.

The spine has four double-cords with head and tail bands. A piece of brown leather is stuck on to the spine with a gold-tooled frame and inscription: BIBLIA HEBRAICA. On the upper part of the spine is an effaced inscription in Hebrew חמש מגילו(ת) (Five scrolls) and an illegible cursive inscription in Latin.

Vestiges of double clasps on the front and back covers. The last back flyleaf has a watermark of a lion rampant, facing left, in a crowned shield with two handles, over the monogram ML (no exact match was found). The countermark on the first flyleaf has the monogram TSB (similar to Heawood, No. 3134, Nuremberg 18th century).

Decoration Program

The decorated massorah was mostly done by Scribe A, the main scribe and massorator. Scribe B, who wrote the last folios (fols. 318-331), executed only the massorah of the opening page in foliate roundels and the outlines of the initial word of the book of Jeremiah (fol. 318).

The decoration consists mainly of geometrical, vegetable and zoomorphic interlaces of micrographic massorah especially in the lower margins at the beginning and end of books. It includes one text illustration, the Hanging of Haman and his Sons at the beginning of the Esther Scroll (fol. 261). In one case the massorah is incorporated into a full-page decoration (fol. 153v)

. I. Decorated massorah in micrography:

1. One text illustration of the Hanging of Haman and his Sons in the lower margin on the opening page of the Book of Esther (fol. 261).

2. One full-page micrographic decoration between the books of Leviticus and Numbers (fol. 153v).

3. Decorated massorah in the margins on many pages throughout the manuscript and especially on the first text page of almost every book (fols. 1, 64v, 117, 154, 204, 250, 252, 256v, 261, 305v, 318).

The decoration consists of various interlaces of geometrical, floral and zoomorphic motifs: fleurs-de-lis and acanthus scrolls (e.g. fols. 1, 90, 154, 250, 318), trefoil leaves (e.g. fols. 70, 86v) and elaborate trees (e.g. fols. 113v). Some are combined with a pen-drawn dragon's head and tail with a geometric or foliate body (e.g. fols. 49v, 137, 171v, 180v, 184v, 195, 204, 209, 215v), pairs of facing dragon's heads (e.g. fols. 75v, 90), birds, a hoopoe and winged dragon (fol. 204), medallions inhabited by two-legged hybrids (fol. 117) and two birds pecking at a fleur-de-lis or a scroll (fols. 11v, 252). Other forms of micrography are in geometrical shapes such as a chain of roundels (e.g. fols. 17, 80v, 305v), a meander-like pattern (e.g. fols. 55v, 98v, 102v, 126), interlacing bands (e.g. fols. 64v, 117, 154, 221), some ending in pen-drawn dragon's heads (e.g. fols. 98v, 117, 256v) and zigzag variations (e.g. fols. 28, 32v, 38v, 44v, 60, 94v, 227v). There are also arch forms (e.g. fols. 28, 137).

4. Initial words outlined in micrography: Exodus (fol. 64v), Deuteronomy (fol. 204), Song of Songs (fol. 256v) and Jeremiah (fol. 318). The massoretic decoration surrounding the initial words of Exodus and Deuteronomy is combined with floral and zoomorphic penwork decoration (fols. 64v, 204).

II. The decorated initial word of almost every book is written in display letters in brown ink (height 6-9 lines) with decorated vowel points, except for Ecclesiastes whose initial word letters are in ink outline (fol. 252), probably intended to be filled in with brown ink. The initial words of Exodus, Deuteronomy, Song of Songs and Jeremiah (fols. 64v, 204, 256v and 318) are outlined in micrography (see above).

III. Shaped text at the end of books: fols. 64 (Genesis), 117 (Exodus), 204 (Numbers), 249v (Deuteronomy), 266 (Five Scrolls) and 331v (end of the manuscript) are all written in goblet-shapes. Genesis (fol. 64) is also decorated below with a hunting scene of two running hounds, and Exodus (fol. 117) is flanked by two medallions inhabited by two-legged hybrids.

VI. Parashot, end-of-book or half-book signs and other massoratic notes (e.g. fols. 82v, 107v, 153) are framed in simple shields (e.g. fols. 31v, 90, 176, 204).

Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance
Owner's inscription - Shlomo Ulma: Fol. 331v, upper margin, inscribed in dark brown ink in semi-cursive script: ממתנה נחלי אל (במדבר כא, יט; עירובין נד, עא) הטרו'[ד] שלמה אולמא And from Mattanah to Nahaliel (Num. 21:19; a present from God) to the troubled Shlomo Ulma (of Ulm). Shlomo Ulma signed his name in a similar formula on the earliest complete Talmud known today copied in France in 1342 (Munich, BSB Cod. hebr. 95), in an inscription of 1587/8 on fol. 157v: ממתנה נחלי-אל (במדבר כא, יט; עירובין נד, עא)/ חנני אלהי' ונתן לי את זה נאום/ שלמה אולמא שמח נפש עבדיך (תהלים פו:4-3) לפ"ק (And from Mattanah to Nahaliel (Num. 21:19; a present from God). The merciful Lord gave me this, said Shlomo Ulma (of Ulm), Rejoice (1587/8) the soul of thy servant (Ps. 86:4; Rabinowitz, 1868, vol. 1, pp. 34-35)). This Munich Talmud was kept by the Ulma family in Pfersee near Augsburg for around 200 years (Striedl 1957, p. 23; Magid 1899, appendix 6, p. 280). Three other members of the Ulma family are mentioned in this Talmud: Shlomo’s son Shimon and his grandson, Eliezer the son of Shimon, as follows: 1) Fol. 577v שמעון בן שלמה שליט אולמא - (Shimon ben Shlomo Ulma); 2) Fol. 577v אליעזר בן כה"ר שמעון זצ"ל אולמא מגינצבורג - (Eliezer son of the late Shimon Ulma of Günzburg); 3) Fol. 1 -שלמה אולמא (Shlomo Ulma) from 1643, probably the fourth generation. Shimon and Eliezer also wrote a family chronicle from 1573-1617 now in Warszaw Zydowski Instytut Historyczny 254 (see entry by IMHM, F 10121; for Shimon Ginzburg see also Cohen 1966, part 9, pp. 31-33). It seems that Shlomo Ulma’s daughter, Mrs. Zuerele, died during his lifetime and was buried in Frankfurt a. Main (see Jewish Gravestone Epigraphy Database). The epitaph on her tombstone reads: מרת צוירלה בת הקצין כמר שלמה אולמא מגוינצבורג נפטרת בשם טוב ליל ג' כו אלול שס"ד לפ"ק (Mrs. Zuerele the daughter of Shlomo Ulm of Günsburg, died 21.09.1604). Another manuscript, an illuminated Pentateuch executed in Brussels in 1309 (Levy Pentateuch: Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, MS Levy, 19), seems to have been in the possession of our Shlomo Ulma, as testified by an inscription on fol. 626 by another son, Kalonymos, who states that he received this manuscript from his father in 1605 or 1610 (Róth 1965, part 3, pp. 3-4): זה החומש נתן לי אמ' (אבי מורי) במתנה )בכתב קטן:) גמורה לחלוטין נאום קלונימוס בן לא"א הקצין והאלוף כמ"ר שלמה אולמא בשנת עבדו את ה' ב'ש'י'מ'ח'ה' (תהילים, ש, ב) (I, Kalonymos son of the officer and the aluf Shlomo Ulma, received this Pentateuch as a present, in the year of "Serve the Lord with gladness" (Ps. 100:2) 1604/5 or 1609/1610). להודע ולהודיע ... שאנחנו ח"מ/ זה יחד לכבוד אבינו הקצין... המנוח... ליב אולמא זצ"ל/ החומש המפואר הלז עם הש"ס בכתב על הקלף (Munich, BSB 95) מעזבונו/ במעמד הגאון אב"ד נפל לעיני כל שארי היורשים ובהסכמתם ... נעשה ונגמר היו'ם יו'ם ב' טז' אלול ת'ק'ב'ל' (1772) ברחמים וברצון תפלתנו/ ... הק'(צין) שלמה ב'ה' (בן הרב) המפורסם כ'ה (כבוד הרב) המנוח הר"ר ליב אולמא הק'(צין)/ בער בן הר"ר ליב אולמא ... (To announce that we, the undersigned below … our late Father Leib Ulma bequeathed this sumptuous Pentateuch together with the Talmud in presence of the head of the rabbinical court and the other heirs, with their approval, completed on Monday, 16th Elul 5532 (14 September 1772), Shlomo son of Leib and Baer son of Leib Ulma …). However, it seems that two years earlier, in 1770 the Levy Pentateuch was already in the hands of one of the two sons, Shlomo, who signed his name on the verso of fol. 626v: ראה ראיתי פה ק"ק פפנהיים שזה החומש הוא שלי/ לכן חתמתי עליו שמי נאום שלמה אולמא/ ביום ו’ כח אלול תק"ל לפ"ק‬ (I verify here, in the community of Pappenheim that this is my Pentateuch, therefore I signed my name, Shlomo Ulma, on Friday 28th of Elul 5530 (Tuesday! 18 September 1770)). In December 1782, the Levy Pentateuch was lent to Moses Mendelssohn )1729–1786) for his translation of the Pentateuch into German. Moses Mendelssohn signed on fol. 1: תודות אלף לבעל הספר המפואר הזה .../ אשר גמל עמדי להשאילו לי לצורך הדפסת חח"ת (חמשת חומשי תורה) אשר אני עוסק בה כעת/ ומגיה לגומרה בחדש ניסן הבא: והי' אם בוא יבוא דברו אלי כבד/ ולכבדני ביד ה' הטובה עלי משה ברבי מנחם מענדל זלה"ה מדעסויא/ פה ברלין כ' טבת התקמ"ג ליצירה (I am grateful to the owner of this sumptuous book, who lent it to me for the purpose of printing the Five Books of the Torah which I am currently working on and intend to complete in the coming month of Nissan (April 1783) … Moses son of R. Menahem of Dessau, here in Berlin, 20th Tevet 5543 (25 December 1782)). Another manuscript which belonged to the Ulma family is Munich, BSB Cod. hebr. 100, in which Yitzhak ben Abraham Ulma and Elijah ben Abraham Ulma signed their names after 1600 (see fol. 73a verso). In conclusion, the annotations of 1587/8 in the Munich Talmud and those of 1605 or 1610 in the Levy Pentateuch suggest that our Shlomo Ulma, who can be located in Pfersee near Augsburg or in Prague (Hock 1892, p. 65, n. 1), owned several manuscripts which were passed on in his family at least until 1772. Other annotations: Second front flyleaf, verso, in plummet: contents of the manuscript in German by a librarian (19th century). Fol. 9v, Latin text is inscribed along the inner margin, apparently a strip which belonged to a previous binding or its flyleaf. Fol. 331, in the inner upper margin at the end of the book of Jeremiah and at the beginning of the book of Isaiah, inscribed in pencil in Latin script: “Jer. 23,6/ Jes 34”. Front and back pastedown in pencil: Cod. hebr. 2 (present signature). Below it on the back pastedown is a sticker with the same signature, as well as on the spine.
Main Surveys & Excavations
Sources
BAV Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica BL London, British Library BnF Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France Bodl. Lib. Oxford, Bodleian Library BSB Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek CJA Jerusalem, Center for Jewish Art, The Hebrew University: • Narkiss Archive • Schubert Archive • Sed-Rajna Archive • CJA Documentation IM Jerusalem, Israel Museum IMHM Jerusalem, Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts at the Jewish National and University Library JTS New York, Theological Seminary of America Bibliography Ameisenowa 1949 Z. Ameisenowa, "Animal Headed Gods, Evangelists, Saints and Righteous Men", Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Instituteh, 12 (1949), pp. 21-45. Beit-Arié 1981 M. Beit-Arié, Hebrew Codicology. Tentative Typology of Technical Practices Employed in Hebrew Dated Medieval Manuscripts, Jerusalem 1981. BL Website http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/searchMSNo.asp Cohen 1966 Naftali Jacob Cohen, Otzar haGdolim, part 9, Haufa 1966. Green et al. 1979 R. Green, M. Evans, Ch. Bischoff, M. Curschmann, Herrad of Hohenbourg Hortus Deliciarum (Studies of the Warburg Institute, J. B. Trapp (ed.) vol. 36), London-Leiden 1979. Jewish Gravestone Epigraphy Database Datenbank: jüdische Grabsteinepigraphik, The Salomon Ludwig Steinheim Institute of German-Jewish Studies. www.steinheim-institut.de:50580/cgi-bin/epidat?... Hock 1892 B. Hock, Families of the Community of Prague, Pressburg 1892 (Hebrew). Horowitz 2006 E. Horowitz, Reckless Rites. Purim and the Legacy of Jewish Violence, Princeton and Oxford 2006. Kogman-Appel 2005 K. Kogman-Appel, "The Tree of Death and the Tree of Life: The Hanging of Haman in Medieval Jewish Manuscript Painting", Between the Picture and the Word, Manuscript Studies from the Index of Christian Art, C. Hourihane (ed.), Princeton, N.J 2005, pp. 187-208. Magid 1899 ד. מגיד, ספר תולדות משפחות גינצבורג, ס' פטרסבורג, תרנ"ט (1899) (D. Magid, The History of the Ginzburg Family, St. Petersburg, 1899). Mellinkoff 1999 R. Mellinkoff, Antisemitic Hate Signs in Hebrew Illuminated manuscripts from Medieval Germany, Jerusalem 1999. Monumenta Judaica Monumenta Judaica: 2000 Jahre Geshichte und Kultur der Juden am Rhein. Handbuch und Katalog, Ausstellung im Kölnischen Stadtmuseum 15. Oktober 1963 bis 15. März 1964, K. Schilling (ed.), 3 Vols., Cologne 1963. Narkiss 1964 B. Narkiss, "Introduction to Machzor Lipsiae", E. Katz (ed.) Machzor Lipsiae, I-II Facsimile and Introduction, Leipzig 1964. Narkiss 1983 B. Narkiss, "On the Zoocephalic Phenomenon in Medieval Ashkenazi Manuscripts", Norms and Variations in Art: Essays in Honor of Moshe Barasch, Jerusalem 1983, pp. 49-62. Narkiss 1984 B. Narkiss, Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts, Jerusalem, 3rd ed., Jerusalem 1978. Rev. Hebrew ed., 1984. Narkiss 1986 B. Narkiss, "Description and Iconography Study", The Worms Mahzor, Introductory Volume to a facsimile edition, Jerusalem 1986, pp. 79-88. Narkiss 2008 B. Narkiss, "The Seal of Solomon the Scribe: The Illustrations of the Albenc Pentateuch of 1340", Between Judaism and Christianity Art: Historical Essays in Honor of Elisheva (Elisabeth) Revel-Neher, K. Kogman-Appel and M. Meyer (ed.), Leiden 2008, pp. 319-352. Rabinowitz 1868 R.N.N. Rabinowitz, Dikdukei Sofrim, Munich 1868. www.hebrewbooks.org/pagefeed/hebrewbooks_org_38512_31.pdf Shalev-Eyni 2010 S. Shalev-Eyni, Jews among Christians: A Hebrew School of illumination of the Lake Constance Region, Turnhout 2010. Sed-Rajna 1983 G. Sed-Rajna, Le Mahzor enluminé: Les voies de formation d'un programme iconographique, Leiden 1983. Sed-Rajna 1994 G. Sed-Rajna, Les manuscrits hébreux enluminés des bibliothèques de France, Leuven- Paris 1994. Steinschneider 1895 M. Steinschneider, Die Hebräischen Handschriften der K. Hof- und Staatsbibliothek in München, München 1895, No. 2. Sternthal 2008 M. Sternthal, Regensburg Pentateuch, an Ashkenazi illuminated Pentateuch, The Hebrew University, unpublished thesis paper, Jerusalem 2008 (Hebrew). Striedl 1957 H. Striedl, Geschichte der Hebraica-Sammlung der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek, Wiesbaden 1957. Róth 1965 E. Róth, Hebräische Handschriften part 3 (Verzechnis der Orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland vol. VI, 3, ed. H. Striedl), Wiesbaden 1965. van Boxel and Arndt 2010 P. van Boxel and S. Arndt (ed.), Crossing Borders, Oxford 2009.
Type
Original Manuscript and F 23103
Documenter
Michal Sternthal, Prof. Aliza Cohen-Mushlin | 2008, 2009/ 2009, 2010
Author of description
Prof. Aliza Cohen-Mushlin, Michal Sternthal, Yaffa Levy | 2009, 2012/ 2010, 2012/ 2009, 2012
Architectural Drawings
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Computer Reconstruction
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Section Head
Michal Sternthal/ Project Head: Prof. Aliza Cohen-Mushlin |
Language Editor
Christine Evans | 2012
Donor
Supported by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation |
Negative/Photo. No.
The following information on this monument will be completed:
Unknown |

In cooperation with
Research Platform Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society

With the support of
Municipality of Vienna, Cultural Affairs and Science
and

Cardinal Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna