66 art and architecture, Jewish
round but also for architectural decorations such as
squares painted or cut out, then assembled into a MOSAIC
for display on walls or floors.
CALLIGRAPHYArabic CALLIGRAPHY, or khatt,was undoubtedly the art
most valued by Muslims, since figurative representa-
tions were in theory banned by the QURAN. The actual
words of the Quran were central to Muslim belief and
were to be displayed to the faithful. Calligraphy is
omnipresent in Islamic art, whether discreetly displayed
on a ceramic or monumentally on the walls of a mosque
or palace.
Further reading: Sheila Blair and Jonathan M.
Bloom, The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250–1800(New
Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1995); Richard
Ettinghausen and Oleg Grabar, The Art and Architecture of
Islam, 650–1250 (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books,
1987); Robert Hillenbrand, Islamic Art and Architecture
(New York: Thames & Hudson, 1999); Robert Irwin,
Islamic Art in Context: Art, Architecture, and the Literary
World (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1997); Andrew
Petersen, Dictionary of Islamic Architecture(New York:
Routledge, 1996).
art and architecture, Jewish Any study of medieval
Jewish art must start from the often quoted second com-
mandment of the Decalogue: “You shall not make for
yourself a sculptured image” (Exodus 20:4 and Deuteron-
omy 5:8). It has become clear this prohibition was not an
unchanging and rigidly held concept that transcended
particular historical contexts. Each Jewish society assimi-
lated the biblical view of art to its own particular needs,
necessitating new interpretations of the second com-
mandment. The same book that contained the prohibi-
tions on images praised Bezalel, an artist: “I have
endowed him with a divine spirit of skill, ability, and
knowledge in every kind of craft” (Exodus 31:1). A viola-
tion of this rule lies in the amazing cycle of paintings
depicting biblical scenes found on the walls of the Dura
Europos SYNAGOGUEin SYRIAdating from the mid-third
century. Figural images were arranged in three tiers on all
four walls of the synagogue.
EARLY ARCHITECTURE AND MOSAICSLarge cycles of paintings or Hebrew manuscripts have
not survived from the early medieval period. Evidence
of the early Jewish artistic tradition is found primarily
in architectural sources, specifically Palestinian syna-
gogues, dating only from the sixth century. Some of the
synagogues, such as Bet-Alfa, dating from either the first
or second half of the sixth century, follow a basilica
plan, and their orientation for prayer is toward
JERUSALEM. Most interesting are the three-panel floor
mosaics in Byzantine synagogues such as Bet Alfa and
Naarah, both dating from the sixth century. In an upper
panel the ark is usually flanked by a menorah and such
symbols of the Jewish holidays as the shofarand the
lulavand etrog(a palm branch and citron, the symbols
of the Feast of Tabernacles). The central panel usually
has two concentric circles within a square with the sun
god Helios depicted in his chariot. A second circle was
divided into 12 radial units, one for each zodiacal sign.
The corners of the square were decorated with images of
the four seasons. The bottom panel usually has a theme
of salvation, perhaps the Sacrifice of Isaac. These were
similar to contemporary Christian images.ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS
The majority of examples of medieval Jewish art were
illuminated manuscripts created initially in Islamic coun-
tries such as EGYPT,PALESTINE, Yemen, and IRANfrom the
ninth and later centuries. They are also found in abun-
dance in Western Europe, where the finest examples date
from the 13th to 15th centuries.
The earliest dated illuminated Hebrew manuscript
from Islam is the Moshe ben Asher codex from a syna-
gogue in Cairo, containing the books of the prophets.
Dated 894/895, it was probably from Tiberias in Pales-
tine. The codex or book form of the manuscript was ini-
tially a uniquely Christian form and was not adopted by
Jews in post-Talmudic times. The decorative motifs in
the manuscripts were abstract geometric patterns simi-
lar to Quranic styles with schematic renderings of build-
ings. Most of the early decorated Hebrew manuscripts
from Muslim Egypt and Palestine are BIBLES, which
employ artistic conventions used in contemporary
Islamic art.
The earliest illuminated Hebrew manuscripts in
Western Europe are from the Franco-German, or Ashke-
naz, area, where Jews had functioned as merchants since
the 10th century. A two-volume commentary on the Bible
made in the region of Würzburg in Germany in 1233 is
the oldest illuminated Hebrew manuscript still extant. Its
17 miniatures reflect the late ROMANESQUEstyle current
in southern Germany. Unquestionably the richest Hebrew
biblical illuminations from the Ashkenazi region are
found in a manuscript of miscellaneous texts in the
British Library. It was painted in a High GOTHICstyle
common in Paris and dated to the last quarter of the 13th
century and the early 14th century. Its numerous minia-
tures included biblical, liturgical, and eschatological
scenes. The most significant manuscripts illuminated in
Ashkenazi communities were codices containing the
obligatory prayers and piyyutim,or additional liturgical
poetry, for seven special Sabbaths and holidays. They were
intended for use in a synagogue. The most common illu-
minated Hebrew manuscript in 15th-century Germany is
for the Passover Haggadah. Stressing folklore and humor,
these marginal illustrations deal with aspects of the seder
liturgy.