Merkabah or Merkavah mysticism is a school of early Jewish mysticism, c. 100 BCE – 1000 CE, centered on visions such as those found in Ezekiel 1 or in the hekhalot literature, concerning stories of ascents to the heavenly palaces and the Throne of God.
Copy of Matthäus Merian's engraving of Ezekiel's vision (1670)
Ezekiel's Wheel in St. John the Baptist Church in Kratovo, North Macedonia. Fresco from the 19th century.
Tomb of Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakai in Tiberias
Talmud on the Knesset Menorah. References in rabbinic Talmud and Midrash to merkabah mysticism are brief, avoiding explanation.
Ezekiel 1 is the first chapter of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains prophecies attributed to the prophet/priest Ezekiel, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. In the New King James Version, this chapter is sub-titled "Ezekiel’s Vision of God", and in the New International Version, "Ezekiel’s Inaugural Vision". In the text, the first verse refers to "visions" (plural).
The Book of Ezekiel on display in the Ezekiel Airship exhibit at the Northeast Texas Rural Heritage Center and Museum in Pittsburg, Texas (United States).
The beginning of the Book of Ezekiel in Latin from Codex Gigas, the largest extant medieval manuscript in the world (from early 13th century).
Vision of Ezekiel, from a 15th-century Armenian book
Ezekiel's "chariot vision", by Matthaeus Merian (1593-1650).
