1.
Torah
–
The Torah is the central reference of Judaism. It has a range of meanings and it can most specifically mean the first five books of the twenty-four books of the Tanakh, and it usually includes the rabbinic commentaries. In rabbinic literature the word Torah denotes both the five books and the Oral Torah, the Oral Torah consists of interpretations and amplifications which according to rabbinic tradition have been handed down from generation to generation and are now embodied in the Talmud and Midrash. According to the Midrash, the Torah was created prior to the creation of the world, traditionally, the words of the Torah are written on a scroll by a scribe in Hebrew. A Torah portion is read publicly at least once every three days in the presence of a congregation, reading the Torah publicly is one of the bases for Jewish communal life. The word Torah in Hebrew is derived from the root ירה, the meaning of the word is therefore teaching, doctrine, or instruction, the commonly accepted law gives a wrong impression. Other translational contexts in the English language include custom, theory, guidance, the earliest name for the first part of the Bible seems to have been The Torah of Moses. This title, however, is neither in the Torah itself. It appears in Joshua and Kings, but it cannot be said to refer there to the entire corpus, in contrast, there is every likelihood that its use in the post-Exilic works was intended to be comprehensive. Other early titles were The Book of Moses and The Book of the Torah, Christian scholars usually refer to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible as the Pentateuch, a term first used in the Hellenistic Judaism of Alexandria, meaning five books, or as the Law. The Torah starts from the beginning of Gods creating the world, through the beginnings of the people of Israel, their descent into Egypt, and it ends with the death of Moses, just before the people of Israel cross to the promised land of Canaan. Interspersed in the narrative are the teachings given explicitly or implicitly embedded in the narrative. This is followed by the story of the three patriarchs, Joseph and the four matriarchs, God gives to the patriarchs a promise of the land of Canaan, but at the end of Genesis the sons of Jacob end up leaving Canaan for Egypt due to a regional famine. They had heard there was a grain storage and distribution facility in Egypt. Exodus begins the story of Gods revelation to his people of Israel through Moses, Moses receives the Torah from God, and teaches His laws and Covenant to the people of Israel. It also talks about the first violation of the covenant when the Golden Calf was constructed, Exodus includes the instructions on building the Tabernacle and concludes with its actual construction. Leviticus begins with instructions to the Israelites on how to use the Tabernacle, leviticus 26 provides a detailed list of rewards for following Gods commandments and a detailed list of punishments for not following them. Numbers tells how Israel consolidated itself as a community at Sinai, set out from Sinai to move towards Canaan, even Moses sins and is told he would not live to enter the land
Torah
–
Sefer Torah at old
Glockengasse Synagogue (reconstruction),
Cologne
Torah
–
Silver Torah Case,
Ottoman Empire Museum of Jewish Art and History
Torah
–
Reading of the Torah
Torah
–
Tanakh (Judaism)
2.
Mishnah
–
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions known as the Oral Torah. It is also the first major work of Rabbinic literature, most of the Mishnah is written in Mishnaic Hebrew, while some parts are Aramaic. The Mishnah consists of six orders, each containing 7–12 tractates,63 in total, the word Mishnah can also indicate a single paragraph or a verse of the work itself, i. e. the smallest unit of structure in the Mishnah. For this reason the work is sometimes called by the plural. The term Mishnah originally referred to a method of teaching by presenting topics in an order, as contrasted with Midrash. The Mishnah consists of six orders, each containing 7–12 tractates,63 in total, each masechet is divided into chapters and then paragraphs. In this last context, the word means a single paragraph of the work, i. e. the smallest unit of structure, leading to the use of the plural, Mishnayot. Because of the division into six orders, the Mishnah is sometimes called Shas, in each order, tractates are arranged from biggest to smallest. A popular mnemonic consists of the acronym ZMaN NaKaT, the Babylonian Talmud states that there were either six hundred or seven hundred orders of the Mishnah. Hillel the Elder organized them into six orders to make it easier to remember, the historical accuracy of this tradition is disputed. There is also a tradition that Ezra the scribe dictated from memory not only the 24 books of the Tanakh but 60 esoteric books. It is not known whether this is a reference to the Mishnah, interestingly, Reuvein Margolies posited that there were originally seven orders of Mishnah, citing a Gaonic tradition on the existence of a seventh order containing the laws of Stam and Berachot. A number of important laws are not elaborated upon in the Mishnah and these include the laws of tzitzit, tefillin, mezuzot, the holiday of Hanukkah, and the laws of conversion to Judaism. These were later discussed in the minor tractates, nissim ben Jacobs Hakdamah Lemafteach Hatalmud argued that it was unnecessary for Judah the Prince to discuss them as many of these laws were so well known. Rabbinic commentaries on the Mishnah from the four centuries, done in the Land of Israel. In themselves they are known as Gemara, the books which set out the Mishnah in its original structure, together with the associated Gemara, are known as Talmuds. Two Talmuds were compiled, the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud, unlike the Hebrew Mishnah, the Gemara is written primarily in Aramaic. The Mishnah does not claim to be the development of new laws, the term Mishnah is related to the verb shanah, to teach or repeat, and to the adjectives sheni and mishneh, meaning second
Mishnah
–
Talmud Readers by
Adolf Behrman
Mishnah
3.
Talmud
–
The Talmud is a central text of Rabbinic Judaism. It is also referred to as Shas, a Hebrew abbreviation of shisha sedarim, the six orders. Talmud translates literally as instruction in Hebrew, and the term may refer to either the Gemara alone, or the Mishnah, the entire Talmud consists of 63 tractates, and in standard print is over 6,200 pages long. The Talmud is the basis for all codes of Jewish law, Rabbis expounded and debated the Torah and discussed the Tanakh without the benefit of written works, though some may have made private notes, for example of court decisions. It is during this period that rabbinic discourse began to be recorded in writing, the earliest recorded oral Torah may have been of the midrashic form, in which halakhic discussion is structured as exegetical commentary on the Pentateuch. But an alternative form, organized by subject matter instead of by biblical verse, became dominant about the year 200 CE, the Oral Torah was far from monolithic, rather, it varied among various schools. The most famous two were the School of Shammai and the School of Hillel, in general, all valid opinions, even the non-normative ones, were recorded in the Talmud. The oldest full manuscript of the Talmud, known as the Munich Talmud, each tractate is divided into chapters,517 in total, that are both numbered according to the Hebrew alphabet and given names, usually using the first one or two words in the first mishnah. A perek may continue over several pages, each perek will contain several mishnayot with their accompanying exchanges that form the building-blocks of the Gemara, the name for a passage of gemara is a sugya. A sugya, including baraita or tosefta, will comprise a detailed proof-based elaboration of a Mishnaic statement. A sugya may, and often does, range widely off the subject of the mishnah, in a given sugya, scriptural, Tannaic and Amoraic statements are cited to support the various opinions. In so doing, the Gemara will highlight semantic disagreements between Tannaim and Amoraim, and compare the Mishnaic views with passages from the Baraita. Rarely are debates formally closed, in instances, the final word determines the practical law. There is a literature on the procedural principles to be used in settling the practical law when disagreements exist, see under #Logic. The Mishnah is a compilation of legal opinions and debates, statements in the Mishnah are typically terse, recording brief opinions of the rabbis debating a subject, or recording only an unattributed ruling, apparently representing a consensus view. The rabbis recorded in the Mishnah are known as the Tannaim, the Mishnahs topical organization thus became the framework of the Talmud as a whole. But not every tractate in the Mishnah has a corresponding Gemara, also, the order of the tractates in the Talmud differs in some cases from that in the Mishnah. In addition to the Mishnah, other tannaitic teachings were current at about the time or shortly thereafter
Talmud
–
Talmud Readers by
Adolf Behrman
Talmud
–
The first page of the
Vilna Edition of the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot, folio 2a.
Talmud
–
A page of a medieval Jerusalem Talmud manuscript, from the
Cairo Genizah.
Talmud
–
A full set of the Babylonian Talmud.
4.
Mishneh Torah
–
The Mishneh Torah, subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka, is a code of Jewish religious law authored by Maimonides, one of historys foremost rabbis. The Mishneh Torah was compiled between 1170 and 1180, while Maimonides was living in Egypt, and is regarded as Maimonides magnum opus, accordingly, later sources simply refer to the work as Maimon, Maimonides or RaMBaM, although Maimonides composed other works. Mishneh Torah consists of fourteen books, subdivided into sections, chapters and it is the only Medieval-era work that details all of Jewish observance, including those laws that are only applicable when the Holy Temple is in existence, and remains an important work in Judaism. Maimonides intended to provide a statement of the Oral Law, so that a person who mastered first the Written Torah. Contemporary reaction was mixed, with strong and immediate opposition focusing on the absence of sources, Maimonides responded to these criticisms, and the Mishneh Torah endures as an influential work in Jewish religious thought. Likewise, One must follow Maimonides even when the latter opposed his teachers, since he knew their views. He drew upon the Torah and the rest of Tanakh, both Talmuds, Tosefta, and the halachic Midrashim, principally Sifra and Sifre. Some believe that he preferred rulings in certain Midrash collections to rulings in the Talmud, later sources include the responsa of the Geonim. According to Maimonides, the Geonim were considered unintelligible in our days, there were even times when Maimonides disagreed with what was being taught in the name of the Geonim. Maimonides himself states a few times in his work that he possessed what he considered to be more accurate texts of the Talmud than what most people possessed at his time. The latter has confirmed to a certain extent by versions of the Talmud preserved by the Yemenite Jews as to the reason for what previously were thought to be rulings without any source. The Mishneh Torah is written in Hebrew in the style of the Mishnah, as he states in the preface, Maimonides was reluctant to write in Talmudic Aramaic, since it was not widely known. His previous works had been written in Arabic, the Mishneh Torah never cites sources or arguments, and confines itself to stating the final decision on the law to be followed in each situation. There is no discussion of Talmudic interpretation or methodology, and the sequence of chapters follows the subject matter of the laws rather than the intellectual principle involved. Since intermarriage with non-Jews is forbidden, the laws of conversion to Judaism are also included, major sources of contention were the absence of sources and the belief that the work appeared to be intended to supersede study of the Talmud. Some criticisms appear to have been less rational in nature, indeed, Maimonides quotes the Talmud in stating that one should study the Talmud for a third of ones study time. The most sincere but influential opponent, whose comments are printed parallel to all editions of the Mishneh Torah, was Rabbi Abraham ben David of Posquières. Yet despite all this, Maimonides remained certain that in the future the Mishneh Torah would find great influence and acceptance
Mishneh Torah
–
Mishneh Torah
5.
Shulchan Aruch
–
The Shulchan Aruch, also known by various Jewish communities but not all as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed by Yosef Karo in 1563 and published in Venice two years later, together with its commentaries, it is the most widely accepted compilation of Jewish law ever written. These glosses are referred to as the mappah to the Shulchan Aruchs Set Table. The Shulchan Aruch follow the structure as Arbaah Turim by Rabbi Jacob ben Asher. These books were written from the standpoint of Sephardi Minhag, other works entitled Shulchan Aruch or Kitzur Shulcan Aruch cited below are written from the standpoint of Ashkenazi Minhag, there are four sections, each subdivided into many chapters and paragraphs. There is disagreement on the authorship of the references to Isserles remarks, since the 17th century, the Shulchan Aruch has been printed with Isserles annotations in small Rashi print interspersed with Karos text. As commentaries on the work proliferated, more sophisticated printing styles became required, the Shulchan Aruch is largely based on an earlier work by Karo, titled Beth Yosef. The latter is a vast and comprehensive commentary on Jacob ben Ashers Arbaah Turim, citing and analyzing the Talmudic, Geonic and this work analyzes the theories and conclusions of those authorities cited by the Tur, and also examines the opinions of authorities not mentioned by the latter. Karo began the Beth Yosef in 1522 at Adrianople, finished it in 1542 at Safed in the Land of Israel, thirty-two authorities, beginning with the Talmud and ending with the works of Rabbi Israel Isserlein, are summarized and critically discussed in Beth Yosef. No other rabbinical work compares with it in wealth of material, Karo evidences not only an astonishing range of reading, covering almost the entire rabbinic literature up to his time, but also remarkable powers of critical investigation. He evidences no inclination to accept the opinions of ancient authorities. In the introduction to his compilation, Karo clearly states the necessity of. The expulsion of the Jews from the Iberian peninsula and the invention of printing had endangered the stability of religious observances on their legal and ritual sides, Jews then living in the different kingdoms of Spain had their standard authorities to which they appealed. Karo undertook his Beth Yosef to remedy this problem, quoting, Karo initially intended to rely on his own judgment relating to differences of opinion between the various authorities, especially where he could support his own view based on the Talmud. But he abandoned this idea because, as he wrote, Who has the courage to rear his head aloft among mountains, the heights of God. And also because he may have thought, though he does not mention his conclusion, Karo very often decides disputed cases without necessarily considering the age and importance of the authority in question, expressing simply his own views. He follows Maimonides example, as seen in Mishneh Torah, rather than that of Jacob ben Asher, several reasons induced Karo to connect his work with the Tur, instead of Maimonides code. Secondly, it was not Karos intention to write a similar in form to Maimonides work, he intended to give not merely the results of his investigations
Shulchan Aruch
–
Shulchan Aruch
Shulchan Aruch
–
Page of Shulchan Aruch, with Karo's and Isserlis's combined text in the center of the page, top
6.
Ashkenazim
–
The traditional diaspora language of Ashkenazi Jews is Yiddish, with Hebrew used only as a sacred language until relatively recently. Throughout their time in Europe, Ashkenazim have made important contributions to philosophy, scholarship, literature, art, music. Ashkenazim originate from the Jews who settled along the Rhine River, in Western Germany, there they became a distinct diaspora community with a unique way of life that adapted traditions from Babylon, The Land of Israel, and the Western Mediterranean to their new environment. The Ashkenazi religious rite developed in such as Mainz, Worms. The eminent French Rishon Rabbi Shlomo Itzhaki would have a significant impact on the Jewish religion, in the late Middle Ages, the majority of the Ashkenazi population shifted steadily eastward, moving out of the Holy Roman Empire into the Pale of Settlement. The genocidal impact of the Holocaust devastated the Ashkenazim and their culture, immediately prior to the Holocaust, the number of Jews in the world stood at approximately 16.7 million. Statistical figures vary for the demography of Ashkenazi Jews, oscillating between 10 million and 11.2 million. Sergio DellaPergola in a calculation of Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews. Other estimates place Ashkenazi Jews as making up about 75% of Jews worldwide, genetic studies on Ashkenazim—researching both their paternal and maternal lineages—suggest a significant proportion of Middle Eastern ancestry. Ashkenazi Jews are popularly contrasted with Sephardi Jews, who are descendants of Jews from the Iberian Peninsula, there are some differences in how the two groups pronounce certain Hebrew letters, and in points of ritual. The name Ashkenazi derives from the figure of Ashkenaz, the first son of Gomer, son of Khaphet, son of Noah. The name of Gomer has often been linked to the ethnonym Cimmerians, the intrusive n in the Biblical name is likely due to a scribal error confusing a waw ו with a nun נ. In Jeremiah 51,27, Ashkenaz figures as one of three kingdoms in the far north, the others being Minni and Ararat, perhaps corresponding to Urartu, called on by God to resist Babylon. Ashkenaz is linked to Scandza/Scanzia, viewed as the cradle of Germanic tribes and his contemporary Saadia Gaon identified Ashkenaz with the Saquliba or Slavic territories, and such usage covered also the lands of tribes neighboring the Slavs, and Eastern and Central Europe. In modern times, Samuel Krauss identified the Biblical Ashkenaz with Khazaria, sometime in the early medieval period, the Jews of central and eastern Europe came to be called by this term. In conformity with the custom of designating areas of Jewish settlement with biblical names, Spain was denominated Sefarad, France was called Tsarefat, Rashi uses leshon Ashkenaz to describe German speech, and Byzantium and Syrian Jewish letters referred to the Crusaders as Ashkenazim. Given the close links between the Jewish communities of France and Germany following the Carolingian unification, the term Ashkenazi came to refer to both the Jews of medieval Germany and France. Outside of their origins in ancient Israel, the history of Ashkenazim is shrouded in mystery, the most well-supported theory is the one that details a Jewish migration from Israel through what is now Italy and other parts of southern Europe
Ashkenazim
–
Vilna Gaon
Ashkenazim
–
Heinrich Heine
Ashkenazim
–
Marc Chagall
Ashkenazim
–
Moses Isserles
7.
Hebrew language
–
Hebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of whom over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, the earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language. Hebrew had ceased to be a spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining since the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Aramaic and to a lesser extent Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among elites and it survived into the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature, intra-Jewish commerce, and poetry. Then, in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, and, according to Ethnologue, had become, as of 1998, the language of 5 million people worldwide. After Israel, the United States has the second largest Hebrew-speaking population, with 220,000 fluent speakers, Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of the State of Israel, while premodern Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world today. Ancient Hebrew is also the tongue of the Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Arabic is their vernacular. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Leshon Hakodesh, the modern word Hebrew is derived from the word Ivri, one of several names for the Israelite people. It is traditionally understood to be a based on the name of Abrahams ancestor, Eber. This name is based upon the root ʕ-b-r meaning to cross over. Interpretations of the term ʕibrim link it to this verb, cross over, in the Bible, the Hebrew language is called Yәhudit because Judah was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation. In Isaiah 19,18 it is called the Language of Canaan, Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. In turn, the Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages, according to Avraham ben-Yosef, Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during about 1200 to 586 BCE. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile. In July 2008 Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa which he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating around 3000 years ago. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew, the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that through the Greeks, the Gezer calendar is written without any vowels, and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places where later Hebrew spelling requires it
Hebrew language
–
Hebrew street sign, above in
Hebrew alphabet, below in
Latin transliteration. Aluf Batslut veAluf Shum (he) ("The Onion Champion and the Garlic Champion") is a
play by
Hayim Nahman Bialik.
Hebrew language
–
Portion of the
Temple Scroll, one of the longest of the
Dead Sea Scrolls discovered at
Qumran
Hebrew language
–
The
Shebna Inscription, from the tomb of a royal steward found in
Siloam, dates to the 7th century BCE.
Hebrew language
–
Hebrew script used in writing a Torah scroll. Note ornamental "crowns" on tops of certain letters.
8.
Children of Israel
–
The Israelites were a Semitic-speaking people of the ancient Near East, who inhabited a part of Canaan during the tribal and monarchic periods. The ancient Israelites are considered to be an outgrowth of the indigenous Canaanite populations that inhabited the Southern Levant, Syria, ancient Israel. In the period of the monarchy it was only used to refer to the inhabitants of the northern kingdom. The Israelites were also known as the Hebrews and the Twelve Tribes of Israel, the Jews are named after and also descended from the southern Israelite Kingdom of Judah, particularly the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and partially Levi. The word Jews is found in 2 Kings, Chronicles, and in passages in the Book of Jeremiah, the Book of Zechariah. The Kingdom of Israel, often called the Northern Kingdom of Israel, contained all the tribes except for the tribes of Judah, following its conquest by Assyria, these ten tribes were allegedly dispersed and lost to history, and they are henceforth known as the Ten Lost Tribes. Jewish tradition holds that Samaria was so named because the mountainous terrain was used to keep Guard for incoming enemy attacks. According to Samaritan tradition, however, the Samaritan ethnonym is not derived from the region of Samaria, thus, according to Samaritan tradition, the region was named Samaria after them, not vice versa. In Modern Hebrew, the Samaritans are called Shomronim, while in Samaritan Hebrew they call themselves Shamerim, in Judaism, an Israelite is, broadly speaking, a lay member of the Jewish ethnoreligious group, as opposed to the priestly orders of Kohanim and Levites. In texts of Jewish law such as the Mishnah and Gemara, the term יהודי, meaning Jew, is rarely used, Samaritans commonly refer to themselves and to Jews collectively as Israelites, and they describe themselves as the Israelite Samaritans. The name Israel first appears in the Hebrew Bible in Genesis 32,29, the Hebrew Bible etymologizes the name as from yisra to prevail over or to struggle/wrestle with, and el, God, the divine. The name Israel first appears in non-biblical sources c.1209 BCE, the inscription is very brief and says simply, Israel is laid waste and his seed is not. The inscription refers to a people, not to an individual or a nation-state, in modern Hebrew, bnei yisrael can denote the Jewish people at any time in history, it is typically used to emphasize Jewish religious identity. From the period of the Mishna the term Yisrael acquired a narrower meaning of Jews of legitimate birth other than Levites. In modern Hebrew this contrasts with the term Yisraeli, a citizen of the modern State of Israel, the term Hebrew has Eber as an eponymous ancestor. It is used synonymously with Israelites, or as a term for historical speakers of the Hebrew language in general. Today, Jews and Samaritans both recognize each other as communities with an authentic Israelite origin, the terms Jews and Samaritans largely replaced the title Children of Israel as the commonly used ethnonym for each respective community. The name Yahweh, the god of the later Israelites, may indicate connections with the region of Mount Seir in Edom, the Canaanites were also the first people, as far as is known, to have used an alphabet
Children of Israel
–
Mosaic of the 12 Tribes of Israel, from a synagogue wall in Jerusalem
Children of Israel
–
The
Merneptah stele. While alternative translations exist, the majority of
biblical archaeologists translate a set of hieroglyphs as "Israel", representing the first instance of the name Israel in the historical record.
Children of Israel
–
Landscape of
Samaria in the territory of
Ephraim
9.
Egypt
–
Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian
Egypt
–
The
Giza Necropolis is the oldest of the
ancient Wonders and the only one still in existence.
Egypt
–
Flag
Egypt
–
The Greek Ptolemaic queen
Cleopatra VII and her son by Julius Caesar,
Caesarion at the
Temple of Dendera.
Egypt
–
The 1803
Cedid Atlas, showing
Ottoman Egypt.
10.
Deuteronomy
–
The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Torah and the Christian Old Testament. The Hebrew title is taken from the opening phrase Eleh ha-devarim, the English title is from a Greek mistranslation of the Hebrew phrase mishneh haTorah hazoth, a copy of this law, in Deuteronomy 17,18, as to deuteronomion touto – this second law. The book consists of three sermons or speeches delivered to the Israelites by Moses on the plains of Moab, shortly before they enter the Promised Land. Many scholars see the book as reflecting the needs and social status of the Levite caste. One of its most significant verses is Deuteronomy 6,4, the Shema Yisrael, which has become the definitive statement of Jewish identity, Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. Verses 6, 4–5 were also quoted by Jesus in Mark 12, Patrick D. Miller in his commentary on Deuteronomy suggests that different views of the structure of the book will lead to different views on what it is about. Chapters 1–4, The journey through the wilderness from Horeb to Kadesh, chapters 4–11, After a second introduction at 4, 44–49 the events at Mount Horeb are recalled, with the giving of the Ten Commandments. Chapters 12–26, the Deuteronomic code, Laws governing Israels worship, the appointment and regulation of community and religious leaders, social regulation, chapters 27–28, Blessings and curses for those who keep and break the law. Chapters 29–30, Concluding discourse on the covenant in the land of Moab, including all the laws in the Deuteronomic code after those given at Horeb, Israel is again exhorted to obedience. Chapters 31–34, Joshua is installed as Mosess successor, Moses delivers the law to the Levites, and ascends Mount Nebo or Pisgah, the narrative of these events is interrupted by two poems, the Song of Moses and the Blessing of Moses. Deuteronomy 12–26, the Deuteronomic Code, is its oldest part of the book and it is a series of mitzvot to the Israelites regarding how they ought to conduct themselves in Canaan, the land promised by Yahweh, God of Israel. The following list organizes most of the laws into thematic groups, The worship of Canaanite gods is forbidden, native mourning practices such as deliberate disfigurement are forbidden. The worship at Asherah groves and setting up of ritual pillars are forbidden, all sacrifices are to be brought and vows are to be made at a central sanctuary. Sacrificed animals must be without blemish, first-born male livestock must be sacrificed. The procedure for tithing produce or donating its equivalent is given, the Pilgrimage Festivals of Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot are instituted. A catalog of which animals are permitted and which forbidden for consumption is given, the consumption of animals which are found dead and have not been slaughtered is prohibited. Judges are to be appointed in every city, judges are to be impartial and bribery is forbidden. Should the Israelites choose to be ruled by a King, regulations for the office are given, Regulations of the rights, and revenue, of the Levites are given
Deuteronomy
–
Tanakh (Judaism)
Deuteronomy
–
Moses receiving the Law (top) and reading the Law to the Israelites
Deuteronomy
–
Moses viewing the Promised Land, Deuteronomy 34:1–5 (Tissot)
11.
Oral Torah
–
In fact, two versions of the Talmud exist, one produced in Jerusalem c. 300–350 CE, and second, more extensive Talmud compiled in Babylonia, the term Oral Torah should not be understood as a monolith. The regulations, observances, and statutes included in the last three groups were not considered equal in validity to the law, but were regarded merely as rabbinical regulations. Many of these practices were advocated by the Pharisees, a sect of largely lower- and middle-class Jews who stood in opposition to the Sadducees, the priestly caste who dominated the Temple cult. The Sadducees rejected the legitimacy of any law or tradition, as well as increasingly popular notions such as the immortality of the soul. With the destruction of the Second Temple around 70 CE, the Sadducees were divested of their source of authority. On the other hand, the Pharisees became the progenitor of the rabbinic class, the destruction of the Second Temple and the fall of Jerusalem in the 1st and early 2nd Centuries CE devastated the Jewish community. The First Jewish–Roman War of 66–73 CE and the Bar Kokhba revolt cost more than a million Jewish lives, the destruction of leading yeshivot, and thousands of scholars and students. At that point, it became apparent that the Hebrew community and its learning were threatened, thus, around 200 CE, a redaction of oral law in writing was completed. Both Rabbinic tradition and scholarship ascribe this effort to Rabbi Judah HaNasi, the product of this effort, the Mishnah, is generally considered the first work of Rabbinic literature. Mishnah is the given to the sixty-three tractates that HaNasi systematically codified. Moreover, the contained in the twenty-four chapters that make up that tractate are far more extensive than those contained in the Torah. However, Jacob Neusner argues that the Mishnah does far more than expound upon, rather, important topics covered by the Mishnah rest on no scriptural foundations whatsoever, such as portions of the civil law tractates of Bava Kamma, Bava Metzia and Bava Batra. In other words, To perfect the Torah, the Oral tradition had to provide for a variety of transactions left without any law at all in Scripture, the Gemara with the Mishnah came to be edited together into compilations known as the Talmud. The Talmuds discussions follow the order of the Mishnah, although not all tractates are discussed, generally, a law from the Mishnah is cited, which is followed by a rabbinic deliberation on its meaning. The discussion often, but not always, results in a decision regarding the more persuasive or authoritative position based on available sources or anecdotal evidence, for example, excavations at Qumran have yielded specimens of tefillin and parchment scrolls. A clay seal discovered in Jerusalem in 2011 is consistent with the recorded in tractate Shekalim chapter 5. The Elephantine papyri 419 BCE include a Passover letter which included many of the pesach observances of today
Oral Torah
–
A relief depicting the development of the Oral Law at
Diaspora Museum, Tel Aviv
12.
The Exodus
–
The Exodus is the founding, or etiological, myth of Israel, its message is that the Israelites were delivered from slavery by Yahweh and therefore belong to him through the Mosaic covenant. The historicity of the story continues to attract attention. The Exodus has been central to Judaism, many of modern biblical scholars hold the opinion that the Torah, or Pentateuch was shaped in the post-exilic period. In either case, the Book of Exodus is a myth for Israel, Israel was delivered from slavery by Yahweh. The final form of the Pentateuch was based on earlier written and these have left traces in over 150 references throughout the Bible. The earliest traces of earlier traditions are in the books of prophets Amos and Hosea. In contrast, Proto-Isaiah and Micah, both of whom were active in Judah at much the same time, show no similar traces and it thus seems reasonable to conclude the Exodus tradition was important in the northern kingdom in the 8th century BCE, but not in Judah. The exodus is remembered daily in Jewish prayers and celebrated each year at the feast of Passover, despite the Exodus story, a majority of scholars do not believe that the Passover festival originated as described in the biblical story. Jewish tradition has preserved national and personal reminders of this narrative in daily life. Such elements as could be fitted into the 2nd millennium could equally belong to the 1st, so while a few scholars, notably Kenneth Kitchen and James K. According to Exodus 12, 37–38, the Israelites numbered about six hundred men on foot, besides women and children, plus many non-Israelites. Numbers 1,46 gives a more precise total of 603,550 men aged 20 and it is difficult to reconcile the idea of 600,000 Israelite fighting men with the information that the Israelites were afraid of the Philistines and Egyptians. The 600,000, plus wives, children, the elderly, marching ten abreast, and without accounting for livestock, they would have formed a line 150 miles long. The entire Egyptian population in 1250 BCE is estimated to have been around 3 to 3, some have rationalised the numbers into smaller figures, for example reading the Hebrew as 600 families rather than 600,000 men, but all such solutions have their own set of problems. The chronology of the Exodus story likewise underlines its essentially religious rather than historical nature, the Torah lists the places where the Israelites rested. Attempts to date the Exodus to a century have been inconclusive. Jericho was small and poor, almost insignificant, and unfortified here was no sign of a destruction. William F. Albright, the leading biblical archaeologist of the century, proposed a date of around 1250–1200 BCE
The Exodus
–
"Departure of the Israelites", by
David Roberts, 1829
The Exodus
–
A Semitic slave. Ancient Egyptian figurine.
Hecht Museum
The Exodus
–
Possible Exodus routes. The traditional Exodus route is in black; other possible routes are in blue and green.
13.
Book of Exodus
–
The Book of Exodus or, simply, Exodus, is the second book of the Torah and the Hebrew Bible. The book tells how the Israelites leave slavery in Egypt through the strength of Yahweh, led by their prophet Moses they journey through the wilderness to Mount Sinai, where Yahweh promises them the land of Canaan in return for their faithfulness. There is no agreement among scholars on the structure of Exodus. One strong possibility is that it is a diptych, with the division between parts 1 and 2 at the crossing of the Red Sea or at the beginning of the theophany in chapter 19. On this plan, the first part tells of Gods rescue of his people from Egypt and their journey under his care to Sinai, jacobs sons and their families join their brother, Joseph, in Egypt. Once there, the Israelites begin to grow in number, several generations later, Egypts Pharaoh, fearful that the Israelites could be a fifth column, orders that all newborn boys be thrown into the Nile. A Levite woman saves her baby by setting him adrift on the river Nile in an ark of bulrushes, the Pharaohs daughter finds the child, names him Moses, and brings him up as her own. But Moses is aware of his origins, and one day, there he marries Zipporah, the daughter of Midianite priest Jethro, and encounters God in a burning bush. Moses asks God for his name, God replies, I AM that I AM, God tells Moses to return to Egypt and lead the Hebrews into Canaan, the land promised to Abraham. Moses returns to Egypt and fails to convince the Pharaoh to release the Israelites, God smites the Egyptians with 10 terrible plagues including a river of blood, many frogs, and the death of first-born sons. Moses leads the Israelites out of bondage after a chase when the Pharaoh reneges on his coerced consent. The desert proves arduous, and the Israelites complain and long for Egypt, the Israelites arrive at the mountain of God, where Moses father-in-law Jethro visits Moses, at his suggestion Moses appoints judges over Israel. God asks whether they agree to be his people. Moses is told to ascend the mountain, God pronounces the Ten Commandments in the hearing of all Israel. Moses goes up the mountain into the presence of God, who pronounces the Covenant Code, Moses comes down the mountain and writes down Gods words and the people agree to keep them. God calls Moses up the mountain where he remains for 40 days and 40 nights, at the conclusion of the 40 days and 40 nights, Moses returns holding the set of stone tablets. Aaron is appointed as the first hereditary high priest, God gives Moses the two tablets of stone containing the words of the ten commandments, written with the finger of God. While Moses is with God, Aaron makes a golden calf, God informs Moses of their apostasy and threatens to kill them all, but relents when Moses pleads for them
Book of Exodus
–
Tanakh (Judaism)
Book of Exodus
–
Moses with the Ten Commandments, by
Rembrandt (1659)
Book of Exodus
–
"Departure of the Israelites", by
David Roberts, 1829
Book of Exodus
–
"Crossing of the Red Sea",
Nicholas Poussin
14.
Shema
–
Shema Yisrael are the first two words of a section of the Torah, and is the title of a prayer that serves as a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services. Observant Jews consider the Shema to be the most important part of the service in Judaism. It is traditional for Jews to say the Shema as their last words, and for parents to teach their children to say it before they go to sleep at night. The term Shema is used by extension to refer to the part of the daily prayers that commences with Shema Yisrael and comprises Deuteronomy 6, 4–9,11, 13-21. These sections of the Torah are read in the weekly Torah portions Vaetchanan, Eikev, originally, the Shema consisted of only one verse, Deuteronomy 6,4. The recitation of the Shema in the liturgy, however, consists of three portions, Deuteronomy 6, 4–9,11, 13-21, and Numbers 15, 37–41, the three portions are already mentioned in the Mishnah. The three portions relate to issues of Jewish belief. In the Mishnah the reciting of the shema was linked with re-affirming a personal relationship with Gods rule, literally, reciting the shema was stated as receiving the kingdom of heaven. Additionally, the Talmud points out that subtle references to the Ten Commandments can be found in the three portions, as the Ten Commandments were removed from daily prayer in the Mishnaic period, the Shema is seen as an opportunity to commemorate the Ten Commandments. There are two larger-print letters in the first sentence which, when combined, spell עד, the idea thus conveyed is that through the recitation or proclamation of the Shema one is a living witness testifying to the truth of its message. Modern Kabbalistic schools, namely that of the Ari, teach that one recites the last letter of the word ecḥad, meaning one. The first, pivotal, words of the Shema are, in the original Hebrew, שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד׃, which can be transliterated, Shma Yisrael, YHWH eloheinu, YHWH eḥad. Rabbinic Judaism teaches that the Tetragrammaton, YHWH, is the ineffable and actual name of God, for this reason, the Shema is recited aloud as, Shma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Eḥad - Hear, O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is One. Eloheinu — the plural 1st person possessive of אֱלֹהִים Elohim, meaning “our God”, echad — the unified and cardinal number one אֶחָד This first verse of the Shema relates to the kingship of God. The first verse, Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD, has ever been regarded as the confession of belief in the One God. Due to the ambiguities of the Hebrew language, there are ways of translating the Shema, Hear. Adonai is our God – Adonai alone, many commentaries have been written about the subtle differences between the translations. There is an emphasis on the oneness of God and on the worship of God by Israel
Shema
–
Shema Yisrael at the
Knesset Menorah in
Jerusalem
Shema
–
The first paragraph of the Shema seen in a
Tefillin scroll
Shema
–
Schneur Zalman of Liadi articulated Divine Unity in
Hasidic philosophy
15.
Hebrew
–
Hebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of whom over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, the earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language. Hebrew had ceased to be a spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining since the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Aramaic and to a lesser extent Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among elites and it survived into the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature, intra-Jewish commerce, and poetry. Then, in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, and, according to Ethnologue, had become, as of 1998, the language of 5 million people worldwide. After Israel, the United States has the second largest Hebrew-speaking population, with 220,000 fluent speakers, Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of the State of Israel, while premodern Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world today. Ancient Hebrew is also the tongue of the Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Arabic is their vernacular. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Leshon Hakodesh, the modern word Hebrew is derived from the word Ivri, one of several names for the Israelite people. It is traditionally understood to be a based on the name of Abrahams ancestor, Eber. This name is based upon the root ʕ-b-r meaning to cross over. Interpretations of the term ʕibrim link it to this verb, cross over, in the Bible, the Hebrew language is called Yәhudit because Judah was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation. In Isaiah 19,18 it is called the Language of Canaan, Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. In turn, the Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages, according to Avraham ben-Yosef, Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during about 1200 to 586 BCE. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile. In July 2008 Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa which he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating around 3000 years ago. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew, the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that through the Greeks, the Gezer calendar is written without any vowels, and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places where later Hebrew spelling requires it
Hebrew
–
Hebrew street sign, above in
Hebrew alphabet, below in
Latin transliteration. Aluf Batslut veAluf Shum (he) ("The Onion Champion and the Garlic Champion") is a
play by
Hayim Nahman Bialik.
Hebrew
–
Portion of the
Temple Scroll, one of the longest of the
Dead Sea Scrolls discovered at
Qumran
Hebrew
–
The
Shebna Inscription, from the tomb of a royal steward found in
Siloam, dates to the 7th century BCE.
Hebrew
–
Hebrew script used in writing a Torah scroll. Note ornamental "crowns" on tops of certain letters.
16.
Septuagint
–
The Septuagint is a Koine Greek translation of an Hebraic textual tradition that included certain texts which were later included in the canonical Hebrew Bible and other related texts which were not. As the primary Greek translation of the Old Testament, it is called the Greek Old Testament. This translation is quoted a number of times in the New Testament, particularly in Pauline epistles, the title and its Roman numeral LXX refer to the legendary seventy Jewish scholars who solely translated the Five Books of Moses into Koine Greek as early as the 3rd century BCE. Separated from the Hebrew canon of the Jewish Bible in Rabbinic Judaism, the traditional story is that Ptolemy II sponsored the translation of the Torah. The Septuagint should not be confused with the seven or more other Greek versions of the Old Testament, of these, the most important are those by Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion. However, it was not until the time of Augustine of Hippo that the Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures came to be called by the Latin term Septuaginta. This narrative is found in the pseudepigraphic Letter of Aristeas to his brother Philocrates, the story is also found in the Tractate Megillah of the Babylonian Talmud, King Ptolemy once gathered 72 Elders. He placed them in 72 chambers, each of them in a separate one and he entered each ones room and said, Write for me the Torah of Moshe, your teacher. God put it in the heart of one to translate identically as all the others did. Philo of Alexandria, who relied extensively on the Septuagint, says that the number of scholars was chosen by selecting six scholars from each of the tribes of Israel. After the Torah, other books were translated over the two to three centuries. It is not altogether clear which was translated when, or where, some may even have been translated twice, into different versions, the quality and style of the different translators also varied considerably from book to book, from the literal to paraphrasing to interpretative. The translation of the Septuagint itself began in the 3rd century BCE and was completed by 132 BCE, initially in Alexandria, the Septuagint is the basis for the Old Latin, Slavonic, Syriac, Old Armenian, Old Georgian and Coptic versions of the Christian Old Testament. Some sections of the Septuagint may show Semiticisms, or idioms and phrases based on Semitic languages like Hebrew, other books, such as Daniel and Proverbs, show Greek influence more strongly. The Septuagint may also elucidate pronunciation of pre-Masoretic Hebrew, many nouns are spelled out with Greek vowels in the LXX. However, it is unlikely that all ancient Hebrew sounds had precise Greek equivalents. As the work of translation progressed, the canon of the Greek Bible expanded, the Torah always maintained its pre-eminence as the basis of the canon, but the collection of prophetic writings, based on the Jewish Neviim, had various hagiographical works incorporated into it. In addition, some books were included in the Septuagint
Septuagint
–
Fragment of a Septuagint: A column of
uncial text from
1 Esdras in the
Codex Vaticanus c. 325–350 CE, the basis of Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton's Greek edition and
English translation.
Septuagint
–
Beginning of the Letter of Aristeas to Philocrates. Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 11th century.
17.
African language
–
There are 1,250 to 2,100 and by some counts over 3,000 languages spoken natively in Africa. They are divided into six major language families, Afroasiatic languages are spread throughout the West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Austronesian languages are spoken in Madagascar. Indo-European languages are spoken on the tip of the continent, in the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in the north. Khoe languages are concentrated in the deserts of Namibia and Botswana, Niger–Congo covers West, Central, Southeast and Southern Africa. Nilo-Saharan languages are centered on Sudan and Chad, there are several other small families and language isolates, as well as languages that have yet to be classified. In addition, Africa has a variety of sign languages. Around a hundred languages are used for inter-ethnic communication. Arabic, Somali, Berber, Amharic, Oromo, Swahili, Hausa, Manding, Fulani and Yoruba are spoken by tens of millions of people. If clusters of up to a hundred languages are counted together, twelve are spoken by 75 percent. The high linguistic diversity of many African countries has made language policy an issue in the post-colonial era. In recent years, African countries have become aware of the value of their linguistic inheritance. Montagnard children are exposed to more than one language from birth. Because the montagnard convention of exogamy often leads to marriage outside ones ethnic/linguistic group, bilingual households, Language policies being developed nowadays are mostly aimed at multilingualism. For example, all African languages are considered official languages of the African Union,2006 was declared by the African Union as the Year of African Languages. Most languages spoken in Africa belong to one of three language families, Afroasiatic, Nilo-Saharan, and Niger–Congo. In addition, the languages of Africa languages include several unclassified languages, more broadly, the Afroasiatic family is tentatively grouped within the Nostratic superfamily, and the Nilo-Saharan and Niger-Congo phyla form the Niger-Saharan macrophylum. Afroasiatic languages are spoken throughout North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Asia, there are approximately 375 Afroasiatic languages spoken by over 350 million people. The main subfamilies of Afroasiatic are the Berber languages, Semitic languages, Chadic languages, however, its most extensive sub-branch, the Semitic languages, seems to have developed in the Arabian peninsula
African language
–
Afroasiatic (Semitic-Hamitic)
18.
Targum
–
The targumim were spoken paraphrases, explanations and expansions of the Jewish scriptures that a Rabbi would give in the common language of the listeners, which was then often Aramaic. That had become necessary near the end of the 1st century BCE, as the language was in transition and Hebrew was used for little more than schooling. The noun Targum is derived from the early semitic quadriliteral root trgm, and it occurs in the Hebrew Bible in Ezra 4,7. and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue and interpreted in the Syrian tongue. Besides denoting the translations of the Bible, the term Targum also denote the oral rendering of Bible lections in synagogue, other than the meaning translate the verb Tirgem also means to explain. The word Targum refers to translation and argumentation or explanation, writing down the targum was prohibited, nevertheless, some targumatic writings appeared as early as the middle of the first century CE. They were then not recognized as authoritative by the religious leaders, some subsequent Jewish traditions accepted the written targumim as authoritative, and eventually, it became a matter of debate. Today, only Jews from the republic of Yemen continue to use the targumim liturgically, as translations, the targumim largely reflect midrashic interpretation of the Tanakh from the time they were written and are notable for eschewing anthropomorphisms in favor of allegorical readings. That is true both for those targumim that are fairly literal as well as for those that contain many midrashic expansions, in 1541, Elia Levita wrote and published Sefer Meturgeman, explaining all the Aramaic words found in the Targum. An Aramaic Bible is also used in the Syriac Church, in addition, targumim are used today as sources in text-critical editions of the Bible. In the synagogues of talmudic times, Targum Onkelos was read alternately with the Torah, verse by verse and this custom continues today in Yemenite Jewish synagogues. The Yemenite Jews are the only Jewish community to continue the use of Targum as liturgical text and this too refers to Targum Onkelos on the public Torah reading and to Targum Jonathan on the haftarot from Neviim. Medieval biblical manuscripts of the Tiberian mesorah sometimes contain the Hebrew text interpolated, verse-by-verse and this scribal practice has its roots both in the public reading of the Targum and in the private study requirement. The two official targumim are considered eastern, nevertheless, scholars believe they too originated in the Land of Israel because of a strong linguistic substratum of western Aramaic. Though these targumim were later easternized, the substratum belying their origins still remains, for instance, it serves as a major source in the Torah commentary of Shlomo Yitzhaki, Rashi, and therefor has always been the standard fare for Ashkenazs Jews. For these reasons, Jewish editions of the Tanakh which include commentaries still almost always print the Targum alongside the text, the Talmud explicitly states that no official targumim were composed besides these two on Torah and Neviim alone, and that there is no official targum to Ketuvim. An official targum was in fact unnecessary for Ketuvim because its books played no fixed liturgical role, the Talmud states The Targum of the Pentateuch was composed by Onkelos the proselyte from the mouths of R. Eleazar and R. Joshua. Uzziel thereupon arose and said, It is I who have revealed Thy secrets to mankind. It is fully known to Thee that I have not done this for my own honour or for the honour of my fathers house, but for Thy honour l have done it, that dissension may not increase in Israel
Targum
–
11th century Hebrew Bible with targum, perhaps from
Tunisia, found in
Iraq: part of the
Schøyen Collection.
19.
Aramaic
–
Aramaic is a language or group of languages belonging to the Semitic subfamily of the Afroasiatic language family. More specifically, it is part of the Northwest Semitic group, the Aramaic alphabet was widely adopted for other languages and is ancestral to the Hebrew, Syriac and Arabic alphabets. During its approximately 3000 years of history, Aramaic has served variously as a language of administration of empires, therefore, there is not one singular, static Aramaic language, each time and place rather has had its own variation. The Aramaic languages are now considered endangered, Aram is used as a proper name of several people in the Torah including descendants of Shem, Nahor, and Jacob. Ancient Aram, bordering northern Israel and now called Syria, is considered the epicenter of Aramaic. The language is often considered to have originated within Assyria. Interestingly, the Christian New Testament, for which the constituent texts are written in Koine Greek. The Hellenized Jewish community of Alexandria instead translated Aramaic to the Syrian tongue, a related language, Mlahsô, has recently become extinct. Mandaeans living in the Khuzestan Province of Iran and scattered throughout Iraq and it is quite distinct from any other Aramaic variety. Central Neo-Aramaic consists of Turoyo and the recently extinct Mlahsô, very little remains of Western Aramaic. All these speakers of Modern Western Aramaic are fluent in Arabic, Jewish Palestinian Aramaic and Samaritan Aramaic are preserved in liturgical and literary usage. Each dialect of Aramaic has its own pronunciation, and it would not be feasible here to go into all these properties. Aramaic has a palette of 25 to 40 distinct phonemes. The open vowel is an open near-front unrounded vowel and it usually has a back counterpart, and a front counterpart. There is much correspondence between these vowels between dialects, there is some evidence that Middle Babylonian dialects did not distinguish between the short a and short e. In West Syriac dialects, and possibly Middle Galilean, the long a became the o sound, the open e and back a are often indicated in writing by the use of the letters א alaph or ה he. The close front vowel is the long i and it has a slightly more open counterpart, the long e, as in the final vowel of café. Both of these have shorter counterparts, which tend to be pronounced more open
Aramaic
–
Arāmāyā in Syriac Esṭrangelā script
Aramaic
–
Syriac-Aramaic alphabet
Aramaic
–
Syriac Aramaic inscription at
Syro-Malabar Catholic Major Archbishop's House in
India.
Aramaic
–
Amen in
East Syriac Aramaic
20.
Tefillah
–
Jewish prayer are the prayer recitations and Jewish meditation traditions that form part of the observance of Rabbinic Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, however, if the Talmud mentions tefillah, it refers to the Shemoneh Esreh only. Prayer—as a service of the heart—is in principle a Torah-based commandment and it is not time-dependent and is mandatory for both Jewish men and women. You shall serve God with your whole heart, further additional prayers, Musaf are recited by Orthodox and Conservative congregations on Shabbat, major Jewish holidays, and Rosh Chodesh. A fifth prayer service, Neila, is recited only on Yom Kippur, the language of the prayers, while clearly from the Second Temple period, often employs Biblical idiom. However the differences are compared with the commonalities. Most of the Jewish liturgy is sung or chanted with traditional melodies or trope, synagogues may designate or employ a professional or lay hazzan for the purpose of leading the congregation in prayer, especially on Shabbat or holidays. According to the Talmud Bavli, tefillah is a Biblical command, what service is performed with the heart. Prayer is therefore referred to as Avodah sheba-Lev and it is not time-dependent and is mandatory for both Jewish men and women. Mentioning tefillah, the Talmud always refers to the Amidah, that is also called Shemoneh Esreh, the noted rabbi Maimonides likewise categorizes tefillah as a Biblical command of Written law, as the Babylon Talmud says. The Oral law, according to the Talmud Bavli gives two reasons why there are three basic prayers, According to Rabbi Jose b, Hanina, each of the Patriarchs instituted one prayer, Abraham the morning, Isaac the afternoon and Jacob the evening prayers. This view is supported with Biblical quotes indicating that the Patriarchs prayed at the times mentioned, however, even according to this view, the exact times of when the services are held, and moreover the entire concept of a mussaf service, are still based on the sacrifices. Each service was instituted parallel to an act in the Temple in Jerusalem, the morning Tamid offering, the afternoon Tamid offering. Therefore, the Anshei Knesset HaGedola based their Takkanah that Jewish men were required to pray three times a day from hints to personal habits of the forefathers in the tanach. Additional references in the Hebrew Bible have been interpreted to suggest that King David, moreover, it is generally accepted by Orthodox, Modern Orthodox, and Sephardic religious authorities that women are exempt from the evening prayer. Conservative Judaism regards the halakhic system of daily services as mandatory. According to halakha, all prayers and virtually all communal prayers may be said in any language that the person praying understands. Maimonides relates that until the Babylonian exile, all Jews composed their own prayers, the differences are quite minor compared with the commonalities
Tefillah
–
Morning Prayer, 2005.
Tefillah
–
Jews praying in Jerusalem (Ha
Kotel HaMaaravi), 2010.
Tefillah
–
Rabbi Yisrael Meir HaCohen Kagan —the "
Chofetz Chaim "—at prayer towards the end of his life.
Tefillah
–
An Israeli soldier lays
tefillin at the Western Wall (
Kotel) prior to prayer.
21.
Jacob ben Asher
–
Jacob was an influential Medieval rabbinic authority. He is often referred to as the Baal ha-Turim, after his work in halakha. The work was divided into 4 sections, each called a tur and he was the third son of the Rabbi Asher ben Jehiel, a Rabbi of the Holy Roman Empire who moved to Castile. Besides his father, who was his teacher, Jacob quotes very often in the Turim his elder brother Jehiel, once his brother Judah. According to many, Jacob moved to Castile with his father and was not born there, some say Jacob succeeded his father as the rabbi of the Jewish community of Toledo, while others say his brother Judah ben Asher did. His brothers were rabbis of different communities in Iberia. Arbaah Turim, one of the most important halachic books of all times, sefer ha-Remazim, or Kitzur Piske ha-Rosh, an abridgment of his fathers compendium of the Talmud, in which he condensed his fathers decisions, omitting the casuistry. Rimze Baal ha-Turim, a commentary on the Pentateuch, which is printed in virtually all Jewish editions of the Pentateuch. This concise commentary consists of mystical and symbolical references in the Torah text, often using gematria, perush Al ha-Torah, a less known commentary on the Pentateuch, taken mainly from Nachmanides, but without his cabalistic and philosophical interpretations. Jacob quotes many other commentators, among them Saadia Gaon, Rashi, Joseph Dara, Works of Jacob ben Ascher in the Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke. Retrieved 2010-04-20 Works written by or about Jacob ben Asher at Wikisource
Jacob ben Asher
–
Jacob ben Asher
22.
Shechinah
–
Shekinah, Shechinah, or Schechinah, is the English transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning dwelling or settling and denotes the dwelling or settling of the divine presence of God. This term does not occur in the Bible, and is from rabbinic literature, ‹See Tfd› Shekinah is derived from the Hebrew verb שכן. The Semitic root means to settle, inhabit, or dwell and this abstract noun is not present in the Bible, and is first encountered in rabbinic literature. The word for the Tabernacle, mishkan, is a derivative of the root and is used in the sense of dwelling-place in the Bible, e. g. Psalms 132,5. The concept is similar to that in the Gospel of Matthew 18,20, some Christian theologians have connected the concept of Shekhinah to the Greek term Parousia, presence or arrival, which is used in the New Testament in a similar way for divine presence. The Shekinah is held by some to represent the attributes of the presence of God. The Shekinah is referred to as manifest in the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem throughout Rabbinic literature and it is also reported as being present in the acts of public prayer. So too in the Talmud Sanhedrin 39a, we read, Whenever ten are gathered for prayer, there the Shekinah rests, it also connotes righteous judgment, and personal need. The word shekina does not occur in the Bible, although the similar word shakan, there is also no occurrence of the word in pre-rabbinic literature such as the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is only afterwards in the targums and rabbinic literature that the Hebrew term shekinah, or Aramaic equivalent shekinta, is found, and then becomes extremely common. In the Targum the addition of the noun term Shekinah paraphases Hebrew verb phrases such as Exodus 34,9 let the Lord go among us which Targum paraphrases with Gods shekinah. In the post-temple era usage of the term Shekinah may provide a solution to the problem of God being omnipresent, and it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him. And the spirit of the LORD will come mightily upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, isaiah wrote I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train filled the Temple. Jeremiah implored Do not dishonor the throne of glory and referred to Thy throne of glory, on high from the beginning. The Book of Ezekiel speaks of the glory of the God of Israel was there and this recurrent theme is best known from the writings and songs of the legendary mystic of the 16th century, Rabbi Isaac Luria. For the Shabbat is a queen and a bride and this is why the masters of the Mishna used to go out on the eve of Shabbat to receive her on the road, and used to say, Come, O bride, come, O bride. And one must sing and rejoice at the table in her honor, one must receive the Lady with many lighted candles, many enjoyments, beautiful clothes, and a house embellished with many fine appointments. The tradition of the Shekinah as the Shabbat Bride, the Shabbat Kallah, the 17th blessing of the daily Amidah prayer said in Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform services is Blessed are You, God, who returns His Presence to Zion
Shechinah
–
Christian artistic depiction: "The Shekinah Glory Enters the Tabernacle"; illustration from The Bible and Its Story Taught by One Thousand Picture Lessons; Charles F. Horne and Julius A. Bewer (Ed.), 1908
23.
New Testament
–
The New Testament is the second major part of the Christian biblical canon, the first part being the Old Testament, based on the Hebrew Bible. The New Testament discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christianity, Christians regard both the Old and New Testaments together as sacred scripture. The New Testament has frequently accompanied the spread of Christianity around the world and it reflects and serves as a source for Christian theology and morality. Both extended readings and phrases directly from the New Testament are also incorporated into the various Christian liturgies, the New Testament has influenced religious, philosophical, and political movements in Christendom and left an indelible mark on literature, art, and music. In almost all Christian traditions today, the New Testament consists of 27 books, John A. T. Robinson, Dan Wallace, and William F. Albright dated all the books of the New Testament before 70 AD. Others give a date of 80 AD, or at 96 AD. Over time, some disputed books, such as the Book of Revelation, other works earlier held to be Scripture, such as 1 Clement, the Shepherd of Hermas, and the Diatessaron, were excluded from the New Testament. However, the canon of the New Testament, at least since Late Antiquity, has been almost universally recognized within Christianity. The term new testament, or new covenant first occurs in Jeremiah 31,31, the same Greek phrase for new covenant is found elsewhere in the New Testament. Modern English, like Latin, distinguishes testament and covenant as alternative translations, John Wycliffes 1395 version is a translation of the Latin Vulgate and so follows different terms in Jeremiah and Hebrews, Lo. Days shall come, saith the Lord, and I shall make a new covenant with the house of Israel, for he reproving him saith, Lo. Days come, saith the Lord, when I shall establish a new testament on the house of Israel, use of the term New Testament to describe a collection of first and second-century Christian Greek Scriptures can be traced back to Tertullian. In Against Marcion, written circa 208 AD, he writes of the Divine Word, by the 4th century, the existence—even if not the exact contents—of both an Old and New Testament had been established. Lactantius, a 3rd–4th century Christian author wrote in his early-4th-century Latin Institutiones Divinae and that which preceded the advent and passion of Christ—that is, the law and the prophets—is called the Old, but those things which were written after His resurrection are named the New Testament. The canon of the New Testament is the collection of books that most Christians regard as divinely inspired, several of these writings sought to extend, interpret, and apply apostolic teaching to meet the needs of Christians in a given locality. The book order is the same in the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, the Slavonic, Armenian and Ethiopian traditions have different New Testament book orders. Each of the four gospels in the New Testament narrates the life, death, the word gospel derives from the Old English gōd-spell, meaning good news or glad tidings. The gospel was considered the good news of the coming Kingdom of Messiah, and the redemption through the life and death of Jesus, Gospel is a calque of the Greek word εὐαγγέλιον, euangelion
New Testament
–
Books of the New Testament
New Testament
–
Evangelist Mathäus und der Engel, by
Rembrandt.
New Testament
–
Saint Paul Writing His Epistles, 17th-century painting. Most scholars think Paul actually dictated his letters to a secretary.
New Testament
–
Papyrus Bodmer VIII, at the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, showing 1 and 2 Peter.
24.
Greek language
–
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
Greek language
–
Idealized portrayal of
Homer
Greek language
–
regions where Greek is the official language
Greek language
–
Greek language road sign, A27 Motorway, Greece
25.
Exodus from Egypt
–
The Exodus is the founding, or etiological, myth of Israel, its message is that the Israelites were delivered from slavery by Yahweh and therefore belong to him through the Mosaic covenant. The historicity of the story continues to attract attention. The Exodus has been central to Judaism, many of modern biblical scholars hold the opinion that the Torah, or Pentateuch was shaped in the post-exilic period. In either case, the Book of Exodus is a myth for Israel, Israel was delivered from slavery by Yahweh. The final form of the Pentateuch was based on earlier written and these have left traces in over 150 references throughout the Bible. The earliest traces of earlier traditions are in the books of prophets Amos and Hosea. In contrast, Proto-Isaiah and Micah, both of whom were active in Judah at much the same time, show no similar traces and it thus seems reasonable to conclude the Exodus tradition was important in the northern kingdom in the 8th century BCE, but not in Judah. The exodus is remembered daily in Jewish prayers and celebrated each year at the feast of Passover, despite the Exodus story, a majority of scholars do not believe that the Passover festival originated as described in the biblical story. Jewish tradition has preserved national and personal reminders of this narrative in daily life. Such elements as could be fitted into the 2nd millennium could equally belong to the 1st, so while a few scholars, notably Kenneth Kitchen and James K. According to Exodus 12, 37–38, the Israelites numbered about six hundred men on foot, besides women and children, plus many non-Israelites. Numbers 1,46 gives a more precise total of 603,550 men aged 20 and it is difficult to reconcile the idea of 600,000 Israelite fighting men with the information that the Israelites were afraid of the Philistines and Egyptians. The 600,000, plus wives, children, the elderly, marching ten abreast, and without accounting for livestock, they would have formed a line 150 miles long. The entire Egyptian population in 1250 BCE is estimated to have been around 3 to 3, some have rationalised the numbers into smaller figures, for example reading the Hebrew as 600 families rather than 600,000 men, but all such solutions have their own set of problems. The chronology of the Exodus story likewise underlines its essentially religious rather than historical nature, the Torah lists the places where the Israelites rested. Attempts to date the Exodus to a century have been inconclusive. Jericho was small and poor, almost insignificant, and unfortified here was no sign of a destruction. William F. Albright, the leading biblical archaeologist of the century, proposed a date of around 1250–1200 BCE
Exodus from Egypt
–
"Departure of the Israelites", by
David Roberts, 1829
Exodus from Egypt
–
A Semitic slave. Ancient Egyptian figurine.
Hecht Museum
Exodus from Egypt
–
Possible Exodus routes. The traditional Exodus route is in black; other possible routes are in blue and green.
26.
Maimonides
–
In his time, he was also a preeminent astronomer and physician. Born in Cordova, Almoravid Empire on Passover Eve,1135 or 1138, he worked as a rabbi, physician and he died in Egypt on December 12,1204, whence his body was taken to the lower Galilee and buried in Tiberias. Nonetheless, he was acknowledged as among the foremost rabbinical arbiters and philosophers in Jewish history. His fourteen-volume Mishneh Torah still carries significant canonical authority as a codification of Talmudic law and he is sometimes known as ha Nesher ha Gadol in recognition of his outstanding status as a bona fide exponent of the Oral Torah. Aside from being revered by Jewish historians, Maimonides also figures prominently in the history of Islamic. Influenced by Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and his contemporary Averroes, he in his turn influenced other prominent Arab and Muslim philosophers and he became a prominent philosopher and polymath in both the Jewish and Islamic worlds. His full Hebrew name is Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, whose acronym forms Rambam and his full Arabic name is Abū ʿImrān Mūsā bin Maimūn bin ʿUbaidallāh al-Qurtabī or Mūsā bin Maymūn for short. In Latin, the Hebrew ben becomes the Greek−style suffix -ides to form Moses Maimonides, Maimonides was born in Córdoba during what some scholars consider to be the end of the golden age of Jewish culture in the Iberian Peninsula, after the first centuries of the Moorish rule. At an early age, he developed an interest in sciences and he read those Greek philosophers accessible in Arabic translations, and was deeply immersed in the sciences and learning of Islamic culture. Maimonides was not known as a supporter of mysticism, although a strong type of mysticism has been discerned in his philosophy. He expressed disapproval of poetry, the best of which he declared to be false and this sage, who was revered for his personality as well as for his writings, led a busy life, and wrote many of his works while travelling or in temporary accommodation. Maimonides studied Torah under his father Maimon, who had in turn studied under Rabbi Joseph ibn Migash, a Berber dynasty, the Almohads, conquered Córdoba in 1148, and abolished dhimmi status in some of their territories. The loss of protected status threatened the Jewish and Christian communities with conversion to Islam, death. The historical records of abuses against Jews in the immediate post-1148 period are subject to different interpretations, Maimonidess family, along with most other Jews, chose exile. Some say, though, that it is likely that Maimonides feigned a conversion to Islam before escaping and this forced conversion was ruled legally invalid under Islamic law when brought up by a rival in Egypt. For the next ten years, Maimonides moved about in southern Spain, during this time, he composed his acclaimed commentary on the Mishnah in the years 1166–1168. Following this sojourn in Morocco, together with two sons, he sojourned in the Holy Land, before settling in Fustat, Egypt around 1168, while in Cairo, he studied in a yeshiva attached to a small synagogue. In the Holy Land, he prayed at the Temple Mount and he wrote that this day of visiting the Temple Mount was a day of holiness for him and his descendants
Maimonides
–
18th-century portrait of Maimonides
Maimonides
–
Maimonides's house in
Fes, Morocco
Maimonides
–
Monument in
Cordoba
Maimonides
–
Sculpture of Maimonides in the
U.S. House of Representatives.
27.
Joseph Caro
–
To this end he is often referred to as HaMechaber and as Maran. Karo was born in Toledo, Spain in 1488, in 1492, aged four years old, he was forced to flee Spain with his family and the rest of Spanish Jewry as a result of the Alhambra Decree and subsequently settled in Portugal. After the expulsion of the Jews from Portugal in 1497, the Ottomans invited the Jews to settle within the Ottoman Empire, Karo went with his parents to Nikopolis, then a city in the Ottoman Empire, and spent the rest of his life in the Ottoman Empire. In Nikopol, he received his first instruction from his father and he married, first, Isaac Sabas daughter, and, after her death, the daughter of Hayyim Albalag, both of these men being well-known Talmudists. Between 1520 and 1522 Karo settled at Edirne and he later settled in the city of Safed, Land of Israel, where he arrived about 1535, having en route spent several years at Salonica and Istanbul. After his first wife died at an age, he married the daughter of Rabbi Issac Sabba. For a short while he lived in Nikopol, but decided to make his way to the Land of Israel so that he could immerse himself in its sanctity, passing through Salonica, he met the great kabbalist Joseph Taitazak. He continued his journey to the Holy Land via Egypt and eventually settled in Safed, at Safed he met Jacob Berab and was soon appointed a member of his rabbinical court. Berab exerted great influence upon him, and Karo became a supporter of Berabs plans for the restitution of semicha which had been in abeyance for over 11 centuries. Karo also established a yeshiva where he taught Torah to over 200 students, in fact, by this time, the Rabbinical Court of Safed had become the central rabbinical court in all of Ottoman Syria, and indeed of the diaspora as well. Thus there was not a matter of national or global importance that did not come to the attention. Its rulings were accepted as final and conclusive, and Karos halachic decisions and clarifications were sought by sages from every corner of the diaspora. Rabbi Joseph Karo was also visited in Safed by the great Egyptian scholars of his day, Rabbi David ibn Abi Zimra and he came to be regarded as the leader of the entire generation. The maggid exhorted Karo to sanctify and purify himself, and he revealed to him events that would place in the future. In Shaarei Kedusha, Rabbi Chaim Vital explains that visitation by a maggid is a form of Divine Inspiration. However, in places in Maggid Meisharim it is stated that, I am the Mishna that speaks in your mouth. The Maggid promised him that he would have the merit of settling in the Land of Israel, another promise, that he would merit to die a martyrs death sanctifying Gods Name like Rabbi Shlomo Molcho had merited, did not transpire for an unspecified reason. His reputation during the last thirty years of his life was greater than that of almost any other rabbi since Maimonides, in the East, Karos authority was, if possible, even greater
Joseph Caro
–
Artistic conception of Karo's appearance
Joseph Caro
–
Karo's grave in Safed
Joseph Caro
–
Title page of Karo's
Shulchan Aruch
28.
Apotropaic magic
–
Apotropaic magic is a type of magic intended to turn away harm or evil influences, as in deflecting misfortune or averting the evil eye. Apotropaic observances may also be practiced out of superstition or out of tradition, as in good luck charm, amulets. The Greeks made offerings to the gods, chthonic deities and heroes who grant safety. Apotropaic magical rituals were practiced throughout the ancient Near East and Egypt, fearsome deities were invoked via ritual in order to protect individuals by warding away evil spirits. In ancient Egypt, these rituals were embodied by the deity who personified magic itself. The two gods most frequently invoked in these rituals were the hippopotamusiform fertility goddess, Taweret, objects were often used in these rituals in order to facilitate communication with the gods. One of the most commonly found magical objects, the ivory apotropaic wand and these wands were used to protect expectant mothers and children from malevolent forces, and were adorned with processions of apotropaic solar deities. Likewise, protective amulets bearing the likenesses of gods and goddesses like Taweret were commonly worn, water came to be used frequently in ritual as well, wherein libation vessels in the shape of Taweret were used to pour healing water over an individual. The full figure of the Gorgon holds the apex of the oldest remaining Greek temple where she is flanked by two lionesses, the Gorgon head was mounted on the aegis and shield of Athena. Eyes were often painted to ward off the evil eye, an exaggerated apotropaic eye or a pair of eyes were painted on Greek drinking vessels called kylikes from the 6th century BC. The exaggerated eyes may have prevented evil spirits from entering the mouth while drinking, fishing boats in some parts of the Mediterranean region still have stylised eyes painted on the bows. A Turkish budget airline, Fly Havayolu Taşımacılık A. Ş. had adopted the symbol as a motif for the vertical stabilizer of its aeroplanes. The Yiddish expression, Kain ein horeh is apotropaic in nature, people believed that the doorways and windows of buildings were particularly vulnerable to the entry or passage of evil. On churches and castles, gargoyles or other grotesque faces and figures such as sheela na gigs and hunky punks were carved to frighten away witches, figures may also have been carved at fireplaces or chimneys, in some cases, simple geometric or letter carvings were used for these. When a wooden post was used to support a chimney opening, to discourage witchcraft, rowan wood may have been chosen for the post or mantel. Similarly the grotesque faces carved into pumpkin lanterns at Halloween are meant to avert evil, this season was Samhain, as a time between times, it was believed to be a period when souls of the dead and other dangerous spirits walked the earth. Many European peoples had such associations with the following the harvest in the fall. Mirrors and other objects were believed to deflect the evil eye
Apotropaic magic
–
The ancient blue and white
Nazar boncuğu symbol, a stylised eye thought to avert the
evil eye, appears on this
Turkish Airlines airplane
Apotropaic magic
–
This apotropaic wand shows a procession of protective deities. Such a wand would have been used in rituals associated with birth and were perhaps used to draw a magical circle around the mother and child.
Walters Art Museum,
Baltimore.
Apotropaic magic
–
The Gorgon, flanked by
lionesses and showing her belt clasp of serpents, as depicted at the west
pediment of the 580 B.C.
temple of Artemis in Corfu on display at the
Archaeological Museum of Corfu.
Apotropaic magic
–
Chalcidian black-figured
eye-cup, circa 530 BC.
Staatliche Antikensammlungen.
29.
Amulet
–
AMULET is a series of microprocessors implementing the ARM processor architecture. AMULET1 — Designed in 1990 and first fabricated in 1993 and its estimated performance is approximately 70% of that of a comparably-sized synchronous ARM6 running at 20 MHz. AMULET2 — A re-implementation of AMULET1 first fabricated in 1996, features on-chip memory that can be used either as processor cache or mapped RAM. The APT group estimates AMULET2 to have a similar power dissipation/performance ratio as ARM8, one very notable feature due to the asynchronous design is the drop of power dissipation to 3 μW when not in use. AMULET3 — This was an architecture aiming at higher performance than the previous AMULET processors whilst retaining low power dissipation. Fabricated in 2000, it supported the ARM level 4 instruction set compatibility, performance and power dissipation were approximately the same as an ARM9 fabricated on the same technology. AMULET3 was employed in a commercial prototype DECT device because of its inherent low electromagnetic interference characteristics and this did not go into manufacture for non-technical reasons
Amulet
30.
Demon
–
A demon is a supernatural, mythological and often malevolent being prevalent in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology and folklore. The original Greek word daimon does not carry the negative connotation initially understood by implementation of the Koine δαιμόνιον, the Ancient Greek word δαίμων daimōn denotes a spirit or divine power, much like the Latin genius or numen. Daimōn most likely came from the Greek verb daiesthai, the Greek conception of a daimōn notably appears in the works of Plato, where it describes the divine inspiration of Socrates. To distinguish the classical Greek concept from its later Christian interpretation, the Greek terms do not have any connotations of evil or malevolence. In fact, εὐδαιμονία eudaimonia, means happiness, far into the Byzantine period Christians eyed their cities old pagan statuary as a seat of the demons presence. It was no longer beautiful, it was infested, the term had first acquired its negative connotations in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, which drew on the mythology of ancient Semitic religions. This was then inherited by the Koine text of the New Testament, the Western medieval and neo-medieval conception of a demon derives seamlessly from the ambient popular culture of Late Antiquity. The Hellenistic daemon eventually came to include many Semitic and Near Eastern gods as evaluated by Christianity, the supposed existence of demons remains an important concept in many modern religions and occultist traditions. Demons are still feared largely due to their power to possess living creatures. In the contemporary Western occultist tradition, a demon is a metaphor for certain inner psychological processes. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, In Chaldean mythology the seven evil deities were known as shedu, storm-demons and they were represented as winged bulls, derived from the colossal bulls used as protective jinn of royal palaces. From Chaldea, the term shedu traveled to the Israelites, the writers of the Tanach applied the word as a dialogism to Canaanite deities. There are indications that demons in popular Hebrew mythology were believed to come from the nether world, various diseases and ailments were ascribed to them, particularly those affecting the brain and those of internal nature. Examples include catalepsy, headache, epilepsy and nightmares, there also existed a demon of blindness, Shabriri who rested on uncovered water at night and blinded those who drank from it. Demons supposedly entered the body and caused the disease while overwhelming or seizing the victim, to cure such diseases, it was necessary to draw out the evil demons by certain incantations and talismanic performances, at which the Essenes excelled. In mythology, there were few defences against Babylonian demons, the mythical mace Sharur had the power to slay demons such as Asag, a legendary gallu or edimmu of hideous strength. As referring to the existence or non-existence of shedim there are converse opinions in Judaism, there are practically nil roles assigned to demons in the Jewish Bible. In conclusion, Jews are not obligated to believe in the existence of shedim, the word shedim appears only in two places in the Tanakh
Demon
–
Lilith, by
John Collier, 1892
Demon
–
Buer, the 10th spirit, who teaches "Moral and Natural Philosophy" (from a 1995 Mathers edition. Illustration by Louis Breton from
Dictionnaire Infernal).
Demon
–
The classic
Japanese demon, an ogre-like creature which often has horns.
Demon
–
Human-headed winged bull, otherwise known as a
Lamassu
