Nahum Ben Yehuda

The Biblical term parokhet stands for the sacred artifact that serves various cultic functions in the Temple:
1) Decoration – composed of textures, colors and forms.
You shall make a curtain of blue, purple, and crimson wool yarns, and fine twisted linen; it shall have a design of cherubim worked into it (Exodus 26:31)
2) Partition – between different sacred precincts and in front of the Holy Ark.
…the curtain shall serve you as a partition between the Holy and the Holy of Holies (Ibid. 26:33)
Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come at will into the Shrine behind the curtain. (Leviticus 16:2)
3) Screen, and covering for transport of the Ark in the travels of the Tabernacle – to obstruct viewing.
At the breaking of camp, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the screening curtain and cover the Ark of the Pact with it. (Numbers 4:5)
But let not [the Kohathites] go inside and witness the dismantling of the sanctuary, lest they die. (Ibid. 4:19)
4) A kind of altar – towards which sacrificial blood was sprayed.
…and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle of it seven times before the Lord, in front of the curtain. (Leviticus 4:17)

This presentation addresses the interface of material and spiritual culture from both theological and historical aspects. Initially, an overview of the parokhet’s functions will be offered, and subsequently terminology and its etymology will be examined. In addition, particular attention will be given to the textile construction and design of the parokhet.
Scripture and its classical and scholarly exegesis, relevant Talmudic literature and Josephus Flavius’ writings will be analyzed. All of these, in addition to comparisons and contrasts to ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian temples, will offer new insights into this topic.

Selected bibliography
Bauckham R. 1996.  “Josephus’ Account on the Temple in Contra Apionem.” Feldman L. & Levison J. ed. Josephus’ Contra Apionem. Leiden. Brill. Pp. 327-347.
Gertner D. 2006. “The Veil of the Temple in History and Legend”. JETS 49/1 Pp. 97-114.
Haran M. 1978. Temples and Temple Service in Ancient Israel. Oxford
Keener C. 2012. “The Tabernacle and Contextual Worship”. The Asbury Journal 67/1:127-138.
Noam V. 2013. “Were the Sages familiar with the Writings of Josephus Flavius?”. Tarbiẓ 81. Pp. 395-367
Spero S. 2004. “From Tabernacle (Mishkan) and Temple (Mikdash) to Synagogue (Bet Keneset)” Tradition 38:3.
Zawadzki S. 2013, 2006. Garments of the Gods, Vols. 1, 2. Göttingen. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

Abstract
The “Christmas Cave”, a cave in the Qidron Valley near the Dead Sea and Qumran, has yielded a complex collection of plant-derived rope and fabric artifacts. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify DNA of the samples, we estimated the sizes and determined restriction patterns and base sequences of chloroplast genes, primarily rbcL (gene for the large subunit of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase). DNA was successfully extracted from all samples, but was limited to sizes of approximately 200–300 base pairs. As expected, the DNA extracted from the samples was identified as coming primarily from flax (Linum usitatissamum L.), but two samples had a significant fraction, and all samples had at least a trace, of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) DNA. Artifacts from the Christmas Cave were thought to date from Roman times, but it was thought possible that some could be much older. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS)-based 14C dating confirmed that the samples contained representatives from both the Roman and Chalcolithic periods. This paper provides a synthesis of DNA, isotope, and literary analysis to illuminate textile history at the Christmas Cave site.
Highlights
► We analyzed DNA from rope and fabric from the “Christmas Cave” in the Qidron Valley. ► Ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase gene DNA was primarily from Linum usitatissamum L. ► Samples also had variable amounts of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) DNA. ► 14C dating confirmed that samples represented both the Roman and Chalcolithic periods in Israel.
Keywords: Flax; Linen; Hemp; Rope; Fabric; Israel; Judean desert; DNA; rbcL gene; PCR; Polymerase chain reaction; AMS-based; 14C dating

Cashmere goat hair textile in Don Isaac Abravanel's commentary to Exodus
Don Isaac Abravanel – biblical commentator, philosopher, statesman and silk merchant – was born in Lisbon Portugal in 1437. He finished his commentary (1503-1508) in Venice. He addresses the textile materials used in the Tabernacle, including "goats". Abravanel identifies this material as "ultra-soft" luxurious cashmere goat hair. From his detailed description of the goat itself and the manner in which its hair grows, it is apparent that he viewed it himself. This is an historically early mention of this Anatolian-origin animal in Italy. Contemporaneous cashmere husbandry and textile production and consumption of its hair will be examined using a network of zooarchaeology, material finds, and literary sources.

Weaver's implements of Late Antiquity in Roman Palestine: Terminology and Usage

Part I: Rabbinic sources
Nahum Ben-Yehuda
Bar Ilan University
pishtani@gmail.com

Alongside the loom itself, weaver's implements (pins, shuttles, beaters, and battens) are an integral part of the weaving (and fiber preparation) processes. The paper aims at filling some existing gaps in the study of the “word-field” related to weaving implement terminology in Roman Palestine, as attested in the Rabbinic literature (ca. 200-600 CE) as well as in additional contemporaneous literary sources. The study of this domain still lacks an up-to-date methodological approach.

Rabbinic sources provide valuable information on weaving techniques in Roman Judaea/Palestine. The identification and clarification of the terms as they appear in a variety of contexts shed light on both historical weaving techniques as well as the construction of the implements themselves. The presentation will address the rabbinical sources' contexts, as well as the implements and their respective uses. The Babylonian Sages ("Geonim") of the 9th - 11th centuries provide the earliest Talmudic commentary. These commentaries provide descriptions of the implements which indicate their further development and later innovations.
Samples of some of these implements will be displayed at the conference.
The investigation will focus on the attested lexemes for “batten”, “pin”, “beater”, and “shuttle” in Hebrew and/or Aramaic, which actually represent Greek loanwords:
κερκίς, ἄξων, σπάθη
The Greek πηνίον / ἄτρακτος do not appear in this corpus, and are expressed by (etymologically obscure) maṣobayta / ṣivtana and bukhiyar.

"White Linen Priestly Vestments"

This presentation will analyze the literary sources which describe the priestly vestments of the Hebrew Bible, to be worn during service in the Tabernacle, and subsequently in the Jerusalem Temples.

An initial distinction must be made between the vestments of the "simple" priests and those of the "high" priest, as detailed in Exodus. The latter, which are multi-colored and composed of wool, linen, and gold – will not be discussed in this paper. The former, however, are strictly linen.

Already in the Pentateuch itself (Leviticus), additional contexts and varying terminology for these vestments occurs. Subsequently in the Book of Ezekiel, the division between "simple" and "high" priest no longer appears and the only vestments mentioned are linen.

Regarding the hue of the linen itself, the Hebrew Bible does not specify. Only the Egyptian loanword "shesh" which is used in context with some of the garments, infers "white" in its source language. In later rabbinical literature (Mishnah and Sifra), however, the high priest's special Day of Atonement vestments are expressly referred to as "white", in contrast to his regular "gold" vestments.

Raw linen is blonde-ecru colored and can be bleached at varying degrees.

The semiotics of this white hue can be interpreted as indicating the priests' functions of expiator and purifier. These processes are typically related to the color white, as in Isaiah (1:18) "…though your sins are (red) like scarlet, they shall be (white) like snow…".

The following Hebrew Bible pericopes, which mention garments, may be dated to The Ramesside Period (XIX and XX dynasties – 1300-1077 BCE).
“He tethers his donkey to a vine, his mare’s foal to a choice vine. He launders his garment (Hb = lᵊbuš) in wine, his robe (Hb = sūt) in “blood” of grapes.” (Genesis 49:11)
“And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil (Hb = masweh) over his face.” (Exodus 34:33)
The correlation between these pericopes was first identified by Biblical exegete Abraham ibn Ezra (1089 Tudela – 1167 Calahorra).
Parallels to these two Biblical terminologies (hapax legomena) in their Northwest Semitic context have subsequently been identified in various forms in Phoenician and Punic – swt, suwt, and swyh.
Phoenician and Punic inscriptions, some of them originating from the 9th - 4th centuries BCE, from provenances including Sam'al (Yadiya), Carthage, and Byblos mention these terms. Comparison of these contexts will assist in the clarification of these garments and their development throughout the ages.

“Redefiniendo el artesanado textil. Estructuras, instrumental y procesos de producción”

“Redefining textile handcraft. Structures, tools and production processes”

VII PURPUREAE VESTES International Symposium

Granada, Spain, 2-4 October, 2019

Purity, Angelity, and Celestiality

The Semiotics of
Jewish and Christian Liturgical Garments

Naḥum Ben-Yehuda DISTAFF @ International Medieval Congress Leeds 2017

The semiotic aspects of Jewish ritual garments have been addressed by Medieval Bohemian rabbinical scholars, notably Israel Bruna (1400 [Brno, Moravia] –1480 [Prague]) and Judah Loew ben Bezalel (1512 [Poznań, Poland] – Mikulov (Nikolsburg) Moravia – 1609 [Prague]). These will be analysed and compared to contemporary Christian ritual garments and their respective semiotics.

NESAT XIII Liberec
Abstract
Nahum Ben-Yehuda
pishtani@gmail.com

Medieval European Biblical Commentators
and their views on the
Priestly Vestments of the Hebrew Bible

This presentation employs a three-pronged approach: 1) The methodology of gleaning data on historical textiles and dress from literary sources, 2) The use of archaeological and iconographic evidence to corroborate these literary descriptions, and 3) Reconstructions of these garments in accordance with the above considerations.

Background of the research topic:
According to the Hebrew Bible, Levite priests are required to wear specific sacerdotal garments while serving in the Tabernacle and later on in the Jerusalem Temple.
You shall šbṣ (“decorate”) the kūtōneṯ (tunic) of šeš (linen)… (Exodus 28:39)
The priest shall dress in bāḏ (linen) raiment… (Leviticus 6:3)
(Aaron shall) don a holy kᵊṯōneṯ bāḏ (tunic of linen)… (Leviticus 16:4)
Biblical descriptions of the above mentioned garments lack essential details regarding their manufacture, e.g. material, design, color, and pattern. Indeed, several of the key words are obscure and difficult to interpret e.g. šbṣ, šeš and bāḏ. The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, ca. 300 BCE) provides little additional information. Philo (25 BCE – 50 CE) and Josephus Flavius (37 – 100 CE) furnish several new details, as does the rabbinical literature (ca. 70 - 400 CE).
Only in the medieval period major European Jewish biblical commentators and lexicographers defined more significant characteristics of the garments, in differing opinions.
Among them (in chronological order):
Menahem Ibn Saruq  (Tortosa 920 –  Córdoba 970)
Abulwalid Merwan Ibn Janaḥ (Córdoba 990 – Zaragoza 1050)
Shlomo Yitzhaki [Rashi] (Troyes 1040 – 1105)
Abraham Ibn Ezra (Tudela 1089 – Calahorra 1167)
Moses Maimonides (Córdoba 1135 – Egypt 1204)
David Kimḥi (Narbonne 1160 – 1235)
Moses Naḥmanides (Girona 1194 – Land of Israel 1270)
Isaiah ben Elijah di Trani (Italy 1235 – 1280)

We will address the aspects of the priestly vestments, as they are interpreted by medieval commentators. Special emphasis will be placed on medieval dress material-culture and its production techniques – as reflected in iconographic and archaeological finds – which provided inspiration for their respective opinions.
Various permutations of these garments have been reconstructed which will be displayed and explained. As well, fabric swatches bearing special significance will be distributed to participants.

Flax as the “antithesis” of hemp, in halakhic contexts, is intrinsic rather than morphological. Furthermore, the almost identical morphological characteristics  of these two textile materials support/create the circumstances which enable their transposition/confusion or blending.

Medieval European Biblical Commentators
and their views on the
Priestly Vestments of the Hebrew Bible

This presentation employs a three-pronged approach: 1) The methodology of gleaning data on historical textiles and dress from literary sources, 2) The use of archaeological and iconographic evidence to corroborate these literary descriptions, and 3) Reconstructions of these garments in accordance with the above considerations.

Background of the research topic:
According to the Hebrew Bible, Levite priests are required to wear specific sacerdotal garments while serving in the Tabernacle and later on in the Jerusalem Temple.
You shall šbṣ (“decorate”) the kūtōneṯ (tunic) of šeš (linen)… (Exodus 28:39)
The priest shall dress in bāḏ (linen) raiment… (Leviticus 6:3)
(Aaron shall) don a holy kᵊṯōneṯ bāḏ (tunic of linen)… (Leviticus 16:4)
Biblical descriptions of the above mentioned garments lack essential details regarding their manufacture, e.g. material, design, color, and pattern. Indeed, several of the key words are obscure and difficult to interpret e.g. šbṣ, šeš and bāḏ. The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, ca. 300 BCE) provides little additional information. Philo (25 BCE – 50 CE) and Josephus Flavius (37 – 100 CE) furnish several new details, as does the rabbinical literature (ca. 70 - 400 CE).
Only in the medieval period major European Jewish biblical commentators and lexicographers defined more significant characteristics of the garments, in differing opinions.
Among them (in chronological order):
Menahem Ibn Saruq  (Tortosa 920 –  Córdoba 970)
Abulwalid Merwan Ibn Janaḥ (Córdoba 990 – Zaragoza 1050)
Shlomo Yitzhaki [Rashi] (Troyes 1040 – 1105)
Abraham Ibn Ezra (Tudela 1089 – Calahorra 1167)
Moses Maimonides (Córdoba 1135 – Egypt 1204)
David Kimḥi (Narbonne 1160 – 1235)
Moses Naḥmanides (Girona 1194 – Land of Israel 1270)
Isaiah ben Elijah di Trani (Italy 1235 – 1280)

We will address the aspects of the priestly vestments, as they are interpreted by medieval commentators. Special emphasis will be placed on medieval dress material-culture and its production techniques – as reflected in archaeological and iconographic finds – which provided inspiration for their respective opinions.
Various permutations of these garments have been reconstructed which will be displayed and explained. As well, fabric swatches bearing special significance will be distributed to participants.

Selected bibliography:
Catane, Moché. 1994. La vie en France au 11e siècle d'après les commentaires de Rachi. Jérusalem. Gallia.
Demant, Ida. 2009. “Principles for Reconstruction of Costumes and Archaeological Textiles.” In, Carmen Alfaro Michael Tellenbach and Rafael Ferrero (eds.), Textiles y Museología. València. Artes gráficas Soler. Pp. 143-153.
Lombard, Maurice. 2002. Les Textiles musulmans du VIIe au XIIe siècle. Paris, Éditions de l’EHESS.
Saladrigas Cheng, Sílvia & Soler i Jiménez, Joan. 2008. El arte real de perseguir a los sombreros : textos y documentos para la historia del tejido y la indumentaria en las monarquías hispánicas (s. XIV-XVIII). Terrassa. Centre de Documentació i Museu Tèxtil.
Simon, Uriel. 2013. The Ear Discerns Words: Studies in Ibn Ezra’s Exegetical Methodology (in Hebrew). Ramat Gan. Bar Ilan University.
Stauffer, Annmarie. 1995. Textiles of Late Antiquity. New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The principal innovation of this paper  is to examine references to the textile product “dabiqi”  in medieval Jewish rabbinical literature, and to identify its characteristics as reflected therein.  In addition, these sources provide data regarding the locales in which it was familiar, with special focus on Al-Andalus in the 11th -12th centuries.
Jewish Biblical exegetes, as well as legal decisors and philosophers, often employ illustrative examples to clarify their opinions. These will be chosen by them for their familiarity to the intended contemporary and geographically neighboring readership.
Historically, two types of primary sources have been utilized for research of this topic: 1) The writings of medieval Arab geographers and poets, such as Ibn Ghalib, Ibn Ḥawkal, al-Himyari, al-Idrisi, al-Khatib, Abul-Khayr, Ibn Saʿīd, and Yāqūt – many of them quoted by the pioneer researchers in this field R. B. Serjeant and M. Lombard. 2) Documents from the Cairo genizah,  such as commercial contracts and bridal dowries – initially analyzed by S. D. Goitein and subsequently by his disciples Y. Stillman and N. Stillman. A concise summary of data from these sources will also be presented in this paper.

Published 2016: Purpureae Vestes V: Textiles, Basketry and Dyes in the Ancient Mediterranean World. Universitat De València.

Proceedings of the Vth International Symposium on Textiles and Dyes in the Ancient Mediterranean World
(Montserrat, 19-22 March, 2014)

El textil de Iberia en la Edad Media
Presentación de esta recopilación que ofrece un análisis completo del textil ibérico, basado en documentos históricos, en aspectos de la industria y comercio, vestuario de la corte como símbolos de poder, el textil en las capas sociales bajas y en el judaísmo y el islam. A cargo de dos de los autores del libro: María Barrigón, jefa de servicio del Departamento de Conservación de Patrimonio Nacional en el Palacio Real de Madrid (España), donde ejerce como conservadora de las colecciones de textiles antiguos (Edad Media-siglo XVII) y Nahum Ben Yehuda, investigador en la sección de Estudios de la Tierra de Israel, de la Universidad de Bar Ilán y miembro del Instituto de Textik, Manchester, Inglaterra.

https://cultura.cervantes.es/telaviv/es/el-textil-de-iberia-en-la-edad-media/162841