The Regensburg Pentateuch
Pentateuch, Five Scrolls, Haftarot, Job, Jeremiah 2:29, 8:12; 9:24; 10:15; Masorah magna and parva
Handwritten on parchment; brown ink, tempera and gold leaf; square Ashkenazic script
L: 24.5; W: 18.5 cm
B05.0009
180/052
One of the earliest known illuminated Ashkenazi Pentateuchs, this manuscript was created for Gad ben Peter Ha-Levi, head of the Jewish community of Regensburg. Some of its four full-page biblical scenes incorporate midrashic interpretations, such as the Satan telling Sarah that Isaac has been sacrificed, and it also features a double-page depiction of Temple vessels. Representations of these vessels are rarely found in Ashkenazi manuscripts, although they often appear in Sephardi Hebrew Bibles as visual expressions of the Jewish people’s hope for redemption.
Roitman, Adolfo, Envisioning the Temple: Scrolls, Stones and Symbols, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel, 2003, English / Hebrew
The Jewish World 365 Days, from the Collections of The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, USA, 2004, English
The Israel Museum, Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2005
Beauty and Sanctity: the Israel Museum at 40. A Series of Exhibitions Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Zalmona, Yigal, 2006
3x50@50: IMJ Collection Highlights, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 2015
Highlights of the Judaica and Jewish Ethnography Collections Online, Israel Museum, Jerusalem
The Beauty of Sanctity: Masterworks from Every Age, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Upper Israeli, Main building, 29/03/2005 - 12/11/2005
