1 - The Evolution of Synagogue Textiles in Ancient and Medieval Times

Summary

The evolution of ceremonial synagogue textiles is closely related to that of the Torah scroll, particularly the way in which it was wrapped and the space in which it was stored. This process of evolution began during the Second Temple period and came to an end in the early fifth century, when the method of writing Torah scrolls was set; it was then that the tradition of writing the Pentateuch on parchment in the form of a scroll became accepted as the method of writing Torah scrolls.

The manner in which a Torah scroll was written and rolled, as described in talmudic literature, followed the practice for Greek and Latin works. It was written on several sheets of parchment sewn together, and spaces were left at the beginning and end of the scroll so that it could be rolled up around a stave (Latin umbilicus; Hebrew amud), whose thick upper section protruded from the scroll. Latin sources note that sometimes there were two staves, one at the beginning of the scroll and the other at the end (fig. 1). This was also true of Hebrew scrolls: short works were rolled around a single stave, while longer ones had two: ‘Other books are rolled up from the beginning to the end, but the Torah scroll closes at the middle, there being a cylinder at each end.’

While the Hebrew sources deal at length with matters concerning the writing of a Torah scroll, there is little reference to the ceremonial artefacts used to wrap and store it. The wrapping of a Torah scroll is mentioned in the Talmud and the Mishnah in a variety of contexts, including the different levels of sanctity. These sources, together with archaeological finds from antiquity, provide the basis for a reconstruction of how the Torah scroll was wrapped in the ancient period.

Wrapping and Storing the Torah Scroll

The Mapah (Wrapper)

The Torah scroll was wrapped in a cloth sheet called the mapah (pl. mapot; from Latin mappa, ‘napkin’). Towards the end of the Second Temple period, the term became part of the vernacular in the Land of Israel to designate certain articles made of cloth.