Torah Scribe, Jaffa

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Torah Scribe, Jaffa

1971

Israeli, born 1930

Writing and the art of the book are paramount in the culture of the Middle East. Religious texts, illustrated stories and histories, laws and ideas are all entrusted to those trained as scribes, a profession of elevated status in both Muslim and Jewish communities.

This photograph featuring the scribe- whose angular contortion mirrors the geometry of the letters he forms-is less about the writer than the writing itself. Half of the frame is filled with an unrolled portion of a Torah (Pentateuch) scroll. Nearly illegible, the text remains clear enough to be easily identified as words, though the actual stories or laws are undecipherable.

Gelatin Silver Print

6 5/16 x 7 7/8 in. (16 x 20 cm)

Gift of Dr. Farel Rosenberg

84.221.8

Not currently on view

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