The Sanctuary and Holy
Vessels in
Samaritan Art1
James D. Purvis
Boston University
I have had occasion in two
recent studies to comment on depictions of the tabernacle and holy vessels in
Samaritan art.2 The first publication, in
the twentieth anniversary edition of Aleph-Beth (1992), was a
descriptive study of two tabernacle drawings in the Boston University library,
one by the Samaritan high priest Jacob ben Aaron (1840-1916), and the other by
his grandson, Jacob ben Uzzi (1899-1987).(3) This article also included
observations on two previously published tabernacle drawings: a sister-drawing
by Jacob ben Aaron,4 and
a chart by Abisha ben Pinhas (1881-196l).(5) The second publication (1994) was
entitled "The Tabernacle in Samaritan Iconography and Thought".6
The purpose of this paper is to summarize what now
appear to be the significant conclusions of these studies and to offer
additional observations. I have summarized these conclusions and observations
in a set of six remarks. The first three remarks concern the tabernacle
drawings and Samaritan art.
The Tabernacle in Samaritan Art: Three Conclusions
Firstly, the Samaritan
drawings of the tabernacle and vessels are representative of an historic
artistic tradition. Although the particular drawings I examined are from the
early twentieth century, older drawings are known from as early as the seventh
century.7 Also belonging to the same iconographic tradition are
drawings of the tabernacle and vessels found on metallic torah-cases and
plaques and on cloth synagogue hangings.8 It was clearly stated in
the initial publication of one of Jacob ben Aaron's drawings that his was a
copy of a drawing found on the case of the holy scroll in Nablus.9 That
this was a fact is confirmed by a pen and ink sketch of the drawing on the
Torah case made by the Rev. Samuel Manning in 1873.(10) Similar
illustrations on synagogue hangings date mostly from the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries, but one is known from as early as the sixteenth (11) In addition, there are vessel-motifs that
appear on Samaritan lamps and mosaic synagogue floors as early as Byzantine
times.12
Secondly, these drawings constitute virtually the
only expression of graphic, representational art in the history of the
Samaritan community. There is no other developed artistic tradition among the
Samaritans apaart from the drawings of the tabernacle and vessels. There are,
for example, no illuminations in Samaritan manuscripts, although text-columns
are sometimes manipulated to create ornamental designs. Marriage contracts
contain only geometric or stylized floral decorations, unlike the developed
artistic tradition of Jewish ketuboth.13 As A. D. Crown has noted
(surprisingly without reference to the tabernacle drawings), "there are no
traditional Samaritan artists. Samaritan art is restricted to the preparation
of manuscripts in artistic forms, and early motifs on artifacts, coins, lamps,
synagogue mosaics and sarcophagi". 14 To these few examples it is
necessary to add, drawings of the tabernacle and vessels.
As an example of' the manipulation of text-columns
to create designs, Crown cites a Samaritan Torah scroll in the University of
Sydney library with suggestive representations of the ark, mercy seat, table of
show-bread, menorah and altar.15 The scribe was Jacob ben Ozzi, the
same Jacob ben Uzzi (ben Ezzi in Samaritan pronunciation) who rendered the
tabernacle drawing we published in Aleph-Beth 20(1992). Therefore, Crown's statement that there
are no traditional Samaritan artists needs to be modified: Jacob ben Uzzi was a
Samaritan and an artist, whether through pen and ink sketches or through the
manipulation of text-columns. And certainly a point which needs to be stressed
is that the traditional
subject of
Samaritan art was the tabernacle and vessels.
Thirdly, the drawings present a distinctively Samaritan view of the sanctuary and vessels. These drawings are Samaritan not simply because they were prepared by Samaritans, but because they present, graphically, the Samaritan claims concerning the sanctuary. They were not executed to give, simply, a picture of the tabernacle, but to make a statement about that shrine according to the Samaritan view of its significance and history. I have argued that it is this fact Which explains why these drawings were acceptable in a religious community which was otherwise extremely restrictive in what it allowed in iconography.
It is significant that the three artists of the
drawings we have investigated were all, at one time, high priests of the
community.16 The drawings served a didactic function appropriate to
the educational role of the priesthood: they instructed Samaritan laity in the
distinctive Samaritan views of the sanctuary.
In what specific ways are these drawings
distinctively Samaritan? How do they set forth typical Samaritan
teachings? I note three features.
The legend on the curtain separating the holy place
from the holy of holies.
The two sections of the tent are separated by a
curtain with a legend giving the names of eight priests (listed in four pairs)
called "the keepers of the holy tabernacle": Aaron and Eleazar,
Ithamar and Pinhas, Abisha and Shashai, Bahki and Uzzi. These were the high
priests who, according to the Samaritan view, were the keepers of the shrine
from its inception until the tragic time of the schism of Eli, when the
tabernacle was said to have been hidden away in a cave on Mt Gerizim because of
God's displeasure. This is made clear in the (GasterRobertson) sister-drawing
by Jacob ben Aaron, who added to the priest-list the words: "And in the
days of Uzzi the Lord hid the tabernacle; may the Lord restore it to us".
A similar statement appears in the curtain-text in the drawing by Abisha ben
Pinhas. This is the same affirmation which is found in the Samaritan chronicles
and priest-lists under the account of the pontificate of Uzzi.17
What is affirmed in the curtain-text is that the
sanctuary which is depicted is the tent shrine, which had a functional history
only during the pontificates of these priests, from Aaron to Uzzi. This is the
sanctuary, with its vessels, whose design was given by God to Moses, which was
constructed in the wilderness, and which was set up on Mt Gerizim by Joshua.
This is the sanctuary which was hidden away at the end of the pontificate of
Uzzi, and which will remain hidden until its location is revealed by the
eschatological agent who will restore the age of divine favor through its
restoration. This is the one and true sanctuary of Israel and these are its
vessels.
It is known that the high priest Jacob ben Aaron
prepared one of his tabernacle drawings for a non-Samaritan audience-the
drawing now in the W. E. Barton
collection of the Boston University library, first published by Barton in 1907
to accompany an article by priest Jacob on Samaritan eschatology 18 Barton had
only two comments on the drawing: that it was a copy of the illustration
"on the case of the holy scroll", and that the picture depicted
"symbols of the temple furniture to be restored by the messiah". This
indicates that Jacob gave Barton the drawing for the specific purpose of
illustrating Samaritan teaching on the role of the Taheb (the title of the
Samaritan messiah) in the restoration of the sanctuary at the end-of-days.19
The Samaritan tabernacle drawings are, then, of the
historic, hidden, and eschatological sanctuary of Israel-the Gerizim shrine,
which was and will be and is even now hidden away, with all its vessels great
and small.
A second point is to be noted: the depictions of the rods
of Moses and
Aaron as cultic relics and the inclusion of the jar
of manna. The
modern
Samaritan tabernacle drawings agree in placing the
budding rods of Moses and Aaron within the holy of holies, on each side 6f the
ark.20 The placement of the rod of
Aaron agrees with Numbers 17:25 (17:10 in English): "And the Lord said to
Moses, 'Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept as a sign
for the rebels, that you may make an end of their murmurings against me, lest
they die.' Thus did Moses; as the Lord commanded him, so he did".21 Why
the inclusion also in these drawings of the staff of Moses? Probably because in
the biblical story, the placing of Aaron's rod before the ark signified his
special authority as priest against any usurpers of his prerogatives.22 Similarly,
the inclusion of the rod of Moses in the Samaritan depictions testifies to the
special authority of Moses. Moses is the only prophet recognized by the
Samaritans, one like whom there will never be another. He was also the model of
their eschatological figure, the Taheb.
A related feature (in the drawings by Jacob ben Aaron)
is the placement of the jar of Manna in the holy place, immediately before
the ark. This agrees with Exodus 16: 33-34: "And Moses said to Aaron,
'Take ajar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord,
to be kept throughout your generations.' As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron
placed it before the testimony, to be kept".23
The placement of the rod of Moses and the pot of
manna in conspicuous places in Jacob ben Aaron's drawings has eschatological
significance. According to the Samaritans, the legitimacy of the Taheb will be attested by his
being in possession of Moses' rod and a portion of the manna when he comes to
undertake the work of the uncovering the hidden sanctuary.24
A third point of remark concerns the fire on the
altar. Not only are the tent and the vessels hidden, but the fire is as
well. This is, I maintain, the reason for the depiction of fire on the altar in
the drawings: as the tabernacle and holy vessels have been hidden away, so too
has the sacred altar-fire. We may compare
here Jewish traditions on the hiding of the vessels. In Jewish
tradition, the hiding of the tent, ark, and sacred vessels is most frequently attributed
to Jeremiah, sometimes involving Baruch. A distinct though related tradition
concerns the hiding of the sacred fire of the altar by the priests of the
Jerusalem temple. For example, 2 Macc 1:18-35 reports the secreting away of the sacred fire by
the priests in a dry cistern, the finding of that fire (in a naphtha-like
substance) by the descendants of those priests, and the restoration of the
ancient fire to the second temple by order of Nehemiah. (It is Nehemiah and not
Zerubbabel who is credited in this particular story with building the second
temple and altar.)
Why this interest in the fire as well as the
vessels? In the case of the Jewish tradition, what is stressed in the story is
the finding of that fire and its use in the inaugural service of the second
temple. It was that fire which assured the legitimate continuity between the
cultus of Solomon and that of Nehemiah. In contrast to the story of the hidden
fife, the Jewish stories of the hidden vessels stress that they have not yet
been found, and will not be until the eschaton, described as that blessed future time when
"God gathers his people together and shows his mercy" (2 Macc 2:7),
or, as the time Jerusalem will be "restored forever" (2 Bar 6:9), or,
as the time of the "coming of the beloved one" (4 Bar 3:11).
The Samaritan traditions of the hidden tabernacle
vessels have both similarities to and differences from the Jewish traditions of
the hidden temple vessels, the articulation of which need not detain us here.
But what should be noted concerning the hiding and restoration of the holy fire, is that, as in the Jewish
tradition, so too in the Samaritan, what is stressed is the authenticity of the latter-day sanctuary
and its continuity
with the
ancient cultus. 25
The tabernacle occupied, then, a central place in Samaritan theology as the once and future, true sanctuary of Israel-against Jewish claims of the sanctity of Jerusalem and its temple. For a generally aniconic religion, pictures of the tabernacle and vessels were accepted as proper vehicles of theological expression. Through these, the Samaritans were able to represent not only their own peculiar view of the sanctuary, but the major tenets of their religion as well. These included the significance of the law (the tablets of which were contained in the ark of testimony), Moses as the one true prophet of Israel, Aaron and his legitimate successors as the authentic priesthood, and the Mt Gerizim tabernacle as the authentic holy place, the sacred center.
Samaritan Representations
of the Vessels: Three Observations
My next three remarks relate specifically to the
representation of the vessels by Samaritan artists.
Firstly. some Samaritan representations of the
vessels-what they were, how they looked-differ from traditional Jewish views. I
note as one example the following case: Jacob ben Aaron depicts two pairs of
double-handled vases or pots, labeled îæø÷ and îæìâ (mizraq and mazleg), showing one pair on each
side of the altar. These vessels are mentioned in Exodus 38:3 as among a
category of implements belonging to the altar, but are usually translated
"basins and forks":
He made all the utensils of the altar, the pots,
the shovels, the
basins, the forks, and the firepans; all its utensils he made of bronze
(NRSV).
The mizraq is mentioned frequently in biblical Hebrew as a bowl
or basin. But the mazleg (or mizlagah)
is usually
identified as a fork or fleshhook, (as, for example, 1 Sam 2:13-14, where a
three-pronged fork appears to be indicated).26
Some Samaritan depictions are in agreement with
Jewish traditions. For example, as previously noted, the Rev. Samuel Manning
published in the late nineteenth century a pen-sketch of the drawing of the
tabernacle and vessels depicted on the metal Torah case of the Abisha scroll.
In his comments, Manning noted that the location of the door to the tent of
meeting, on the right-hand side rather than in the center, was "as the
Talmud describes it", and that the peculiar shape of the curved or bent
trumpet "may throw some light upon a question much debated amongst students
of the Talmud".27
Scholars are often hopeful that new information
will resolve or clarify old problems. Whether this might be the case with the
Samaritan drawings of the vessels remains to be seen. I do note, however, the
following Samaritan depictions which may be compared positively with some
ancient Jewish traditions.
The Base of the Altar. At the base of the altar is
a rounded mound identified in Jacob ben Aaron's drawing as 'aphar, "dust". This may
imply that the altar rested on a mound of dirt, or it may allude to the ashes
which had accumulated there. Here it is worth considering a statement which
appears in Josephus' description of the altar (Antiquities III 149): "The ground
was in fact the receptacle for all burning fuel that fell from the brazier, the
base not extending beneath the whole of its surface".
The Priest's Vestment. The vestment is shown with
sleeves in Jacob ben Uzzi's drawing. It is my opinion that the stylized
depiction in Jacob ben Aaron's drawings also contains sleeves. (A similar
depiction is found in the older, seventh century drawing.) Interestingly,
sleeves are not mentioned in the description of the priestly garments in Exodus
28:143, but they are in Josephus (Antiquities m 162).28
The Containers on the Table of Showbread. The variety of types of
containers on the table in the Samaritan drawings suggests that not all were
regarded as having been used for the same purpose, for bread. One may compare
here the tradition preserved in Josephus (Antiquities III 143, 256), that two golden cups filled with
frankincense were placed on the table above the bread. Two small cups appear
also on the table of showbread depicted on the Arch of Titus.29
In some cases, Samaritan depictions may reflect
features of the ancient cultus which the Samaritans regarded as especially
important. I have suggested that the inclusion of two trumpets among the
instruments in the outer court may reflect a special importance attributed to
them:
The Lord said to Moses, "Make two silver
trumpets; of hammered work you shall make them; and you shall use them for
summoning the congregation... The trumpets shall be to you for a perpetual
statute throughout your generations." (Numbers 10:1-2, 8).
According to a Samaritan tradition preserved in the
Arabic Book of Joshua, the continual burnt-offering of the morning was
offered before sunrise. As soon as the high priest had completed the sacrifice,
he blew the trumpet from the summit of Mt Gerizim. The trumpet blast was
continued by the other priests so that all the Israelites would know that it had been offered and that
the time had come to arise and pray .(30)
Could this literary tradition preserve a memory of
actual practice in the ancient Gerizim cultus?-a practice whose importance may
also be reflected in the artistic tradition of the trumpets among the
tabernacle vessels? I note a similarity in what is reported by Ben Sira of
Jewish worship during the time of Simon the Just. In his ode to Simon, Ben Sira
related that, following the morning sacrifices in the Jerusalem temple,
... the sons of Aaron shouted, they sounded the
trumpets of hammered work, they made a great noise to be heard for remembrance
before the Most High. Then all the people together made haste and fell to the
ground upon their faces to worship their Lord... and the people besought the
Lord Most High in prayer before him who is merciful (Sirach 50:16-19).
The following points summarize the findings on the
issues under
consideration:
1. The Samaritan drawings of the tabernacle and vessels were part of an historic, artistic tradition in Samaritan culture.
2. That tradition constituted virtually the only
expression of graphic,
representational art in the history of the
community.
3. These drawings were distinctively Samaritan in
the theological views they expressed. (This explains why they were acceptable
for a culture which was otherwise restrictive in its iconography.)
4. Samaritan drawings sometimes depict the vessels
in ways differing from traditional Jewish interpretations.
5. Samaritan drawings sometimes depict the vessels
in ways agreeing with Jewish traditions.
6. The Samaritan drawings may, in some cases,
reflect features of the ancient cultus which the Samaritans regarded as
especially important.
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1. This paper was presented under the title, "The
Sanctuary Vessels in Samaritan Tradition," Societe d'Etudes Samaritaines, Congresso,
Milano, 1996.
2 .I use the term vessels in this study in a broad sense, to refer, collectively, to all the sacred furnishings of the tabernacle, not simply to utensils or cultic instruments. It will be noted that the Hebrew Bible sometimes uses kelim in this broad way, as well as in a more restrictive or narrow usage. See the Chronicler's phrase for the temple furnishings, collectively, "all the vessels of the house of God, great and small" (2 Chr 36:18). On the vessels in Jewish tradition see 1. Kalimi and J. D. Purvis, "King Jehoiachin and the Vessels of the Lord's House in Biblical Literature" Catholic Biblical Quarterly 56 (1994) 449457, esp. 453.
3. "Two Samaritan Drawings of the Tabernacle in
the Boston University Library"
Aleph-Beth:
Hadshot Shomronim 20 (Samaritan Research Center 1992)105-120. Of these two drawings,
a photograph of that by Jacob ben Aaron had been published (without descriptive
study) by W. E. Barton in 1907. See Jacob ben Aaron, "The Messianic Hope
of the Samaritans" trans. from the Arabic by Abdullah ben Kori, edited with an introduction by William
Eleazar Barton The Open Court (1907) 272-296.
4. A photograph was originally published by Moses
Gaster, The Samaritans: Their History, Doctrines and Literature Schweich
Lectures 1923 (Oxford University Press 1925) p1. 4 (no descriptive text). It is
described (no photograph) in Edward Robertson, Catalogue of the Samaritan
Manuscripts in the John Rylanas Library II. The Gaster Manuscripts (Manchester:
John Rylands Library 1962) ms. no.330, cols.
4.28 251-252. Neither Gaster nor
Robertson identified the artist as Jacob ben Aaron, but of this there can be no
doubt.
5.A photograph and description appear in Robertson,
The Gaster Manuscripts col.
252, ms. no. 330A plate 11. See also, R. Pummer, The
Samaritans Iconography of
Religions §23 fasc. 5 (Leiden 1987) 31 (text), p1.
VIlla.
6 ."The Tabernacle in Samaritan Iconography
and Thought" in L. M. Hopfe (ed.),
Uncovering Ancient Stones: Essays in Memory of H.
Neil Richardson (El senbrauns
1994) 223-236.
7 .See Pummer, Samaritans 31. A report (with
photograph) of the seventh century
parchment drawing is published in Aleph-Beth 248
(15111/1979)1.
8. In my verbal presentation I also included
depictions on torah-mantles. However, fellow Congress participant Dr Bracha
Yaniv, art historian and specialist on Samaritan ceremonial objects, informs me
that this particular medium has not been used for tabernacle depictions.
9. See the comment by W. E. Barton on ben Aaron's
drawing in the latter's article "The Messianic Hope of the
Samaritans".
10. Samuel Manning, Those
Holy Hills: Palestine Illustrated by Pen and Pencil (Religious Tract
Society n. d.) 154
11 .R. Pummer,
"Samaritan Material Remains and Archaeology" in A. D. Crown (ed.), The
Samaritans (Tubingen 1989)156.
12 .Pummer, "Samaritan Material Remains" 142-143
(mosaics), 161-162 (lamps);
V. Sussman, "Samaritan Lamps of the
Third-Fourth Centuries AD," Israel
Exploration Journal 28 (1978) 238.
13 .R. Pummer, Samaritan Marriage Contracts and
Deeds of Divorce (Wiesbaden 1993) I 21.
14 .A. D. Crown, "Art of the Samaritans"
in A. D. Crown, R. Pummer, A. Tal (eds), Companion to Samaritan Studies (Tubing
1993) 29.
15 .Crown, "Art"
30
16 .The dates of their pontificates were as
follows: Jacob ben Aaron (1840-1916),
high priest 1874-1916; Abisha ben Pinhas (1881-1961),
high priest 1943-1961;
Jacob ben Uzzi (1899-1987), high priest 1984-1987.
17 .For bibliographical references, see Purvis,
"The Tabernacle" 233-234.
18 . See the essay by Jacob, edited by Barton,
"The Messianic Hope of the Samaritans." Priest Jacob was a prolific
writer, being not only a copyist of manuscripts but also the author of essays
on various aspects of Samaritan culture, many of which were published in
English translation by Barton. Some of these were polemical tracts setting
forth the claims of the Samaritans against the Jews, but many were informative
essays for the benefit of those who wished to know more about the sect. These
articles were reprinted in booklet form and sent to Jacob for sale to tourists.
Jacob reported that of the various off-prints, the one on Samaritan eschatology
was the most popular. See James D. Purvis, "Studies on Samaritan Materials
in the W. E. Barton Collection in the Boston University Library" in P.
Peli (ed.), Proceedings of the Fifth World Congress of Jewish Studies,
Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 3-11 August 1969 vol.1 (Jerusalem n. d.)
l3~l43, 168; idem, "The W. E. Barton Collection in the Boston University
Library, Special Collections Division" Bulletin of the American Schools
of Oriental Research 248 (1982) 76.
19 .For Samaritan traditions on the Taheb and
the restoration of the ancient tabernacle, see the texts from the fourth to the
eighteenth centuries gathered together by Ferdinand Dexinger, "Der Taheb:
Ein 'messianischer' Heilsbringer
der Samaritaner" Kairos: Zeitschrift fur Religionswissenschaft und
Theologie n. f. 27 (1985)1-172. Note especially the chart on page 27. (This
work is also published as a monograph under the same title, as Kairos Religionswissenschaftliche
Studien 3 [Salzburg 1986].) Josephus records that the Roman procurator Pontius
Pilatus was removed from office after an unwarranted attack upon a large
Samaritan crowd which had gathered to ascend Mt Gerizim to find the lost
tabernacle vessels (having been deluded by a pretender to the role of the
eschatological prophet). See Antiquities
XVIII 85-88.
20 .Curiously this is not true of the seventh
century drawing, where only one budding rod appears, and that in the courtyard.
21 .The Jewish scriptures do not indicate that the
rod of Aaron was subsequently placed
in either the Shiloh or the Jerusalem temples as a
relic or sacred souvenir, although
such may have been the case. See the interesting
study by Karel van der Toorn, "Did
Jeremiah See Aaron's Staff?" Journalfor the
Study of the Old Testament 43 (1989) 83-
94, in which it is argued that the budding almond
seen by Jeremiah (Jer 1:11-12) was
a cult-relic purported to be the rod of Aaron.
22 See the story in Numbers 17:16-26
(English=17:l-1l).
23 Curiously the New Testament Letter to the
Hebrews 9:4 contains a tradition that
the budding rod of Aaron and the jar of Manna were
within the holy of holies, in fact,
within the ark itself (along with the tablets of
the covenant). The same text also
places the golden altar of incense within the holy
of holies.
24 See Dexinger, "Der Taheb" 27.
25 See Isaac Kalimi and James Purvis,
"The Hiding of the Temple Vessels in Jewish and Samaritan Literature"
Catholic Biblical Quarterly 56 (1994) 679-685.
26 Dr Abraham Tal informs me that the Samaritan
Targum also uses an Aramaic term signifying "fork" for the Hebrew mizraq.
27 Manning, Those Holy Hills 156-159.
28. see the comment by H St J Thackeray, that
outside Josephus, sleeves of the priest’s coat are not mentioned in Jewish
tradition. Josephus IV : Jewish Antiquities books I-IV Loeb Classical Library
242 (Cambridge 1930) 393.
29. See comments by Thackeray, Josephus Iv 383,
441l.
30. See Juynboll, Chronicon Samaritanum 38-39
(Arabic text) and 174 (Latin translation). An English translation is found in
John Bowman, Samaritan Documents relating to their History, Religion and
L£fe ~ittsburgh 1977) 73. Bowman stated that he knew of no parallel
practice in the Jerusalem temple, but note the tradition we cite from Ben Sira.