Lamentations rabbah, in Hebrew and Judeo-Malayalam translation : manuscript; איכה רבתי עם תרגום מלאיאלאם יהודית
Timespan:
19th century
Date:
1850
Description:
This is a manuscript of the Midrash Lamentations with translation into Judeo-Malayalam, created in Cochin (today known as Kochi, a city on the south-west coast of India on the Laccadive Sea) by the small community of Cochini Jews during the later nineteenth century; Judeo-Malayalam was the only known Dravidian Jewish language at the time and it was the dialect of the Cochini Jews. The text is from Midrash Ekhah rabah; see ibid., ed. Buber (Vilna: Romm Brothers, 1899), p. 24b. The manuscript is written on commercial lined paper (f. 2-12) and paper ruled in lead (f. 13-28). The layout of the manuscript is that Hebrew words are written with the Judeo-Malayalam portions following in a longer fashion to support the text of the Midrash. Since the words are spaced for easy diction and the translation corresponds to each element of Midrash text, the manuscript was likely meant to be used for recitation. Written in a square script with vocalizations immediately followed by Dravidian script on the same lines. Bound in a modern red cloth binding with a label on the spine. For the lines in Aramaic in the Midrash (f. 22v, 23r) there are minuscule Hebrew translations for two difficult words in Aramaic written over the Hebrew ("uve-ḳaiṭa," translated as "ḳayits," summer; and "uve-ḥatsetse," translated as "ḥol," sand).; Midrash to Lamentations with translation into Judeo-Malayalam, created in Cochin (today known as Kochi, a city on the south-west coast of India on the Laccadive Sea) by the small community of Cochini Jews during the later nineteenth century; Judeo-Malayalam was the only known Dravidian Jewish language at the time and it was the dialect of the Cochini Jews. The text is from Midrash Ekhah rabah; see ibid., ed. Buber (Vilna: Romm Brothers, 1899), p. 24b. The manuscript is written on commercial lined paper (f. 2-12) and paper ruled in lead (f. 13-28). The layout of the manuscript is that Hebrew words are written with the Judeo-Malayalam portions following in a longer fashion to support the text of the Midrash. Since the words are spaced for easy diction and the translation corresponds to each element of Midrash text, the manuscript was likely meant to be used for recitation. Written in a square script with vocalizations immediately followed by Dravidian script on the same lines. Bound in a modern red cloth binding with a label on the spine. For the lines in Aramaic in the Midrash (f. 22v, 23r) there are minuscule Hebrew translations for two difficult words in Aramaic written over the Hebrew ("uve-ḳaiṭa," translated as "ḳayits," summer; and "uve-ḥatsetse," translated as "ḥol," sand).
Language:
Hebrew
Provenance:
Formerly owned by David Solomon Sassoon (known as "ha-Nagid" or "the prince"), Mumbai (Catalogue of the Sassoon library, no. 447).; Sold at auction at Sotheby's New York, Hebrew Manuscripts from the Collection of the Late David Solomon Sassoon (4 December 1984), lot 37.; Sold by Kestenbaum and Company, sale 68 (7 April 2016), lot 185.; Formerly owned by David Solomon Sassoon, Mumbai (Catalogue of the Sassoon library, no. 447).; Sassoon, David Solomon, 1880-1942, former owner.
Relation:
The Elis & Ruth Douer Endowed Fund Home Page: http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017.12/1229047
Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Elis & Ruth Douer Endowed Fund.; Kestenbaum auction, April 7, 2016. Lot 185.; In Hebrew and Judeo-Malayalam.
Physical Location:
Library at the Katz Center, Rare Book Room, CAJS Rar Ms 504
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