Žiznʹ v srednevekovom Chorasane : Geniza iz Nacionalʹnoj biblioteki Izrailja : katalog vystavki v Gosudarstvennom Ermitaže 10 sentjabrja 2019 goda-19 janvarja 2020 goda
| Parallelsachtitel: |
Life in medieval Khorasan : a Genizah from the National Library of Israel : catalogue of the exhibition in the State Hermitage Museum, 10 September 2019-19 January 2020. Жизнь в средневековом Хорасане : гениза из Национальной библиотеки Израиля : каталог выставки в Государственном Ермитаже 10 сентября 2019 года-19 января 2020 года. |
|---|---|
| Weitere Verfasser: |
Piotrovskij, Michail Borisovič 1944-
, [HerausgeberIn]
Pritula, Anton Dmitrievič 1972- , [ÜbersetzerIn] Hicks, David , [ÜbersetzerIn] |
| Ort/Verlag/Jahr: |
Sankt-Peterburg :
Izdatelʹstvo Gosudarstvennogo Ermitaža ;
2019.
|
| Umfang/Format: |
134 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm. |
| Schlagworte: | |
Inhaltsangabe:
- The display is devoted primarily to what is known as the Afghan Geniza, a collection of unique documents from the town of Bāmiyān that was acquired a few years ago by the National Library of Israel. Created in the 11th–13th centuries, they bear witness to the fact that in that period the historical geographical region of Khorasan, where Bāmiyān was located, was inhabited by people who spoke a variety of languages and followed several different religions. There were Persian-speaking Jews, Persian- and Turkic-speaking Muslims and probably even Christians and Zoroastrians. The greater portion of the texts, nevertheless, are connected with the life of the Jewish community in Khorasan and therefore their discovery is recognized as one of the most important finds of ancient Jewish manuscripts since the time of the unearthing of the Dead Sea Scrolls (1947–56). In the 11th–13th centuries, the historical geographical region of Khorasan occupied the territory of present-day north-eastern Iran, western Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Over the period of almost three centuries spanned by the texts of the Afghan Geniza, the region with high cultural and economic potential was ruled by members of several dynasties from the Samanids (819–1005), under whom an incredible ascent of Iranian culture and learning took place there, to the Seljuk Turks (1038–1194) and the Khwarazmians (1177–1231). The documents include a variety of literary works both Jewish and Muslim, part of the archive of a Jewish family and another, Muslim administrative archive, but it not impossible that they came from other collections. Fragments from a commentary in a Jewish Bible, a Book of Sabbath Prayers, and even from a Mishnah – an ancient rabbinical text testify to the close connections between the Jewish community and Hebrew- and Arabic-speaking Jews from other regions.
- Verses of a non-Judaic character in Persian, historical chronicles and even extracts from the Quran point to an educated Muslim population in close contact with the Jewish community of the region. The majority of the featured fragments from the collection of the National Library of Israel are connected with the economic and intellectual life of the Jewish community; the other section of them was created by Muslims and circulated in their milieu. For that reason, the value of this complex extends far beyond the bounds of the history of Jewish communities. The earliest part of the collection, dating from the first half of the 11th century, consists of the family archive of Abu Nasr Yehuda ben Daniel and his kin. A landowner and businessman, Abu Nasr kept records of his dealings, wrote receipts and corresponded with his family and business partners in the region. He kept several religious and liturgical text as well. The earliest known Persian legal document in the Arabic script was also found among the manuscripts in this complex. The later manuscripts, dating from the late 12th and early 13th centuries and written mainly in Persian are connected with administrative and taxation matters in both Bāmiyān and adjoining areas. Letters, promissory notes, and also lists of people and goods feature alongside legal documents. Often one sheet carries several completely unconnected documents, which is an indication of the costliness of paper in that period. Written in various languages, including Hebrew, Aramaic, Persian, Judaeo-Arabic and Judaeo-Persian, using similar ink and paper, the manuscripts display conformity to one and the same set of aesthetic requirements. The documents of the Afghan Geniza have mainly revealed previously unknown details of the cultural, economic and religious life of a flourishing but little-studied Jewish society in the east of the Arab Caliphate in the 11th–13th centuries.
- Due to the destruction wrought by Genghis Khan’s invading army in 1221, hardly any written sources relating to people's daily lives have survived. Even the written histories and the masterpieces of great Persian poets composed in this period have come down to us mainly in late copies. That means that the original letters and documents and also the fragments of literary works created in the pre-Mongol period that appear in the exhibition are of exceptional value. The display also includes objects of material culture from the stocks of the Hermitage – items used in daily life and fragments of architecture. These supplement the written sources and demonstrate various facets of life in mediaeval Khorasan. In this way, on the basis of material from two unique collections – belonging to the National Library of Israel and the State Hermitage – a picture forms of a once thriving, but then almost totally eradicated culture. The exhibition curator is Anton Dmitriyevich Pritula, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Leading Researcher in the State Hermitage's Department of the East.
- A Geniza(h) (from a Hebrew word meaning "repository") is a place for keeping scrolls and books that have become too worn out to use (Bibles, Talmuds, prayer books and so on), fragments of these, and also ritual objects, the destruction of which is forbidden by Jewish religious norms. In this instance, the term is used by convention: the name "Afghan Geniza" has become attached to a collection of manuscripts by analogy with the better-known Cairo Geniza.
- Bāmiyān came to prominence as a cultural and economic centre in the time of the Muslim Ghaznavid dynasty that ruled much of present-day eastern Iran and Afghanistan and the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent.
