 |
customer@davidpublishing.com |
 |
3275638434 |
 |
 |
| Paper Publishing WeChat |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Jewish Sources for Iconography of the Akedah/Sacrifice of Isaac in Art of Late Antiquity
Bonnie L. Kutbay
Full-Text PDF
XML 700 Views
DOI:10.17265/2159-5836/2022.01.004
Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, PA., USA
The earliest known image of the binding of Isaac, known as the Akedah, is on a Torah shrine in a synagogue in Dura Europos, Syria dating before 244 (fig. 1). It shows a fully developed iconography of a young Isaac on the altar with the burning wood, the ram by the tree, Abraham holding the knife, and the hand of God issuing from a cloud. Though the visual narrative is largely based on the account of the Akedah in Genesis 22, it also relies on details found in other Jewish literary sources that include the Talmud, Targum Onkelos, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, commentary on Genesis by Rashi, Midrash account of Pirkei De Rabbi Eliezer, and Genesis Rabbah. This paper will present unexplored Jewish sources for the iconography of the Akedah/Sacrifice of Isaac in art of Late Antiquity.
Akedah, Dura Europos, sacrifice of Isaac, Shekinah
Journal of Literature and Art Studies, January 2022, Vol. 12, No. 1, 38-50
Berman, L. A. (1997). The Akedah: The binding of Isaac. Northvale: Jason Aronson Inc.
Etheridge J. W. (2005). The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch (Vol. 1). New Jersey: Gorgias Press.
Fine, S. (2007). Jewish art and biblical exegesis in the Greco-Roman world (pp. 25-50). Picturing the Bible. J. Spier, (Ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press.
Gutmann, J. (1987). The sacrifice of Isaac in medieval Jewish art. Artibus et Historiae, 8(16), 67-89.
Gutmann, J. (1988). The dura europos Synagogue paintings and their influence on later Christian and Jewish art. Artibus et Historiae, 9 (17), 25-29.
Gutmann, J. (1992). Revisiting the “binding of Isaac” Mosaic in the Beth-Alpha synagogue. Bulletin of the Asia Institute, 6, 79-85.
Hayward, R. (2010). Targums and the transmission scripture into Judaism and Christianity. Leiden: Brill.
Heine, R. E. (1982). Fathers of the church, origen, homilies on genesis and exodus. Washington D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press.
Josephus. (2018). Antiquities of the Jews (W. Whiston, Trans.). St. Paul, MN: Wilder Publications.
Kessler, E. (2002). The sacrifice of Isaac (the Akedah) in Christian and Jewish tradition: Artistic representations. In M. O’Kane (Ed.), Borders, boundaries and the bible (pp. 74-98). New York: Sheffield Academic Press Ltd.
Kessler, E. (2013). Jews, Christians and muslims in Encounter. London: SCM Press.
Kraeling, C. H. (1956). The synagogue. The excavations at dura Europos: Final report 8.1 (pp. 346-363). New Haven: Yale University Press.
Martin, M. (2006). Observations on the paintings of the Exodus Chapel, Bagawat Necropolis, Kharga Oasis, Egypt. Byzantine Narrative. Papers in Honor of Roger Scott (pp. 233-257). J. Burke (Ed.). Melbourne, Australia: Australian Association for Byzantine Studies.
McNamara, M. (2010). Targum and testament revisited, Aramaic paraphrases of the Hebrew Bible (2 nd). Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Mortensen, B. (2006). The priesthood in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: Renewing the Profession. Leiden: Brill.
Neusner, J. (1985). Genesis Rabbah: The Judaic commentary to the book of genesis: A new American translation (Vol. 2). Philo, On Abraham: University of South Florida.
Sawyer, J. F. A. (2012). (Ed.). The Blackwell companion to the Bible and culture. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
Scherman, R. N. (2000). The Chumash: The stone edition, The Torah: Haftaros and Five Megillos with a commentary anthologized from the rabbinic writings. Art scroll series. New York: Mesorah Publications, Ltd.
Solomon, N. (2009a). Judaism, a brief insight. New York: Sterling Publishing.
Solomon, N. (2009b). The Talmud: A selection. New York: Penguin Classics.
Spitzer, A. N. (2010). Abraham and Isaac. Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion (Vol. 1). D. A. Leeming, K. W. Madden, and S. Marlan, (Eds.). New York: Springer.
Steinsaltz, A. (2006). The essential talmud. New York: Basic Books.
Sukenik, E. L. (1932). The ancient synagogue of Beth Alpha. Jerusalem: Jerusalem University Press.
Weiss, Z. (2000). The sepphoris synagogue mosaic. Biblical Archaeological Review, 26(5), 48, 50-55, 58-61, 70.