The Jewish Journey: 4000 years in 22 objects from the Ashmolean Museum
The Jewish Journey: 4000 years in 22 objects from the Ashmolean Museum
Rebecca Abrams with introduction, Simon Schama
Rebecca Abrams is the Writer-in-Residence at Brasenose College, Oxford, author of several books and a literary critic for the Financial Times.
Publisher Ashmolean Museum
ISBN: 9781910807033 Size: 7 in. x 9 in. Pg: 232, Illust.: 70 color, 6 B&W, 11 maps
The Jewish Journey is a spectacular look at treasured Jewish objects writer/scholar Rebecca Abrams uncovered in one of the world's most esteemed museums. The household and personal objects, the sacred works, the archeological finds date from the time of the Ancient Mesopotamians to today and are housed in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
The award-winning Adams tells not only the story of the objects but of the Jewish people -- how they traveled, influenced by the cultures they encountered but remaining true to their core as a people with a separate and unique identity. Included are 11 historical maps tracing the journey from c.2000 BCE to 1938. The objects ( including Jewish wedding rings, paintings, a Dead Sea Scroll jar, a medieval magic amulet inscribed with Hebrew text and the face of Christ, Italian viols, and Roman gold-glass) also traveled and Abrams has included a timeline placing the story of the lives of the Jews as part of the trajectory of world history. People of Jewish descent will not be the only ones fascinated by what she reveals and it will engage readers whose interests lie in art and art history, and sociology.