IMC 2020: Sessions
Session 127: A Matter of Life and Death: Medieval Jewish Material Culture and Drawing the Borderline
Monday 6 July 2020, 11.15-12.45
| Organiser: | Zvi Orgad, Department of Jewish Art, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan |
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| Moderator/Chair: | Birgit Wiedl, Institut für jüdische Geschichte Österreichs, St. Pölten |
| Paper 127-a | The Borderline between Life and Death: The Deathbed and the Burial Place in Medieval Jewish Culture (Language: English) Index terms: Archaeology - Artefacts, Hebrew and Jewish Studies |
| Paper 127-b | Light in Jewish Remembrance of the Dead (Language: English) Index terms: Art History - General, Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Religious Life |
| Paper 127-c | Don't Mind the Gap: Text, Art, and Borders in Funeral Jewish Art (Language: English) Index terms: Archaeology - Artefacts, Art History - Painting, Hebrew and Jewish Studies |
| Abstract | Death is a universally prominent part of life. However, recent studies show that, in contrast to medieval Christian material culture where borders between life and death were generally blurred, Jews used material culture to draw more distinct boundaries. Jewish attitudes towards these borders were manifested in material culture. This session will focus on material evidence from medieval Jewish societies which illuminates aspects of their approaches towards the borderline: deathbed and burial customs, tombstone inscription formulation and design, and allegorical motifs in Jewish art. |