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Briana Feston, Graduate Intern*; Dr. Glenn Gates, Conservation Scientist; Amy Landau, Ph.D. Associate Curator of Islamic Art and Manuscripts; Terry Drayman-Weisser, Director of Conservation and Technical Research. The Walters Art Museum Baltimore, MD, USA
In 2000, the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, MD and Yeshiva University, New York, NY co-purchased a wooden panel thought to be one of the doors from the main Torah ark in the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo. Previously, the door had become part of an international dialogue discussing its origins and history when Dr. Barry Ragone, a dentist from Florida purchased the door at an estate auction in 1993, for $37.50. Initial research by scholars from the Walters, and those contacted by Dr. Ragone, revealed textual evidence dating the door to the 11th century AD. This was supported by C14 dating done for Dr. Ragone. Although the object was identified as Fatimid based on date, further investigation reveals that the decoration and workmanship closely resemble 13th to 15th century AD Ayyubid and Mamluk designs. One of the most historically significant pieces in both the Walters and Yeshiva collections, the panel became the subject of a research project dedicated to placing it in its proper context using a multi-faceted approach to answer questions related to the date, material, history, and original decoration.
BACKGROUND The Ben Ezra Synagogue is said to have been built in the 9-10th centuries in Old Cairo (Fostat), and has been associated with the medieval thinker Maimonides (1135-1204 AD). The Cairo Geniza documents were also discovered here in the 19th century. In 1013 AD, the earliest building was destroyed by Caliph al-Hakim.1
CULTURAL HISTORY
These methods of analysis have helped to par3ally reconstruct the history of the door, including its most recent, post-‐1800 paint campaigns and appearance and its origin. The door underwent at least 3 pain3ng campaigns prior to removal from use. In its final permuta3on, it appears to have been dark red-‐purple with green pigments used to decorate the inscrip3ons and arabesque designs. The inscrip3ons were also “gilded” with brass. Water damage on the boGom of the door indicates a period of disuse, perhaps stored in the synagogue’s Geniza. Differences between the date of the wood and the carving are in keeping with similar objects with a long history of use, and provide an opportunity for further study. More work must be done to understand the door within the context of the synagogue, including comparisons of our findings to those of comparable polychrome woodwork from Ben Ezra and other Islamic buildings. Iden3fica3on of similar pigments and ground layers may help to beGer situate the object within Islamic woodwork.
ANALYSIS
Figure 1. above. Ark Door side 1 and side 2. The carved Hebrew text on the door is Psalm 118-19: “Open to me the gates of the righteous, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.” The Walters Art Museum. Accession number 64.181. Photo: Susan Tobin The Walters Art Museum.
Figure 2. Ben Ezra Synagogue, exterior of the building after restoration in the 1990’s. Photo: O. Brunet, 2007.
Dating Questions have arisen pertaining to the accuracy of three radiocarbon 14 (C-14) dates extracted from the door and analyzed in 1998. These initial results support a date of 1040 AD as highly plausible. However, the workmanship and designs of the door are comparable to Ayyubid and Mamluk carving, which are not seen before the 13th century AD. Due to questions surrounding the method used to take the original samples, three new samples were taken and analyzed in 2012 by the Rafter Radiocarbon laboratory (NZ). The results indicate a 95% confidence of the calibrated dates 1043-1215 AD, confirming the original dates. Attempts were made to combine dendrochronology with C-14 in a technique called wiggle matching, but an insufficient number of tree rings negated this possibility (at least 30 rings are required). Current research is thus being centered on the carving, which may be a post-13th century AD embellishment of this 11th century door.
CONCLUSIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH
Figure 3. left. Top: Upper edge of the door, showing original C-14 drill holes. Bottom: CAT Scan image of the same edge, showing ~20 tree rings. Courtesy of Dr. Barry Daly and University of Maryland Radiology Unit.
Revealing the history of the Ark Door from the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo, Egypt
Pigments In keeping with the approach for all analysis at the Walters, non-destructive techniques were used whenever possible, and guided precise sampling as necessary. Initial X-ray Fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) indicated that paint visible (red, green, purple-brown, and gesso) visible on both sides of the door is post-1800, based on the identification of Zn (representing zinc oxide) and Ba (representing barium sulfate) in pigment and gesso layers. We were able to identify at least two paint campaigns. Areas in the inscription initially thought to be gilding were identified as brass flakes. Six cross sections were taken from discrete areas on the object to clarify XRF results. The location of the samples were chosen keeping in mind the sacred nature of the panel (i.e. inscriptions were not sampled). Cross sections revealed the presence of paint under the thick ZnO ground layer, including a gypsum ground under a red wash, coated with a thin layer of natural resin or varnish. SEM revealed the presence of ZnO even below this layer, confirming that the door was entirely re-painted post-1800’s.
Wood Identification Wood speciation was originally done by the archaeology lab at Southern Illinois University at the request of Dr. Ragone in 1998. The wood was initially identified as walnut, in the family Junglandaceae, the closest match being European or Circassian walnut. Further speciation is being done to refine these results and to more closely identify the geographic region of origin. This analysis, conducted by Dr. Margareta Tengberg, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, revealed a more precise speciation of Juglans regia. It is our hope this speciation may allow comparisons with related Islamic woodwork, in order to potentially place the door within production and distribution networks of wooden objects in the Islamic Mediterranean between the 11th and 15th centuries, and may contribute to dating the object.
Cross Section C: Top of Inscription Band, Side 1. 1. Modern synthetic coating (acrylo-nitrile polystyrene) 2. Purple color visible on top panel of Side 1 3. Brass flakes 4. Zinc oxide layer inside “abrasions” 5. Thin washy red layer visible on top panel of Side 1 6. Light colored layer (also ZnO containing)
Figure 4. Map of cross sections and XRF data points on side 1.
Cross sections XRF points
Cross Section F. Roundel, Side 2. 1. Modern synthetic coating (acrylo-nitrile polystyrene) 2. Bright fluorescing layer with reflective flecks (in bright field),
possible metal flakes 3. Non-reflective layer, slightly fluorescent 4. Reflective layer that is not fluorescent 5. Non-ZnO yellowish ground layer
REFERENCES 1 Lambert, P. 2001. Fortifications and the Synagogue: The Fortress of Babylon and the Ben Ezra Synagogue, Cairo. Chicago: University Press.
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It was thought that the Walters-Yeshiva panel dated to the first reconstruction of the synagogue in 1040-41 AD. Although texts from the 1800’s describe the carved wooden decoration in the synagogue, it is not until 1900 that we have conclusive evidence that new cupboards and doors were mounted in the central and subsidiary arks. Significant questions remain concerning the use and date of the panel.
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