Colorful calligraphic manuscript, piyyutim by Sephardic Torah scholars. [Turkey or the vicinity, 19th century].
Tall, narrow manuscript, in a design inspired by Islamic calligraphy. The text was written in alternating colors. Some leaves were written in a later hand.
Most of the pages are framed in an arched border. On many leaves (in earlier script), the text is arranged in various shapes, such as Hamsas, menorahs, Islamic ewers, cypresses, gateways and pointed turrets (shapes not completed in several places).
Includes piyyutim by various Sephardic authors, mostly by R. Yisrael Najara. The maqam and instructions are noted in Turkish at the beginning of some piyyutim, alongside various names – names of the authors and presumably occasionally the names of the singers who instituted the way of reciting the piyyut or its tune (most the names appear in later script). On one leaf, piyyut for Zeved HaBat and for Sheva Berachot of a wedding. On an adjacent leaf, piyyut for the dressing of a Torah scroll. Many piyyutim contain repeated successive syllables, indicating trills and the musical rhythm.

[143] leaves, including 100 written pages. Height: 18 cm; width: approx. 10 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, including dark stains and ink smudging in several places. Large open tears to several leaves, affecting text. New endpapers. Old leather binding, damaged.

Exhibition: Reise an kein Ende der Welt – Journey to No End of the World (curator: Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek), Jewish Museum of the City of Vienna, 2001. See exhibition catalog, pp. 42-43.
Provenance:
1. Christie's Amsterdam, 19 December 1990, lot 446.
2. The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, EI.011.010.