Jewish-Persian amuletic cloth for protection of mother and newborn. [Iran, early / first decades of 20th century].
Ink and paint on cotton.
Large cloth featuring illustrations, images, hashbaot, names and incantations; designed as protective amulet for the mother and newborn. The exact way in which the cloth was used is not known, but the neck opening at the top and the cut in the middle of the cloth are reminiscent of amuletic shirts and cloths common amongst non-Jews in the Persian region, traditionally placed on the birthing woman or hung on the wall of the room where the birth was taking place.
The cloth is comprised of two symmetric vertical strips, each divided into frames and congruent squares – six on each side – containing illustrations of human figures, plants and animals. Various texts are inscribed in black ink throughout the cloth, on and within the frames and even on the illustrations. The texts, in Hebrew, Judeo-Persian, Arabic and pseudo-script (undecipherable), are written in straight lines, oblique lines, circular form, magic squares and other forms.
The Hebrew words include the names of some of the sons of Haman, traditionally thought to absorb any harmful thoughts or actions directed at the cloth wearer. Several Hebrew words repeat themselves, such as angel, prophet, Abraham, Leah, Noach, love, scorpion, and more. Several Stars of David.
The painted inscriptions and the depictions are a mixture of many different magical traditions in Iran, both Jewish and non-Jewish: Jewish, Moslem and Zoroastrian. Such clothes were in use in the Persian region until the late 19th and early 20th centuries to cure, protect from illnesses and for various other magical purposes.
Similar cloths were used by adherents of the Sufi sect of Islam in Iran.
There is a similar Jewish-Persian amuletic cloth (Gross Family Collection, 027.015.001), also designed to protect the mother and infant, and for love.

Height: 161 cm; width: 81 cm; cloth sewn to fabric mounted on wooden frame for exhibition: 167.5X84.5 cm. Good condition. Minor defects. Stains and wear. Fading of ink and paint.

Reference and exhibitions:
1. Jewish-Muslim Encounter in Iran and its Magic Aspect, by Raya Shani, in: Between Judaism and Islam in the Mirror of Art. Jerusalem, HaAgudah le-omanut Yehudit, 1995, pp. 27-37 (Hebrew).
2. Light and Shadows: The Story of Iran and the Jews. Tel Aviv, Beit Hatfutsot, 2010, p. 162-163 (illustrated) (Hebrew).
3. Angels and demons: Jewish magic through the ages, edited by Filip Vukosavović. Jerusalem, Bible Lands Museum, 2010, p. 122 (illustrated) (Hebrew).
4. Lots of luck - Jewish amulets and ritual object, edited by Yael Wiesel and Sara Shahak. Ashdod, the Museum of Philistine Culture, 2013, p. 39 (Hebrew).
5. Bi-bli-o-logia: The Book as Body, edited by Drorit Gur Arie and Raphael Sigal. Petach Tikva, Petach Tikva Museum of Art, 2015, pp. 90-97. (Hebrew).
6. A Judeo-Persian Talismanic Textile, by Raya Shani, Irano-Judaica, IV. Jerusalem, Yad Ben Zvi, 1999, pp. 251-273.
7. Kabbalah, om Judisk Mysticism: Judiska Museet i Stockholm. Stockholm, 2002 (illustrated on exhibition catalogue).
8. Jodendom: een boek vol verhalen. Amsterdam, De Nieuwe Kerk, 2011-2012.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, 027.015.002.
The item is documented on the Center for Jewish Art (CJA) website, item no. 39334.