Bidspirit auction | Magnificent Decorated Baghdadi Manuscript –

Magnificent Decorated Baghdadi Manuscript – Sabbath Prayers and Piyyutim – Handwritten and Illustrated by Nissim Eliyahu Ezra Reuven Battat – 1885 - Complete and artistically decorated manuscript containing the Mincha and Maariv prayers for Shabbat, Kabbalat Shabbat, Birkat HaMazon, Shabbat Mincha and a selection of piyyutim and zemirot. [Baghdad], Kislev 1885. A particularly attractive pocket-size manuscript, written throughout in a fine Oriental square script and richly decorated by hand in ink and colors. The manuscript contains three elaborately decorated carpet-page title pages, enlarged ornamental opening words, colorful floral motifs and decorative borders surrounding the text. On the first title page, the scribe and artist signed his name: “I, the young Nissim Eliyahu Ezra Reuven Battat, may he live and be well, Amen, may it be His will.” At the conclusion of the Shabbat Mincha prayer (leaf 89a) appears an additional colophon in his hand: “I, the young Nissim Eliyahu Ezra Reuven Battat… Kislev 1885, Parashat Vayetzei.” Sabbath Prayers and Piyyutim The manuscript includes Mincha for Friday afternoon, Maariv for Friday night and Kabbalat Shabbat, Birkat HaMazon, Mincha for Shabbat, and an extensive selection of piyyutim and Sabbath zemirot, including piyyutim for special Sabbaths. Three decorated title pages divide the manuscript into its principal sections: the first – “Mincha and Maariv for Shabbat”; the second – “Mincha for the Holy Sabbath”; and the third – “Seder Piyyutim.” Among the piyyutim are “Elav Mi Yikra VeYishlam” by Rabbi Avraham ben Meir HaLevi of Humpolec, and “Yashir Yisrael Shir Noam” by the renowned Kabbalist and poet Rabbi Yisrael Najara. Leaf 66a contains the blessing recited upon seeing a rainbow. On leaf 89b is an Arabic medicinal prescription for dizziness – an interesting addition reflecting the manuscript’s personal use. The Work of a Member of Baghdad’s Battat Family The scribe and illustrator, Nissim Eliyahu Ezra Reuven Battat, belonged to the Battat family, one of Baghdad’s prominent Jewish families. The patriarch of the family, Rabbi Reuven Battat, lived in Baghdad between תק”י–תרט”ו and was known as a Torah scholar and a man of means. His descendants numbered among the prominent and affluent members of the Baghdadi Jewish community. The present manuscript, entirely written and decorated by a member of this family, is an attractive example of the Oriental Jewish manuscript tradition of the 19th century, combining prayer, piyyut, calligraphy and colorful folk ornamentation in a miniature volume intended for personal use. Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, IQ.011.003. Gross Collection no. 130. The manuscript is recorded by the National Library of Israel as a prayer book according to the Babylonian rite for Shabbat Mincha and Maariv. The National Library record notes that the manuscript originated in Kurdistan. See also: One Hundred and One Piyyutim, edited by Uri Kroizer and Yair Harel, Jerusalem, [2017], pp. 26, 97. [108] leaves. Approx. 10 cm. Overall good condition. Stains, including ink stains. Dampstains and fading of ink on several leaves. Tears with losses to several leaves, restored. Old leather binding, slightly damaged; housed in a new custom-made box.