In researching old Hebrew texts,
I came across a facsimile copy of the Leningrad Codex,
named for the city library where it had been housed. I read the inroduction,
which mentioned these beautiful carpet pages,
so named because they looked like Persian carpets. These pages were
scribes artwork. I fell in love with ancient Hebrew scribal artwork.
I have sought books out in the library and scoured the net for examples
of this beautiful art form. My preference is the older form,
which was more design work, rather than the latter middle ages form
of painting pictures depicting animals and people
or a combination thereof. Some of the scribal art included verses or
passages in Hebrew, that helped form the design.
This art form goes by several
names: scribal art, carpet pages, micrography, Hebrew illumination and
illuminated manuscripts.
Hebrew scribal artwork seems to have originated in Mesopotamia and spread
to Syria, Palestine, Arabia and Egypt. THe The Persian,
Syrian, Palestinian, Arabian and Egyptian forms did allow forms of people
and animals, but used beautiful geometric and floral patterns.
Many of these are of Qaraiym design, rather than Rabbinic.
This form of scribal artwork
was not limited to just the scriptures, but came to be used in the kethuboth,
marriage contracts of the Hebrews.