Ancient Jewish Art: East and West

My father bought this coffee table book in 1987, from the San Diego Museum of Art, and it languished on his and my shelves until last week when, I picked it up, mostly out of boredom, on a stormy day. Sed-Rajna's book is well-researched and documented and the illustrations are sumptuous and support the text. Few people who are not art historians understand that religious iconography and architecture evolves dramatically over the course of its history. Some of the evolution occurs as religious interpretation and practice change. Dispersion of believers through war, emigration, or trade and the absorption of local influences further causes this evolution. In the case of Judaism, the symbols found in tombs, old religious centers and houses in the few remaining examples dating from its emergence as a cult in the millenium before the Common Era, represented symbols of plenty or harvest (lulav, etrog, pomegranate), animals such as lions, birds or elephants, or ceremonial objects such as the seven-branch candelabra. Much of what we encounter in synagogues or other centers today, such as the six-pointed star and the adornments of Torahs is of much more recent origin. This is an important book, which I highly recommend. My only caveat is that the provenance of the publication is largely lacking and there is no biographical note about the author, which I think was a serious omission. I recommend this book for individuals and libraries.