Description
This hanging lamp illuminated the interior of the synagogue and is inspired by mosque lamps with a bulging body and long neck, widely used in the medieval and Ottoman Islamic world. In the countries of the Orient, Jews and Muslims shared many forms of lighting for places of worship, and Jewish communities adopted these glass lamps for their sanctuaries. Produced in Cairo in the nineteenth century, these pieces were enameled with Hebrew inscriptions and floral motifs in the taste inherited from Mamluk art. The object illustrates the integration of the Jews of Egypt into the artistic traditions of their environment and the adaptation of Islamic forms to synagogal use.
