{"id":3553,"date":"2021-08-09T20:15:52","date_gmt":"2021-08-09T17:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.etz-hayyim-hania.org\/?page_id=3553"},"modified":"2021-08-09T20:15:52","modified_gmt":"2021-08-09T17:15:52","slug":"the-inscriptions-at-etz-hayyim","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.etz-hayyim-hania.org\/el\/%ce%b7-%cf%83%cf%85%ce%bd%ce%b1%ce%b3%cf%89%ce%b3%ce%ae\/the-inscriptions-at-etz-hayyim\/","title":{"rendered":"The Inscriptions at Etz Hayyim"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row row_type=\u00bbrow\u00bb text_align=\u00bbleft\u00bb css_animation=\u00bb\u00bb][vc_column][vc_column_text]Etz Hayyim has a number of Hebrew inscriptions commemorating past benefactors on the gates and walls of the synagogue, as well as a few funerary inscriptions. All of these Hebrew inscriptions date between the 15th <\/sup>to 17th centuries.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=\u00bbrow\u00bb text_align=\u00bbleft\u00bb css_animation=\u00bb\u00bb][vc_column width=\u00bb2\/3\u2033][vc_column_text]Inscriptions on the Rothchild Gate<\/strong><\/p>\n

Above the Rothchild Gate are two dedicatory inscriptions. The uppermost inscription on the pediment refers to a donor and reads in translation: \u201c(In the) Year 5247, 7th<\/sup> of Iyyar, I, Eliano Cortese, may he live forever, dedicated and built the entrance for the ransom of his own soul and for the lives of my children and grandchildren, may they live forever.\u201d The Hebrew date corresponds to the 1st<\/sup> May 1487 in the Julian calendar. While Cortese was evidently an eminent personality, there is no further information about him. The second inscription above the wooden gate comprises two parts: \u201cThis is the gate of the Lord: into which the righteous shall enter\u201d, a quote from Psalm<\/em> 118:20, and \u201cOpen ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in\u201d, a quote from Isaiah<\/em> 26:2.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=\u00bb1\/3\u2033][vc_single_image image=\u00bb3503\u2033 alignment=\u00bbcenter\u00bb][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=\u00bbrow\u00bb text_align=\u00bbleft\u00bb css_animation=\u00bb\u00bb][vc_column][vc_separator type=\u00bbnormal\u00bb][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=\u00bbrow\u00bb text_align=\u00bbleft\u00bb css_animation=\u00bb\u00bb][vc_column width=\u00bb2\/3\u2033][vc_column_text]Inscription at the Entrance to the Synagogue Sanctuary<\/strong><\/p>\n

The inscription above the entrance to the synagogue reads: \u201cFor Thou will ignite my candle; The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. (In the) year 5281. Moses son of Michael Yeniati.\u201d Above this dedication, the Hebrew letters \u201cLamed-Kaf\u201d are written which may be a Kabbalistic formula for a Name of God. The Hebrew date conforms to 1520\/21 in the Julian calendar. The text is a quote from Psalm<\/em> 18:29. Very little if anything is known about the mentioned, Michael Yeniati. An Abraham Yeniati is listed in Canea (Hania) in the 16th<\/sup> century; a Moses Yeniati in Candia (Heraklion) in 1654.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=\u00bb1\/3\u2033][vc_single_image image=\u00bb3505\u2033 alignment=\u00bbcenter\u00bb][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=\u00bbrow\u00bb text_align=\u00bbleft\u00bb css_animation=\u00bb\u00bb][vc_column][vc_separator type=\u00bbnormal\u00bb][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=\u00bbrow\u00bb text_align=\u00bbleft\u00bb css_animation=\u00bb\u00bb][vc_column width=\u00bb2\/3\u2033][vc_column_text]Inscription on the Caretaker\u2019s Lodge<\/strong><\/p>\n

To the right of the door of the former shamash<\/em> lodgings, now the main synagogue office, there is a small rhyming Hebrew inscription that certainly pre-dates its present location. It honours a group of people who can no longer be conclusively identified and reads enigmatically: \u201cA memorial to the (?) priests and deputies of the priest, both the former and the latter ones, … of the residents, in three (?) years, decent in (?) troubles, (?) named among the faithful ones.\u201d \u00a0During Evlagon\u2019s time, this inscription was obscured by whitewash, while today it is hidden by foliage during spring and summer months.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=\u00bb1\/3\u2033][vc_single_image image=\u00bb3507\u2033 alignment=\u00bbcenter\u00bb][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=\u00bbrow\u00bb text_align=\u00bbleft\u00bb css_animation=\u00bb\u00bb][vc_column][vc_separator type=\u00bbnormal\u00bb][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=\u00bbrow\u00bb text_align=\u00bbleft\u00bb css_animation=\u00bb\u00bb][vc_column][vc_column_text]Psalm 137:5 in the Synagogue Sanctuary<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the south-east corner of the main sanctuary, the opening words of Psalm<\/em> 137:5 are carved into two sandstone plaques. Psalm<\/em> 137 is a hymn expressing the yearning of the Jewish people in exile after the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem, a defining moment in Jewish history. Verse 5 evokes a self-exhortation to remember Jerusalem: \u201cIf I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=\u00bbrow\u00bb text_align=\u00bbleft\u00bb css_animation=\u00bb\u00bb][vc_column][vc_separator type=\u00bbnormal\u00bb][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=\u00bbrow\u00bb text_align=\u00bbleft\u00bb css_animation=\u00bb\u00bb][vc_column width=\u00bb1\/3\u2033][vc_single_image image=\u00bb3509\u2033 img_size=\u00bbmedium\u00bb alignment=\u00bbcenter\u00bb][\/vc_column][vc_column width=\u00bb2\/3\u2033][vc_column_text]The Saltiel Coat of Arms<\/strong><\/p>\n

Positioned next to the Memorial for the Cretan Jewish community on the outer wall of the Mikveh<\/em> on the way to the southern courtyard is the Saltiel Coat of Arms, a replica of an original relief now exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion. The text on the relief reads: \u201cThe coat of arms of Don Shealtiel Hen.\u201d The original coat of arms was at the centre of some controversary in the mid-16th<\/sup> century in Candia as Heraklion was called in the Venetian period. \u00a0A scandal erupted over its proposed placement above the Ehal<\/em> inside the sanctuary of Candia\u2019s Tall Synagogue which had been the request by this synagogue\u2019s donors, the noble Saltiel family. The request was immediately rejected by the local Romaniote rabbis because this act would have violated Jewish law and as a result, the coat of arms was instead positioned outside over the entrance to the synagogue. It remained there until 1941 when the synagogue was flattened during the Nazi bombing of the city. All that remained of the building was the entrance with the in situ<\/em> coat of arms above it. Some years ago, Nikos Stavroulakis, the then-Director of Etz Hayyim Synagogue identified this escutcheon in the storerooms of the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion. Four copies were subsequently cast in marble dust, one of which is now displayed at Etz Hayyim.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row row_type=\u00bbrow\u00bb text_align=\u00bbleft\u00bb css_animation=\u00bb\u00bb][vc_column][vc_column_text]Etz Hayyim has a number of Hebrew inscriptions commemorating past benefactors on the gates and walls of the synagogue, as well as a few funerary inscriptions. All of these Hebrew inscriptions date between the 15th to 17th centuries. . [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=\u00bbrow\u00bb text_align=\u00bbleft\u00bb…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":286,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etz-hayyim-hania.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3553"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etz-hayyim-hania.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etz-hayyim-hania.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etz-hayyim-hania.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etz-hayyim-hania.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3553"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.etz-hayyim-hania.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3554,"href":"https:\/\/www.etz-hayyim-hania.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3553\/revisions\/3554"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etz-hayyim-hania.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etz-hayyim-hania.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}