Sudra (Classical Syriac: ܣܘܕܪܐ, romanized: swdrʾ ⓘ Jewish Babylonian Aramaic square script: סודרא, Hebrew: סוּדָר, romanized: sẇdar) is a rectangular piece of cloth sometimes worn as a scarf or headdress as part of ancient Jewish tradition. Over time it held many different functions and today is sometimes understood to be of great cultural or religious significance to Jews.[a]
ZAMZAMA (A.), in early Arabic "the confused noise of distant thunder" (Lane, 1249b), but widely used in the sources for early Islamic history for the priests of the Magians reciting and intoning the Zoroastrian prayers and scriptures, producing (to the Arabs' ears) an indistinct, droning sound. Thus in al-Ṭabarī, i, 1042, we have the zamzama of the Herbadhs, in 2874 the muzamzim or adherent of Zoroastrianism, and in 2880 zamzama for the Zoroastrian rites and zamāzima for the Magians in general.[1]
Ammar ibn Yasir عمار بن ياسر | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 Calligraphic representation of his name | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | c. 567 CE [2] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | c. 657 CE (Age 90) Siffin, Syria (present-day Raqqa) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Cause of death | Killed at the Battle of Siffin | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Resting place | Raqqa, Syria 35°56′32″N 39°1′46″E / 35.94222°N 39.02944°E | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Islam | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Parents |
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| Lineage | Madh'hij | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Known for | Being a companion of Muhammad and Ali | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Military service | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Allegiance | Muhammad (623–632) Ali (656–657) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Battles/wars | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Etymology edit
The English sudra derives from the Aramaic swdrʾ spelled ܣܘܕܪܐ in the Syriac script and סודרא in the Jewish Babylonian Aramaic square script. It in turn derives from the Ancient Greek: σουδάριον, romanized: soudárion, lit. 'towel' a doublet of the pre-Augustan Latin: sūdārium, lit. 'cloth for wiping away sweat, handkerchief' deriving from the adjective Latin: sūdarius, lit. 'sweaty' from Latin: sūdor, lit. 'sweat' and the suffix -ārium meant to denote purpose in this case.[8][9][10][11]
The Babylonian Talmud presents what Jastrow calls a "playful etymology" of the term as a contraction of Biblical Hebrew: ס֣וֹד יְ֭הוָה לִירֵאָ֑יו, romanized: sŵd ʾadonay li-yreʾaw, lit. 'The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him' a section of Psalm 25:14.[12][13]
History edit
The exact historical origins of wearing a piece of cloth wrapped around one's head are, at the moment, unclear. Some of the earliest examples can be found in artworks from ancient Mesopotamia, like statues of statues of Gudea wearing a turban-like garment.[14] Similar headdresses might have been worn back as early as 2600 BCE. These headdresses are often imbued with great historical, religious, and cultural significance in the Near East.[15] According to the Irish Professor of Biblical Studies John Raymond Bartlett, the Ancient Hebrews also wore pieces of cloth, either fashioned like the kūfīyah, a folded up piece of fabric wound around one's head or like a turban or stocking cap.[16]
The sūdārium was kept much like a pocket handkerchief but mainly used for wiping away sweat, as the name implies. It was a modern invention around the time of Cicero when fine-linen first came to Rome. In the east of the empire, the term was borrowed by Hellenistic writers as Ancient Greek: σουδάριον, romanized: soudárion replacing older terms. It can be found in texts dealing with events in Province of Judaea like the Gospel of Luke for example, where a servant stores money in a such a cloth.[17] Besides being used to wipe away sweat it was also worn around the neck as a piece of clothing akin to a scarf. In the Latin-speaking empire the term ōrārium came to replace sūdārium during the Augustan age, though it was used again by Saint Jerome when translating the before-mentioned passage of the Gospel of Luke for the Vulgata.[18] This piece of cloth when waved in the air also came to be used to signify applause in Rome, replacing the lappet of the toga used previously for this purpose. Wilhelm Adolf Becker argues against the use of the sūdārium being used used to wipe one's nose.[10] The sūdārium also came to be part of Roman military armor, commonly called focale in its function as a neckerchief to protect against chafing by the armor.[19] This use of the sūdārium in Roman military attire is sometimes seen as precursor of the modern necktie.[20][21]
In the 1st and 2nd century when the Peshitta was translated, we find another meaning for namely that of a burial cloth for example in John 11:44 Classical Syriac: ܘܰܐܦ݁ܰܘܗ݈ܝ ܐܰܣܺܝܪܳܢ ܒ݁ܣܽܘܕ݂ܳܪܳܐ, romanized: wa-ppaw ᵓasīrān bə-sūḏārā, lit. 'and his face bound in a sudra'.[22] This meaning is reflected in the names of the relics of the Sudarium of Oviedo and the Sudarium of Veronica.[23]
Katz, Houtman, and Sysling provide insight as to why a burial cloth, as well as a headdress would be called by the same name. While discussing the meaning of Hebrew: שמיכה, lit. 'blanket', a word mentioned a single time in the Tanakh in Judges 4:18, ancient scholars from Palestine championed definitions for the obscure term, which define it as a sudra, while those from Babylon champion the definition Imperial Aramaic: משיכלא, lit. 'cloak'. Thereby elucidating the Palestinian-Aramaic use of the term sudra, as a broad term for textile sheets used for coving the bodies of human beings.[24][25] Sokoloff corroborates this broader use stating the sudra to have been a "piece of cloth [...] employed to tie and cover a variety of items" apart from a garment.[b][11]
The Babylonian Talmud. It details different Jewish customs surrounding the sudra for example in tractate Bava Metzia it tells of letting another man touch a sudra, at least 3 finger-widths by 3 finger-widths large, in place of the sandal demanded by Ruth 4:7, for purposes of authorising a transaction.[30][31] Wajsberg identifies this mention of the sudra as a late addition to the text, being absent from earlier versions and as evidence of Palestinian-Aramaic linguistic influence on the Babylonian Talmud.[32] Havlin also observes that some versions of Targum of Ruth 1:17 contain the term. In most versions of the section, in which Naomi lists 4 methods of execution employed by the Jews, states the 4th method as cruxifixction. MS De Rossi 31 however deviates from this claim, through what appears to be a scribal correction of what a scribe understood to be a halakhic error. It states Imperial Aramaic: וחניקת סודרה, lit. 'and suffocation [by means of] sudra' instead of Imperial Aramaic: וצליבת קיסא, lit. 'and cruxifixction/hanging on [the] stake'. Havil's view of the sudra being a tool for torment an execution in halakhic tradition is based on numerous mentions of this use, such as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan's translation of Exodus 21:16 (Imperial Aramaic: יתקטיל בשינוקא דסודרא, romanized: ytqṭl bšnwqʾ dswdrʾ, lit. 'he should be killed by strangulation of the sudra') as well as a section from Avodah Zarah which states Imperial Aramaic: רמו ליה סודרא בצואריה וקא מצערו ליה, romanized: rmw lyh swdrʾ bṣwʾrh wqʾ mṣʿrw lyh, lit. 'They threw a sudra around his neck and tormented him'.[33][34][35][36][37]
Style edit
The Babylonian Talmud states fashions of wearing the garment, as well as who wore it. Several tractates Bekharot and Kiddushin describe it as being wrapped around one's head.[11][38] Bekharot 60b:5 additionally provides a prayer to be recited upon attiring the garment Imperial Aramaic: ברוך … עוטר ישראל בתפארה, romanized: ḃarẇk … ʿŵṭer yiśraʾel ḃtipʾarah, lit. 'Blessed ... is he who crowns Israel with glory'.[39]
Another fashion of wear mentioned in therein is wearing the sudra around one's neck, Jastrow suggests that it also had been worn over one's arms.[34][40] The 10th century commentator Rashi states Imperial Aramaic: וסודר שבצוארו - ותלויין ראשיו לפניו לקנח בו פיו ועיניו, lit. 'And the Sudra is arranged on one's neck – and the ends thereof were used to wipe one's mouth or eyes' commenting on this passage.[41][34]
Saul Lieberman suggests that the headdress worn by religious authorities called "a sudra" is unrelated to the Roman Sudarium. Rather being a Cidaris (Ancient Greek: κίδαρις, romanized: kídaris). For this he cites an early medieval Latin glossary which states Latin: Cidarim linteus est quod repites iudeorum die sabbato super caput habent ualde mundum., lit. 'The Cidarim is a cloth which Jews keep over their heads during day of the Sabbath'.[42][43] This Cidarim was a turban-like headdress worn by the Kings of Persia and as stated before also the rabbinical authorities.[44]
According to Lier, Targumim suggest Moses wore a sudra on his head, specifically his radiant forehead. Concealing the nature of the Israelite god, except when revealing the Ten Commandments, when he is meant to have removed his sudra from his forehead according to Lier.[37]
Decline edit
Amongst Mizrachi Jewry, the custom mostly remained despite instances of prohibitions imposed by various non-Jewish rulers. One example of such a prohibition is the 1667 ʿAṭarot decree (Judeo-Yemeni Arabic: עטרת, romanized: ʿAṭarot, lit. 'cloth turban' from Hebrew: עטר, romanized: ʿāṭer, lit. 'to crown') issued by the Qasimid State, which prohibited Jews from wearing anything resembling said ʿAṭarot, that is of wearing any sort of cloth to cover their heads. Goal of this decree was to humiliate Jews by depriving them of a respectable appearance by forcing them to use their clothes to cover their heads. The situation was remedied with the Jewish community in Yemen bribing government officials. The solution achieved through this act of corruption allowed Jews to wear cloths on their heads again, but they had to be shabby cloths.[45][46]
See also edit
- Sudarium – Roman garment conceptually related
- Priestly turban – Ancient Jewish headdress
- Keffiyeh – Similar regional headdress
- Shtreimel – Jewish fur headdress from Eastern Europe
Notes edit
- ^ It is mentioned in various ancient and medieval Aramaic and Greek texts written in or about the Near East among them the Gospel of Luke from around 80–110 CE, the Peshitta from the 1st-2nd century, the Targum Neofiti from around the 1st-4th century, the Babylonian Talmud which was completed around 500 CE – this text makes numerous mentions of the sudra and is an important source for its role in Jewish life at the time – and the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan dated between the 4th century and the 14th century.
- ^ Being used to wrap jugs, tefillin, money, and foodstuffs according to the Babyloanian Talmud. [26][27][28][29]
- ^ The encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. XI. H. A. R. Gibb, P. J. Bearman. Leiden: Brill. 2002. p. 442. ISBN 90-04-16121-X. OCLC 399624.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ "Ammar Ibn Yasir".
- ^ "Ammar Ibn Yasir".
- ^ Swayd, Samy. The A to Z of the Druzes. Page xxiii, retrieved on 6 January 2019. "610-632 Druze ancestors are Islamized; influential figures in Druze spirituality include Prophet Muhammad's companions Salman al-Farisi, al-Muqdad Ibn al-Aswad, and 'Ammar Ibn Yasir".
- ^ "Miracles and Religion", Islam, Christianity and the Realms of the Miraculous, Edinburgh University Press, p. 22, 2018-11-16, doi:10.1515/9780748699070-003, ISBN 978-0-7486-9907-0, retrieved 2022-10-11
- ^ "Payām Nevešte Šode Rūz Sang Bālā-ye Mazār-e Mahsā: To ne-mī-mīrī. Nām-at Yek Namād mī-šavad" پیام نوشته شده روی سنگ بالای مزار مهسا امینی: تو نمیمیری، نام تو یک نماد میشود [Message written on Mahsa Amini's Gravestone: "You Will Not Die, Your Name Will Become a Code"]. Iran International (in Persian). Retrieved 2022-09-23.
- ^ "Ḫāksepār-e Mahsā Amīnī bā Sarkub-e Mosallahāne-e Šahrvand-ān; "Žīnā Ǧān to ne-mī-mīrī, Nām-at Yek Namād Mī-šavad"" خاکسپاری مهسا امینی با سرکوب مسلحانه شهروندان؛ «ژینا جان تو نمیمیری، نامت یک نماد میشود» [Funeral of Mahsa Amini [met] with Armed Suppression of Citizens; "Beloved Žina, You Will Not Die. Your Name Will Become a Code"]. Kayhan London (in Persian). Retrieved 2022-09-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Aaron Michael, Butts (2018-12-06). Kiraz, George Anton (ed.). Latin Words in Classical Syriac. Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies. Vol. 19. Gorgias Press. p. 134. doi:10.31826/9781463240028. ISBN 978-1-4632-4002-8. S2CID 239370393.
- ^ Kwasman, Theodore (2015-01-01), Geller, Markham J. (ed.), "15 Loanwords in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: Some Preliminary Observations", The Archaeology and Material Culture of the Babylonian Talmud, BRILL, p. 353, doi:10.1163/9789004304895_017, ISBN 978-90-04-30488-8, retrieved 2022-09-18
- ^ a b "A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), SUDARIUM". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
- ^ a b c Sokoloff, Michael (2002). A dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic of the talmudic and geonic periods. Bar Ilan University Press. p. 792. ISBN 965-226-260-9. OCLC 1015128901.
- ^ "Jastrow, סוּדָרָא 1". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
- ^ "Shabbat 77b:11". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2022-09-16.
- ^ a b Legrain, Leon (1927). Sumerian sculptures. The Museum Journal. Vol. XVIII, no. 3. Museum of the University of Pennsylvania. pp. 217–247. OCLC 18723697.
- ^ Ethnic Dress in the United States: A Cultural Encyclopedia, page 293, Annette Lynch, Mitchell D. Strauss, Rowman & Littlefield
- ^ J. R. Bartlett (19 July 1973). The First and Second Books of the Maccabees. CUP Archive. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-521-09749-9. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
traditional Jewish head-dress was either something like the Arab's Keffiyeh (a cotton square folded and wound around a head) or like a turban or stocking cap
- ^ "Luke 19:20, Novum Testamentum Graece (NA28)". www.academic-bible.com. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "EVANGELIUM SECUNDUM LUCAM (Lk 19,20)". www.bibelwissenschaft.de. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Nic Fields, The Roman Army of the Principate 27 BC-AD 117 (Osprey, 2009), p. 25.
- ^ Daniel K. Hall, How to Tie a Tie: Choosing, Coordinating, and Knotting Your Neckwear (Sterling, 2008), p. 8.
- ^ Oscar Lenius, The Well-Dressed Gentleman (LIT Verlag Münster, 2010), p. 93.
- ^ "The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon". cal.huc.edu. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
- ^ Flug, Brigitte (2006). Äussere Bindung und innere Ordnung: das Altmünsterkloster in Mainz in seiner Geschichte und Verfassung von den Anfängen bis zum Ende des 14. Jahrhunderts : mit Urkundenbuch (in German). Franz Steiner. p. 46. ISBN 9783515082419.
- ^ Houtman, Alberdina; Sysling, Harry (2009-09-30). "Quotations Of Targumic Passages From The Prophets In Rabbinic And Medieval Sources". Alternative Targum Traditions: The Use of Variant Readings for the Study in Origin and History of Targum Jonathan. BRILL. p. 220. doi:10.1163/ej.9789004178427.i-304.19. ISBN 978-90-04-17842-7.
- ^ Katz, Tamar (2014). "Difficult Biblical Words in Modern Hebrew / על דרכן של מילים מקראיות קשות אל לשון ימינו". Lĕšonénu: A Journal for the Study of the Hebrew Language and Cognate Subjects / לשוננו: כתב-עת לחקר הלשון העברית והתחומים הסמוכים לה. עו (א/ב): 72. ISSN 0334-3626.
- ^ "Shabbat 148b:1". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
- ^ "Sukkah 26a:14". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:4was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Gittin 68a:1". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
- ^ "Bava Metzia 7a:9". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2022-09-16.
- ^ "Bava Kamma 119b:14". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2022-09-16.
- ^ Wajsberg, Eljakim (2004). "The Aramaic Dialect of the Palestinian Traditions in the Babylonian Talmud — Part A" (הלשון הארמית של היצירה הארץ-ישראלית בתלמוד הבבלי (א. Lĕšonénu: A Journal for the Study of the Hebrew Language and Cognate Subjects (in Hebrew). סו (ג/ד): 271. ISSN 0334-3626.
- ^ Havlin, Shlomo Zalman (1986). "The Aramaic Translation of "Ruth"—a Vulgate Translation?" תרגום ספר רות — "תרגום של הדיוטות"?. Sidra: A Journal for the Study of Rabbinic Literature / סידרא: כתב-עת לחקר ספרות התורה שבעל-פה (in Hebrew). ב: 28. ISSN 0334-6986.
- ^ a b c "Jastrow, סוּדָר". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2022-09-16.
- ^ "Avodah Zarah 4a:11". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
- ^ "The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon – TgPsJon Exod chapter 21:16". cal.huc.edu. Retrieved 2022-09-16.
- ^ a b Lier, Gudrun E. (2022-09-21). "Chapter 19 Masks in Bible, Targum, and Talmud: An Investigative Study". In Cook, Johann; Kotzé, Gideon R. (eds.). The Septuagint South of Alexandria: Essays on the Greek Translations and Other Ancient Versions by the Association for the Study of the Septuagint in South Africa (LXXSA). BRILL. pp. 419–420. doi:10.1163/9789004521384_020. ISBN 978-90-04-52138-4.
- ^ "Berakhot 51a:20". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2022-09-16.
- ^ "Berakhot 60b". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2022-09-16.
- ^ "Shabbat 120a:8". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2022-09-16.
- ^ "Rashi on Shabbat 120a:8:12". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2022-09-16.
- ^ "Tosefta Kifshutah on Shabbat 5:11:1". www.sefaria.org (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-09-16.
- ^ Goetz, Georg (1894). CORPVS GLOSSARIORVM LATINORVM (in Latin). Leipzig: SOCIETATIS LITTERARVM REGIAE SAXONICAE. p. 12.
- ^ Beekes, Robert (2010). Etymological dictionary of Greek. Brill. p. 694. ISBN 978-90-04-17418-4. OCLC 909831201.
- ^ Reuben., Ahroni (1979). Tribulations and aspirations in Yemenite Hebrew literature. [Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion]. p. 278. OCLC 44706373.
- ^ Eraqi-Klorman, Bat Zion (1993). The Jews of Yemen in the Nineteenth Century: A Portrait of a Messianic Community. BRILL. pp. 37–38. ISBN 9004096841.