Power and Praxis: Writing and Performance in Megillat Ahimaatz

In this essay, the text of Megillat Ahimaatz offers a window into compositional conventions, particularly around liturgy, as well as understandings of writing at a pivotal moment, and in a pivotal location: southern Italy (Apulia) in during the 9th-11th centuries. Both writing technologies and ritua...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lieber, Laura Suzanne 1972- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: The National Association of Professors of Hebrew 2023
In: Hebrew studies
Year: 2023, Volume: 64, Issue: 1, Pages: 111-131
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Liturgy / History 801-1100 / Apulia
IxTheo Classification:AG Religious life; material religion
BH Judaism
KAE Church history 900-1300; high Middle Ages
KBJ Italy
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Summary:In this essay, the text of Megillat Ahimaatz offers a window into compositional conventions, particularly around liturgy, as well as understandings of writing at a pivotal moment, and in a pivotal location: southern Italy (Apulia) in during the 9th-11th centuries. Both writing technologies and ritual performances (liturgical and magical) occupy prominent places in Megillat Ahimaatz, and the text seems to reflect a moment of great cognizance concerning the significance of writing and performative power and praxis, particularly among Jews but also in other communities, as well, as viewed through Jewish eyes. In this essay, I will (1) outline the text's general interest in writing, writers, performers, and performance, after which I will (2) present the specific varieties of writing and performance that occur in Megillat Ahimaatz. Finally, I will (3) examine the scroll's specific vocabulary for writing (texts and practices) and similarly, I will consider the way liturgical performance is described. These elements - narrative and lexical - when read together offer a window into at least one writer's understanding of his tradition at a pivotal crossroads in Jewish literary and liturgical history.
ISSN:2158-1681
Contains:Enthalten in: Hebrew studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1353/hbr.2023.a912652