Torah finials

These unique Torah finials are decorated with symmetrical foliage, lozenges, and a beaded band pattern. Their Hebrew inscription says that they are dedicated to the Torah and must not be sold or redeemed. It also includes the Hebrew date 5502 (1742), which tells us that they are the earliest dated Torah finials known from this area. The small hamsa (five-fingered hand motif) crowning each finial is inscribed with words commonly adorning Hebrew amulets: on one side there is an acronym for the words "I wait for your deliverance O Lord" (Genesis 49:18), and on the other side, the divine epithet Shaddai. The finials were previously in the renowned Sassoon Collection in England, a collection built up by David Solomon Sassoon (1882-1942), whose family originated in Iraq and established an economic empire that spanned Asia, the Middle East, and parts of the Western world.