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A Unique and Early Use of Micrographic Carpet Page Format 21*

manner similar to the conception underlying the inclusion of scriptural passages
in the mezuzah, or the Mekhilta’s notion that having scriptural texts inserted
in one’s phylacteries is equivalent to reciting Scripture.20 Keeping in mind that
the sheet was produced in a period when amulets and magical practices were
commonplace, wherein words of power, among them scriptural passages, were
not perceived as mere inert phrases, but as possessed of a kind of dynam is, our
abstract iconic representation of the “pious petitioner” could itself be intended
to function as a perpetually praying object21 — just as an amulet silently, and
continuously, orders demons to remove themselves or otherwise neutralizes
them — a sort of verbal representation along the lines of Albrecht Durer’s

uses only one line of minuscule text to draw the majuscule letters; cf. the sources cited in
n. 21 below for additional examples.)
20 ‫כל המניח תפילין כאלו קורא בתורה וכל הקורא בתורה פטור מן התפילין‬, in Mekhilta, H.
(ed.), (Jerusalem 1997), p. 68. There seems to be a continuum in the employment of
written texts for performative or illocutionary purposes, ranging from the inscribed amulet,
whose message of protecting its bearer from harmful forces is clearly expressed, to the
ghubar inscription, whose outer message contains and is constituted by the miniaturized
text that shapes it, and to the phylacteries, where passages inscribed and contained inside
metonymically represent the entire Torah. Since our carpet page design is geometric rather
than verbal, like the ghubar inscription, and its message is fully contained within its
selection of texts, ENA 2630.1 seems to be closer to the amulet in the way it signifies
its contents, whether or not it is intended to be voiced. It recalls carpet pages in biblical
manuscripts in which scriptural blessings are mustered in honor ofthe owner. I suggest that
the illocutionary aspects of those aspirational wishes, fulfilling a semi-talismanic hortative
function, describe the motivation and function ofthese verses for their owner by articulating
the direction he wishes his life to take.
21 As R. Milstein, speaking of other iconic carpect page designs, observes: “another aspect
of these drawings is their role as amulets that represent and transmit eternal bliss,” see
idem (n. 14 above), pp. 429-440, esp. p. 438. Milstein (n. 16 above), pp. 432-433, calls
attention to a later Muslim practice of setting up a gravestone at the head of the deceased
called a shahid ("witness"). Inscribed in the stone is the credal declaration, the shahadat
(“testimony,” “declaration of faith”). The inscription seems to be dynamic, providing
continuous posthumous testimony of its subject’s ongoing faith and his deserving a special
place in the world to come.