Page 257 - גנזי קדם ז

A Unique and Early Use of Micrographic Carpet Page Format 27*

be that the carpet page was already there. The issue of the unsatisfactory layout,
however, works against such a possibility.

In my opinion, whatever the case with the final line(s) of the midrashic
text, the dispositive consideration is the cropping of the margins and its effect
on the leftmost lettering on the verso side (the side containing the midrash).
This was likely done in order to provide a surface of an appropriate size for
the carpet page. The alignment of the lines and disposition of the margins are
determinative here. The distance from the top to the second (inner) framing
line at the top, i.e., the one that has survived, is 15 mm., while the distance
from the bottom of the page to the corresponding line on the bottom is 2 7
mm., providing for a wider margin at the bottom than at the top of the page.31
Similarly, the distance from the left edge to the inner framing line there is 41
mm., and to the inside design 45 mm., whereas the corresponding dimensions
on the right side are 26-32 mm. (the right edge slants, and the inscription
slants even more), and the inner border lettering on that side comes right up
to the edge of the interior area. Further evidence that this idiosyncratic layout
was purposefully designed may be found in the many vertical and horizontal
scorings that survive in this manuscript. They bear no relationship to the
M id ra sh Tehillm text, but they do help set up the border and inside designs of
the carpet page.

In conclusion, therefore, it appears that the carpet page was designed,
however imperfectly, with the intention of fitting the cropped sheet.32 If the
scribe had begun with a fuller-sized sheet that was cut short subsequent to the

containedthe continuation ofthe midrash text, infra-red analysis would be required to assess
the possibility that the writing surface had been scraped clean in preparation for inscribing
the carpet page.
31 It is always possible that the top was subsequently cropped, but this cannot apply to the
sides, as discussed above.
32 The top of the page is severly abraded on both sides, rendering the first line of each virtually
illegible. The fact that the top is slightly curved may be attributed simply to the parchment’s
natural efforts to return to its original shape (as an animal hide) under the stress of centuries
of heat and pressure while lying in the Genizah environment. The proximity to the top of
the first midrashic line may be due to trimming, while in the carpet page it may be attributed