In 1922, the Petrograd ethnographer I. S. Lurie started to collect materials on the culture of Bukharian Jews in Samarkand. On the basis of this collection, the Native-Jewish Museum was created in 1927 in the Jewish quarter of Samarkand, which existed only four years. Among the researchers who wrote about the Bukharian Jews should be mentioned Z. Amitina-Shapiro, Y. Kalontarov, as well as Israeli scientists M. Zand and M. Altshuler. Substantial material on the history and ethnography of Bukharian Jews was published in the collection “Jews in Central Asia. The Past and Present” (1995). Exhaustive information on the prerevolutionary history of Bukharian Jews is contained in A. Kaganovich’s monograph “Friends against their will. Russia and Bukharian Jews. 1800 – 1917” (2016).
Bukharian Jews, as a rule, strictly keep to commandments and customs associated with life cycle rites (circumcisions, weddings, funerals). Ketubah from Samarkand was created two hundred years later, in 1893. Its modest but expressive, decorative scheme attracts attention, and in particular, the image of the six-pointed star located above the main text – the Magen David (Shield of David). This sign became widespread after the First Zionist Congress in Basel (1897), becoming the generally accepted symbol of Jews and Judaism. However, on this ketubah it was used before this event. Here the Magen David, which was a frequent element of amulets, has a protective function: it must protect the young family from the evil eye.
You can learn more about this topic in the book-album “The Collection of the State Museum of the History of Religion” (Volume XII) from the series “Cultural legacy of Uzbekistan in the world collections”.
The general sponsor of the project is the oilfield services company Eriell-Group.
