Eli Abt

Can we save these Venetian treasures?

Donations are needed to renovate the shuls of the ghetto reports Eli Abt

4 min read

July 7, 2022 09:03

Illuminating a Spanish Seder

Eli Abt unravels the mysteries of a glorious 14th-century Haggadah from Barcelona

4 min read

April 13, 2022 08:01

The Purim story in full colour - preserved by the desert sands

The ancient synagogue ruins had glorious hidden murals

4 min read

March 10, 2022 16:34

The Purim story in full colour - preserved by the desert sands

The Jews who mapped the stars

As William Shatner reaches for the stars, Eli Abt looks back at the sages who studied them

3 min read

October 21, 2021 12:43

Precious symbols of our nation’s past

Succot’s arba minim are among Jewish images adorning a fourth century mosaic which, says Eli Abt, once fell victim to a shameful attack

3 min read

September 17, 2021 09:58

BP27G7 HAMAT TIBERIAS 4-5TH. C. SYNAGOGUE. DETAIL OF THE MOZAIC FLOOR DEPICTING THE HOLY ARK SURROUNDED BY TWO LARGE CANDELABRA &

As the year turns, a look at the stars

For Rosh Hashanah Eli Abt analyses a zodiac mosaic, the work of the first recorded Jewish artists discovered at a kibbutz

3 min read

September 2, 2021 09:51

The Roman road to Judea’s destruction

Eli Abt visits the British Museum's Nero exhibition to shed light on the background to Tisha b'Av

3 min read

July 15, 2021 10:43

Marble bust of Nero. Italy, around AD 55. Photo by Francesco Piras. With permission of the Ministero per i Beni e le AttivitÃ Culturali e per il Turismo Ì¶ Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Cagliari.

Rembrandt’s gift

At Shavuot we celebrate the giving of the Ten Commandments. But why do some shuls display tablets which seem to have 11?

3 min read

May 13, 2021 11:55

Let the music play for Seder night

A page from a medieval haggadah tells us a lot about the world of the man who commissioned it, says Eli Abt

4 min read

March 25, 2021 10:18

Illuminated page from 'Prayers for the celebration of the Passover',Prayers for the celebration of the Passover; in Hebrew. On vellum, written in the 14th century, with many miniatures and ornaments of singular design and execution. Quarto.

The defiant humour of Purim

Purim is the Jewish festival which takes on hate - and uses humour as a weapon to fight it, says Eli Abt

4 min read

February 25, 2021 10:45

Judith the Chanukah heroine

Visit the National Gallery for the Artemisia Gentileschi.exhibition and you'll see several paintings of Judith, the biblical figure long associated with the festival of Chanukah

3 min read

December 10, 2020 12:50

A world of wondrous books

Eli Abt reviews the British Library's exhibition of Hebrew manuscripts

4 min read

October 1, 2020 11:20

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Latest from Eli Abt

The man who made the menorah

The art of Abraham: the medieval Jewish artist who created a masterpiece machzor

The true meaning of freedom

The sorrow of Jeremiah

More from Eli Abt

Can we save these Venetian treasures?

Illuminating a Spanish Seder

The Purim story in full colour - preserved by the desert sands

The Jews who mapped the stars

Precious symbols of our nation’s past

As the year turns, a look at the stars

The Roman road to Judea’s destruction

Rembrandt’s gift

Let the music play for Seder night

The defiant humour of Purim

Judith the Chanukah heroine

A world of wondrous books