The

of Moses:

Testing

Muslim

A Comparative

GUTMANN

and
books of Genesis
of the biblical
aphrase
Exodus by the fifteenth-century author Georgios
Chumnos
(London, The British Library, MS Add.
fols.
99v and 100), reveals the test (or or
40724,
of
Moses
found in the San Marco mosaic.4
deal)
Pharaoh
seated upon his
We see the crowned
throne in his palace; the princess has handed the

describes an unusual mosaic depic

Otto Demus
church of San
tion in the late thirteenth-century
. . Pharaoh attended
Marco in Venice as follows:
turning toward
by two guards and two councillors,
in front of the latter kneel or
the child Moses;
two

one

youths,

to

showing

Moses

a lump

of gold (or a precious stone), the other a burning

coal: the child reaches for the latter, thereby prov
. . ." (fig. 1). The in
ing his childish innocence
in
letters
the
accompanying
scription
golden
"Hie
scienciam
scene
reads:
probavit Moyses
vel
( = pueritiam)"
( = scientiam)
puericiam
to
a
test
to determine
Moses
("Here
[is subjected
discernment
whether his actions] demonstrated
or childishness").
Demus
further states that "Al
of the Ordeal has come
though no representation
to light so far in Byzantine art, the way in which
the scene is rendered in the cupola mosaic cer
a Byzantine model, more spe
tainly presupposes
miniature:
the
an
cifically
Early Palaeologan
architectural background, grouping of figures, cos
tumes, and armor all quite clearly support this as
Demus'

sumption."1

is

conjecture

most

in Christian,

and Jewish Art*

JOSEPH

stoop

Study

child Moses

to him. While

'*#RVMfU

the Pharaoh

is holding

iSIP I

percep

tive, and a Byzantine model does indeed exist. In

a Byzantine
icon from the St. Catherine Monas
tery at Mount Sinai dating from the late twelfth
or beginning of the thirteenth century we find the
In the upper
earliest
of this scene.
depiction
painted band surrounding the icon we see Moses
being brought to Pharaoh by the princess (fig. 2)
a scene also found in the eleventh- to thirteenth
century

we

Then

Octateuchs.2

see

Moses

seated

lap and pulling his beard (fig. 3).3 The

of this story cannot be
accompanying
depiction
made out as the icon is in a bad state of preser
on Pharaoh's

vation.

Probably

the

next

scene,

served for us in an illustrated

fortunately

Fig. 1. The Ordeal of Moses.

late 13th c. After
mosaic,

pre

Marco

rhymed Greek par

107

in Venice,

fig. 314.

Venice, San Marco, atrium

The Mosaics
O. Demus,

cupola
of San

The Testing of Moses

gutmann:

WSSfi
Mount
Fig. 2. Moses Being Brought to Pharaoh by the Princess.
Byzantine
icon, late 12th or
Monastery,
Sinai, Saint Catherine
Mtchiganby courtesy of the Michigan
early 13th c. Photo: Reproduced
Princeton-Alexandria

Expedition

to Mount

The

,
by

S beard
monarch S^et(C;hed,out

Sinai.

, .
hlS

,
he

,
,
hands'

and

, , , ,
lo! the

tore!

The king was seized with anger fierce, and

bade his thralls remove
The infant Moses6 out of sight, lest he a

as in the Byzhim, Moses pulls his beardjust

antine icon (fig. 4). In the next scene we observe
Pharaoh pointing to a servant who is displaying
held now by the princess,
two pans. Moses,
is about to touch the pan filled with live coals

danger prove,
And take from him the breath of life: "For
wide Egypts realm
l^ from such conduct I presage) he s
destined to o'erwhelm."
sa*d b's daughter unto him, this
^ay

jg 5)
that the San Marco
however, assumed
Demus,
mosaic reflects an account of the story found in
which relates only that
Antiquities
Josephus'
Pharaoh placed his crown on Moses'
head, but
that
Moses flung it to the groundan
assumption
also makes for the Mount Sinai icon.
Weitzmann
Yet the crown is still on the head of the bearded
Pharaoh in the San Marco mosaic and the Sinai
icon clearly reveals Moses seated on the crowned
Pharaoh's
lap and pulling his beard.5 The Greek
reChumnos
text in the Georgios
manuscript

to display
is all unjust, tis but an
a
child
Against
infant s way
Eut tbat Thou mayest see by trial he knew
not wbat he did,
^ testing for his infant mind I thee to frame
passion

would bid.
two twin bowls bright coins and fire I d
have thee set to view:
then will
h the child hankers for the coins
charge be true.
So forthwith Pharaoh gave command, and

cords the event as follows:

fire and coins they set,

Straightway the babe did lift the fire till it
and his lips met [as depicted in the
Chumnos
miniature].
The flames that flicker on his tongue his
utterance impair;

She [the princess] carried him within the

hall that he her lord might greet,
fust as king Pharaoh sat him down at table
to take meat,
him and in
Full kindly Pharaoh welcomed
his arms upbore;

108

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The Testing of Moses

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Beard. Mount
Pulls Pharaoh's
Sinai, Saint Cath
Fig. 3. Moses
erine Monastery,
icon, late 12th or early 13th c.
Byzantine
Photo:
of the Michigan-PrincetonMichigan-Princeton
Reproduced
by courtesy
Alexandria
to Mount Sinai.
Expedition

This

Moses
to

i
j
heard '
,
, ,
had
done

be

.
. ,
it without

and

spite

ten

little

which

the

child

should

were

that

would

thee,"
before
charger

hold

he

him,

but

his

l .
,
traditions.

not

death.
let

But

the

king

it in ignorance,
said,

they
the

"we

child

with

red

do

wise
evil

men

will

try him."
with

like

And

hls

if

"If

stretched

unto

on

the

finger
and

his

out
child's

quickly
tongue

his

hand

he

finger,
to his
was

and

he

mouth,
burned;

fire, and

cried
and

out,
held

wherefore

a spark
and

Moses,

hand

in
.

,
a late
.
7

Richmond,

his

fl-

tongue,
the

This

wife]
.

you

imagine."

may

before

Gabriel

ordered

fir,c
him.

Moses

but

[his

reached

took

his

a live

actions|
that

toward
and
coal,

so that

tongue,

Pharaoh

they

fla11 f )ugubes

immediately

Moses

sur

to a child.

discernment

another

am

"I

at his

me

Then

appeared

ensued,

overtakes

she

with
and

enemy

ascertam

and

caressed

beard

responded:

such

you

u l f

is my

calamity

tHwa,rd thf,firemouth
and burned

stuck

carried

it to his

tenth

and

arms

Pharaoh's

pulled

some

that

,a baf[n
both
Placed

in his

said;

It is this latter textual

but

the

literature,
the

excused

the

guided
placed
a speech

him

[his

be

aviorj.

if he catches
at the fire.
.
,/ajtv^
his
And
Moses
ignorance.

-i.
in

before

go

hat

impediment

catches at the gold, it is evident that he took hold of the

beard
kings
purposely,
ijii
he did
it innocently

him

11 m h's

they

pharaoh

[Pharaoh's
.
you attribute

but

coals,

saying:

Islamic
Tnkh,

Moses
and

siya
that

not

hli^
and

child,
"and

burning

fire,

the
who

to the

unknowingly,

a charger

gold

the

are

took
seized

and
^im

prised

at

that

in

featured
(838-923)

Pharoah

hands."

beard,

commanded

also

Moses

hand

Test

of Pharaoh's

and

angry
to

put

he did

brought
a

took

became

be

it please
and

not

Then

wqj

fingers,

king

there,

saying

was

is

Tabari's

,,,,,,,

teared.

i
. r

A
^
j
A similar
in Armenian
story ' is found
, ,
. ,
..
,
The
child
we are told,
with
Moses,
his

as

century Persian version of it by Bahami9 and the

Qisas
al-Anbiya1 of Ishaq ibn
eleventh-century
Ibrahim ihn Mansur ihn Khalaf al-Nishpri.
Nis
hpr retells the story as follows:

The bitterness of pain was such that he did

tear his hair.
So Pharaoh comfort had about the plucking
ri
or iiis

tale

such

104v).

crowned

Sav-

.
,
sixteenth-century

manuscript

Pharaoh

version that is illustrated

the

Keir

Surrey,
It

clearly
with

Nishapun
_

Qazvin

private

reveals
the

the
child

al
Qisas
V */Tt
style
(Ham,

collection,

MS

enthroned

and

Moses

seated

in

his lap, pulling his beard. Asiya (Pharaoh's wife),

mentioned in the text, is not visible. However, the

ior of Israel, came to be of slow tongue and stammering

in the house of Pharaoh.8

109

The Testing of Moses

gutmann:

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;y

,~Kms

on
Chumnos
Greek poem
Ordeal.
Georgios
Fig. 5. Moses'
The British Library, MS Add.
Genesis
and Exodus.
London,
16th c. Photo: Reproduced
by per
40724, fol. 100. Byzantine,
mission
of the British Library.

la

Chumnos
Greek
Georgios
London, The British Library, MS
16th c. Photo: Reproduced
Add. 40724, fol. 99v. Byzantine,
by
of the British Library.
permission
Fig. 4. Moses Pulls Pharaoh's
and Exodus.
poem on Genesis

Beard.

.
a'so
(

Balaam)

and

,
=
I

T ,
, .1C
Bll am
Jethro),
=
Job).15
Ayyub
(

killed. . . .
Ayyb said nothing. . . .
Shucaib said: . . .
"Order that two large basins be brought
before me so that I may demonstrate my
. . .
opinion"
On one [basin] they placed an ass-load of
gold and on the other a store-room of fire
[only the basin with fire is shown], . . .
He [Moses] was seated quickly between the

Shhin (Jeruperiod, by the Jewish poet Mauln

MS
no.
Israel
180/54, fol. 18).
Museum,
salem,
seated
on his throne, is
a
crowned
Pharaoh,
Again
child
Moses with a
the
his
beard
pulled by
having
flame-halo around his head. Moses is held in his
lap and one of three standing figures, on the left,

two basins. . . . his hand reached playfully

for the gold. . . .
At that very moment Gabriel came from the
[Divine] Presence
He tQok his hands by force [and moyed
them] towards the fire.
The hand bumt by thg fire is Uke glass and
be pUt tbe woun(jecj finger in his mouth
From the finger his tongue was burned at
16

is bringing a basin with fire (fig. 7).13

The Shhin text reads:

He [Moses] sat in the arms of that accursed

infidel while Pharaoh kissed him many
times.

.
His beard was studded with jewels
he
The Prophet was vexed by his beard
and
Pharaoh
s
beard
seized
suddenly
tightly gripped the beard of that lost
infidel.
He caused him [Pharaoh] to jump until it

Demus further assumed that "In spite of . . . dif

ferences it is certain that the ultimate source of
must
in San Marco
the scene
as represented
on the
be sought in the Jewish commentaries
is not borne out by the
Bible."17 This assumption
evidence. No extant Jewish sources have the beard
pulling episode and no surviving Jewish source of
the tenth century. Such
this legend antedates

(the beard] was uprooted.

The head of that evil thinking one was
bleeding.
The color of that accursed one changed
When he felt [Moses'] firm blow he became
of the blemished

,c
Sh aib

They were sitting [in the miniature they are

standing] before his throne with girded
loins, ready for service. . . .
Bilcam said to Pharaoh: "He should be

two filled basins are depicted just below the two

seated courtiers (fig. 6).12
Another miniature of this theme is found in a
of the
late
manuscript
seventeenth-century
Ms
Nma
(Moses' Book), an epic
Judeo-Persian
around
written
1327, during the Ilkhanid
poem

afraid.
In the presence

Lorci

infidel were
110

The Testing of Moses

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Moses

Courtesy

^ t,
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1

^ j/.
JSJS'j*/'/**'
3^/~4l

tJLju.-

al
Beard.
Qisas
Nishpri,
Keir pripri
Surrey, The Manor House,
104v. Qazvin
style, c. 1570-1580.
of Mr. Edmund
de Unger.

Pulls

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WW
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ilUbpfflMM
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'od?T

Pharaoh's

Ms Nma
of Mauln
Nma
Pulls Pharaoh's
Beard. Ms
Fig. 7. Moses
MS 180/54, fol. 18. Tabriz!
Israel Museum,
Shhin.
Shhin.
Jerusalem,
of the Israel Museum.
1686. Photo: Courtesy

Richmond,
MS fol.

placed before him towards the live coal so that he

"slow
burns his mouth and tongue and becomes
of speech and slow of tongue" (Exodus 4:10).19
In Jewish art, we have a late fourteenth-century
miniature in a Spanish Haggadah (Budapest, Hun
MS A 422, p. 9)
of Sciences,
garian Academy
which reveals two episodes
(fig. 8). In the upper
Hebrew inscription
in
with
the
scene,
keeping
above the frame of the miniature, Pharaoh and his
be
daughter are seated at a table, with Moses
tween them. The infant Moses has removed Phar
aoh's crown and placed it on his own head. On the
left are Pharaoh's
three councillors,
Jethro, Ba

early sources as the Targums and the Babylonian

Talmuds are unaware of this legand Palestinian
bibend. Even the well-known
eleventh-century
Rashi appears not to be famillical commentator
iar with this Moses story.18
In most surviving Jewish sources Pharaoh does
not set his crown on Moses' head and Moses does
not fling the crown to the ground, as Josephus has
it. Jewish sources claim that Moses takes Pharaoh's crown and places it on his own head. This
action may symbolize Moses' future leadership of
the Israelites and his possible usurpation of Pharin Egypt. Either Egyptian magiaoh's kingdom
cians advise death and Jethro counsels testing the
child Moses or Balaam advises death and the angel Gabriel, disguised as one of the Egyptian wise
men, proposes the test. In addition, many Jewish
legends have the angel Gabriel forcefully guiding
Moses' hand away from the gold or precious stone

laam and Job.20 Below, we note two filled vessels

one with precious
stones, the other with live
the infant Moses taking something
coals21and
with his right hand (perhaps a precious stone) and
bringing it to his mouth with his left hand. An
angel (Gabriel) descends from the sky and grasps

111

gutmann:

The Testing of Moses

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Removes
Pharaoh's
Crown and His Ordeal. Hag
Fig. 8. Moses
of Sciences,
MS A 422,
gadah.
Budapest,
Hungarian
Academy
late 14th c. Photo:
of the Hungarian
p. 9. Spain,
Courtesy
of Sciences.
Academy

Fig. 9. Moses
lem, Schocken

Pharaoh's
Crown.
Haggadah.
Jerusa
for Jewish Studies of the Jewish Theo
of America,
MS 24087, fol. 9. Southern
Ger
logical Seminary
half of the 15th c. Photo:
of the
many, second
Courtesy
Schocken
Institute
for Jewish Studies
of the Jewish Theologi

Moses'
left hand (perhaps to guide it towards
the live coals). An enthroned, crowned Pharaoh
while
points with his left hand toward Moses,
a
sword
with
his
hand.
The
gripping
right
Egyp
tian councillors
are on the left. These episodes ap
pear to follow such accounts as Exodus Rabbah.
The three councillors
are described
in Exodus

cal Seminary

to follow
ha-Yashar,
death

Rabbah
1:9, and 1:26 mentions Moses removing
Pharaoh's crown in the presence of his daughter.
The Egyptian magicians,
to this ac
according

Removes

Institute

of America.

such

accounts
which have

as those
Balaam

found in Sefer
the
counselling

of Moses.23

Yet the first version of the story of Moses pull

ing Pharaoh's beard and being subjected to a test,
as illustrated in Byzantine and Islamic art, is not
a Jewish source, but the ninth-century Byzantine
Palaea Histoiica,24
It is, of course, possible that the Byzantine, Ar
menian, Islamic and Jewish versions of the story
are dependent
on no longer extant early Chris
tian Greek chronicles
and/or Hellenistic
Jewish
sources. David Flusser, who discusses
Josephus'
version of this story, has already posed the ques
tion: "Is this legend about Moses [flinging Phar
aoh's crown to the ground] a product of Jewish
Hellenistic
literature, or is it a 'rabbinic' legend?
The first possibility
seems
more probable
to
us. . . . The legend itself has the flavour of a Jewish

count, recommended
death, but Jethro proposed
the test of a live coal and a gold vessel.22
In two related Haggadah
from
manuscripts
Southern Germany, dating from the second half of
the fifteenth century, we have only Moses stand
crown.
ing on a table while removing Pharaoh's
Moses, the king, the princess and Balaam are din

Hebrew
ing at the table (fig. 9). The accompanying
reads: "The boy Moses,
before the
inscription
and councillors,
the crown
(Egyptian] magicians
from Pharaoh's
head removes. Balaam,
the sor
cerer and the diviners said: 'The boy will put the
kingdom on his head.'" These illustrations appear

112

gutmann:

The

('

Hellenistic
story; it should not be forgotten that
the first witness for the story is Josephus who
either knew an older form of the story or abbre
viated

version
of
in Christian

until

a.D.26

the

mid-twelfth

century

the
art

However,

from the fourteenth century on, Christian art pro

vides many illustrations
which display fascinat
variations
on
the
ing
Josephus story. Most of these
accounts are based on Petrus Comestor's
twelfth
Historia
Scholastica
century
(P.L.
198, cols.
One
Terimith
day [Princess]
1143D-1144B):27
=
to
Pharaoh
for
(
Thermutis)
brought [Moses]
the king to adopt him. And the king was en
chanted by the boy's beauty, so he took the crown
from his head and set it on the child's head.28 And
on the crown was fashioned
the image of [the
Amon.29
The
Egyptian god]
boy, however, [grasped
crown]

and

threw

it on

the

and

ground

innocence.'
fered

in

And,

the

his

mouth

the

Hebrews

child

live

and
claim

order
coals

burned
he

to
and

his
had

prove
he

tongue.
a speech

this,
placed

%
j

the
inhe
in

they

of-

them

in

And

broke

it. Then the priest of Heliopolis30

. . . wanted
child killed immediately,
but with the king's
tervention and a certain wise man's persuasion
was rescued, for they said that the child acted

10. Moses
pjg
Fig. jq
Fire. Speculum

impediment.32

Salvationis

fourteenth

dating from the second

century

diktinerstiftsbibliothek,

(Kremsmnster,

MS

Cremifanensis

Pharaoh's

Humanae

liothek.
iothek.

(tnrfir
emprtr

and

Crown

the Ordeal

of

Salvationis.
MS

Bene
Kremsmnster,
Cremifanensis
243, fol. 17. Ger

Courtesy

of the Benediktinerstiftsbib

fol. 17). The iconography

depicted here becomes
standard for the many Speculum
of
manuscripts
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The min
iature (fig. 10) reveals Pharaoh
his
enthroned,
shattered

crown lying in the foreground. Moses is

for
the hot coals in a container, which a
reaching
courtier holds out to him. Another courtier is be
hind Moses swinging his sword. The inscription

reads: "The child Moses breaks Pharaoh's crown

with [the image of the Egyptian god] Amon, [the
idol] is his [Pharaoh's] god."39
The episode related by Comestor is most clearly
illustrated in the 1362 Planisio Bible from Naples,
MS lat.
Italy (Vatican City, Biblioteca
Apostolica,
3550, fol. 32). Two scenes in the lower margin of
the page are devoted to the ordeal of Moses (fig.
11). On the left, we see Princess Thermutis, wear
ing her crown, and her entourage: she is holding
the child Moses
in her arms as the enthroned

Dutch
Rijmbijbela
thirteenth-century
parain such
phrase of the Historia Scholastica36and
chronicles as those of Rudolf von Ems37 and Jansen Enikel.38
A superb miniature
of Moses'
ordeal is illustrated in a German
Hucopy of the Speculum
the

Shatters

diktinerstiftsbibliothek,
many, c. 1330. Photo:

thereby

the Jewish versions which stress Moses'

the Christian sources in
predestined leadership,
troduce
a novel
elementthe
destruction
of
Pharaoh's crown because it had a pagan idol fashioned on it. Moses in the role of an iconoclast
becomes a Christian antitypehe
is likened to Jesus who condemns and destroys idolatry.33
The Comestor
story, as related in the Historia
becomes
Scholastica,
popular and exerts a profound influence on the literature and art of fourteenth-fifteenth
century Europe.34 Its influence
can be seen in the many fourteenth-fifteenth cenof Moses'
ordeal in the Specutury miniatures
lum Humanae
in fifteenth-century
Salvationis,35
Dutch
illustrations
of Jacob van Maerlant's

manae

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* ,
j.
tW4ummo)ftn_jrtTSinpcrfl tanrgir
rarer h'oWom&^jiioe trthlw oofla msriftamt
'2 smrnrnm
JLmmrnm,
mtwJL*
*,^*5*ZKnot wff1
"IT1*
TZ*

Unlike

of

itV
tin ift
Ur? traiTorffiru ait&rr
an q mtttf lift
kotc
Kutirgmti
geanun&B
Tsntor^Wo attar* (jib tin
am
ton xwr^bi
wuTnam
alfonilwo Ob$K>i
tilftn$cMnrfiatrfynaaf9>ton
Mnrtjairfl*ran^;

it."25

a.D.
Josephus'
first-century
Moses legend is not illustrated

the

of Moses

Testing

quarter
Bene-

Pharaoh

places

the

crown

on

Moses'

we see the crown, with its Amon

243,
113

head.

Next

idol clearly vis

gutmann:

SaagiiiSiSsmSw
w

The Testing of Moses

c ti
(lir la tdlc
tl tc
c ea
sa aum
rtfe qjo^fts
co40tine
mc fltr
oioffis-c
mofiftsmer
jsnc ^>jffw
(epicure
ptaitrcgsnc
autrcCuiolmmail
arnott- aawliK
uolwmets U mmmgwar
metre amoa
amuumttmetro
ffre(ire autreO
i cDiiuumw
maunguarvn|
vnj
amutttt. Shatters
Pharaoh's
Crown
and the Ordeal
of
Fig. 12. Moses
The British Library, MS
Fire. Queen
Psalter. London,
Mary's
first quarter of the 14th c.
Royal 2 B. VII, fol. 23v. England,

and the Ordeal

of
Shatters
Pharaoh's
Crown
Fig. 11. Moses
MS
Fire. Planisio
Bible. Vatican
Apostolica,
City, Biblioteca
of the
lat. 3550, fol. 32. Naples,
Courtesy
Italy, 1362. Photo:
Biblioteca

Apostolica

Photo:

princess'

of the British

by permission

Library.

Vaticana.

and Jewish art from

Islamic, Western Christian
on.
the twelfth century
Byzantine and Islamic il
and
texts
favor
the story of Moses pull
lustrations
and
thus
Pharaoh's
beard
being subjected to a
ing
test. Medieval
Christian art generally prefers Pe
ter Comestor's
rendering of the story which has

ible, falling to the ground, and the test of Moses.

as in the San
A bearded old sage is kneeling,
Marco mosaic, and is holding a container of live
coals, as a haloed Moses brings the coal to his
mouth. Behind Moses is a kneeling woman and
the

Reproduced

crown because
it was
Moses breaking Pharaoh's
decorated with an idol. The ordeal of fire ensues.
Jewish sources and Jewish art prefer having Moses
remove Pharaoh's crown and place it on his own
head. The test of live coals and gold/precious
stone follows.
Where the original stories arose and precisely
when and where the different variations on the ba

entourage.40

The well-known
Queen Mary's Psalter of the
first quarter of the fourteenth century also fea
tures this story (London, The British Library, MS
Royal 2 B. VII, fol. 23v). The enthroned king places
the crown on Moses' head with his right hand (fig.
12). Moses is depicted casting the crown into the
fire, while the king points with his left hand to

sic theme

the scene on the far right. Here, Moses is taking

the live coal from the bowl, held by a sage, and
in
bringing it to his mouth. The accompanying
"And
it
is
Phar
reads:
Moses
(sicbut
scription
aoh) puts his crown on Moses' head, and he takes
it and throws it in the fire; and he [Pharaoh] com
mands to put him to death. 'Ah, sire, sire, he

remains

were invented
an

open

and then disseminated,

question.

There

are

too

many

gaps in the surviving literary traditions. Just as

there is no simple answer for the literary sources,
so no single model or archetype can be found for
in Byzantine,
Is
the many artistic renditions
Christian
and
medieval
Western
lamic, Jewish,
art.

would

just as gladly eat a burning coal'."41

beard or crown and
The story of Pharaoh's
Moses' ordeal, first recorded in Josephus' Antiqui
ties, has spawned many literary and artistic vari
ations on the basic theme. In the literary realm,
these are found from the ninth century on in Byz
Armenian
and medieval
Jewish
antine, Islamic,
source of
and Christian
sources.
The ultimate
both Josephus' account and the later versions of it

Notes
'I

indebted

am

for reading

Chyet,

to

my

this

good

paper

Prof.

friend,
and

F.

Stanley
suggestions

making

for its improvement.

1. O.

(Chicago,
314, 316.

Jewish lit
may stem from a now lost Hellenistic
erary source. The story is illustrated in Byzantine,

2.
153;

114

The

Demus,

Mosaics

of San

Marco

1984), vol. 1, pp. 90, 172-73;

Vatican
Istanbul,

City,

Apostolic

Topkapi

Saray

Library,
Library,

in

Venice

vol. 2, pis. 75,

cod.
cod.

gr. 746,
gr.

8,

fol.
fol.

gutmann:

157v

and

Smyrna,

Influence

of Jewish
in

Illustration,"

"The

Weitzmann,
Pictorial

on Old
No

ed.,

the

of the

Question

Sources

J. Gutmann,

A. I, fol. 64v

cod.

School,

Evangelical
K.

Cf.

(destroyed).

The Testing of Moses

3. Cf.

K. Weitzmann,

The

ed.,

Place

"The

Present

Past,

of Book

Illumination

in

St.

Georgios

Catherine

fols.
I am

to the

me

ing

crowned

indebted

deeply

at

Monastery
It depicts

147v-148.

brought

Chumnos

of the

photos

and

Pharaoh
to Prof.

Kurt

cod.

Sinai,
child

the

only

and

manuscript

being

his

pulling

Weitzmann

beard.

mann,

"Josephus'
Art:

Century
"La

source

Cf.

also

or

d'un

Creatio?"

Byzantine

H.

Biblical

Legends in Islamic
1982),

on

the

6. The

Marshall,

Greek

Poem

in most
Old

ed.,
on

de Sebourc,"

14.

accounts

Genesis

and

Legends

Exodus

by

H.

Zotenberg,

trans.,

de

Chronique

but

in

from

that

standing,

mentions

that

and

beauty

at age

stature

three

Old

Testament

Legends,

lim

104

XXV,

The

Uncanonical

of the

Writings

M.

Neue

Grnbaum,

genkunde

(Leiden,

source,"

133-38

Cf.

The

also

Islamic

of the

semitischen

and

156-60,

1893),
for other

Tales

zur

Beitrge

10.

Most

Islamic

coal,

for apples

151,

11.1

am

versions

have

cf. Hamilton,
and

indebted

stones

precious

"La

source,"

Vera

Moreen

136,

Moses
late

To

and

of Tongue':

Testament

edge,

manuscripts,

it is the

only

and,

Nshpr

to the

crown

careful

scrutiny.

head.

images

exceeds

laam

best

manuscript

of my
that

in Rab

Balaam

and

Lot
"La

Hamilton,

Vera

for this

Moreen

trans

c. is influenced

of this

of San

by Mus

story.
173.

Marco,

source,"

130-33,

citations,

items in J. Gutmann,

Jewish

"The Hag

Eretz-Israel

Iconography,"

der Agada

J. H.
On

Tigay,

Moses'

A. Scheiber,

The

(New

Speech

York,

1932),

of Mouth'

'"Heavy

Kaufmann

'Heavy

BASOR

Difficulty,"
Haggadah

n.

p. 55,

and

231

(Budapest,

1957), 22-23. The Hebrew inscription above the frame

trans

that of some fifteen known illustrated Nshpr, Qisas

al-Anbiy3

Balaam

Pharaoh,

14th

"La

(1978), 57-67.

185-86.

of Old

in

Lichte

"The

cycle

men

im

Moses

extensive

are

Cf. also

reads:

Its

and

Jethro,

of

versions

Mosaics

Motif

table.

deserves

Pharaoh

194.

20.

manuscript

of

name

of the

epic
Jewish

Hamilton's

12. B. W. Robinson, ed., Islamic Painting and the

Arts of the Book, The Keir Collection (London, 1976),
Keir

between

137.

source,"

to Prof.

grateful

lation.

The

Cf. also

Combat

Moses

147-48,

for this

"The

trans.

dates.
to Prof.

Judaeo

story.

Cf.

W. M. Thackston, Jr.,(Boston, 1978), 218.

burning

in

(1960), 18*-20*, and S. Brock, "Some Syriac Legends

concerning Moses," Journal of Jewish Studies 33 (1982),
237-55, should be added.
19. Cf. L. Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews (Phila
delphia, 1947), vol. 5, p. 402, n. 65, and A. Rosmarin,

"La

of this

of al-Kisd'i,

Prophets

gadic

Sa

Hamilton,

versions

103 (1953),

Paintings

Job, Jethro

the bibliographical

8. P. J. Issaverdens,

also

"La

der

Zeitschrift

137.
am

and
18.

7.

Old Testament (Venice, 1901), 167-68.

9. Zotenberg, Chronique, vol. 1, pp. 300-301.

as

Moses'

Miniatures," BAI 1 (1987),

councillors

17. Demus,

XX,

around

Gesellschaft

councillors

sources

three

Shhn

of other

children his age, Jewish Antiquities 2.9.6.

7. Marshall,

un

believers

lation. Cf. A. Netzer, Poems of the Jews of Persia and

Bokhara (Jerusalem, 1971), 23-25 (in Hebrew). The

under

that

true

Ostasien,"

Moreen,

three

Islamic

the
16.1

(Paris,

Moses'

far surpassed

V.

Counsellors

source,"

1958), vol. 1, p. 300, he is five. Josephus is the earliest

source

irredeemable
such

flame-halo

Miniature

and

These

Some
as

Georgios

Tabari

Jew

binic and Patristic Tradition (Chico, Calif., 1983), 127.

Chumnos (Cambridge, 1925), 104, Moses is four and in

M.

the

in

Moreen,

Pharaoh's

insult.

is three,

Testament

Art,"

tioned in the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhdrin 106a and

Sotah lia. Cf. also Exodus Rabbah 1.9 and J.R. Baskin,

source,"

as a gross

On

Cf. Hamilton,

15.

Extra

"La

Hamilton,
beard

in Islamic

with

Moses and Og in Muslim

117-18.

fr

and

V.

J. Gutmann

Folk-Literature (Walldorf
and

144,

of Moses

age

F. H.

Twelfth

Zeitschrift

Biblical

of a man's

pulling

in

of
Is

and

Persian Manuscripts (Cincinnati, 1985), 43-44.

J. Gut

Philologie 36 (1912), 129

Schwarzbaum,

47-48,

and

Cf. G. L. Hamil

de Baudouin

episode

Hessen,
137,

173,

48 (1985), 434-35.

Zeitschrift fr Romanische
30.

Marco,

Jewish Antiquities

Renovatio

Kunstgeschichte
ton,

of San

Burial

Christian

infidelthe

is juxtaposed

Heiligenschein

13.
Mosaics

Demus,

evil

accursed,
200-202.

"Der

icon.
5.

in

of Moses

deutschen morgenlndischen
156-92.

for send

of the

Motif

head, cf. R. Milstein, "Light, Fire and the Sun in Is

lamic Painting," Studies in Islamic History and Civi
lization in Honour of Professor David Ayaion, ed. M.
Sharon (Jerusalem, 1986), 536-40, and S. Behrsing,

1187,

Moses

the

Moses,

is in the

manuscript

Mount

"Cain's

J. Gutmann,

Iconography

believerwho

Art

Byzantine

(Princeton, 1975), 24-28.

4. Another

lims

in J. R. Martin,

Future,"

Cf.

Legendary

ish Ait 12/13 (1986/1987), 210. Milstein points out that

Pharaoh, along with Satan (Eblis), symbolizes to Mus

Book

of Byzantine

Study

and

Jewish

"The

stein,

Images:

Studies in Art and the Hebrew Bible (New York, 1971),

316.
Illumination:

of Moses.

lamic Art," Eretz-Israel 16 (1982), p. 98, n. 24; R. Mil

Testament

Graven

ordeal

Abel:

21.

from
The
and
The

king

and

his

stretched
Pharaoh's
three

daughter

forth
head

councillors

his
and
of

were
hand

placed

dining
and

took

it on

PharaohJethro,

his

at

the
own
Ba

Job."
Hebrew

texts

do

not

mention

two

vessels

filled with either gold or precious stones and live coals,

as depicted in our miniature. A glowing coal and gold

knowl
depicts

115

The Testing of Moses

gutmann:

or a precious
Rosmarin,

stone

cited.

is usually

Cf.

and

Ginzberg

n. 19.

supra,

22. A. Shinan, Midrash Shemot Rabbah, Chapters I

XIV (Jerusalem, 1984), 82-84 (in Hebrew).
23. B. Narkiss and G. Sed-Rajna, Index of Jewish Art
(Munich, 1978), II/2, card 44 ("Second Nuremberg Hag
MS

gadah"

9v, of the

fol.

24087,

Schocken

America

in

and

Jerusalem),

the

in

Cf.

Gutmann,

"Haggadic

Vasiliev,

ed.,

Anecdota

Graeco-Byzantina

(Moscow,
The

1893),

test

of Moses

or a naked

age

of

S.

"Palaea

Flusser,

"The

Illustrated

ings:

A New

in the

Midrash

for the

Dimension

Gutmann,

"La

source,"

156-57;
dans

rachiques

G.

N.
de

la peinture

His

dum

"Quem

Synagogue
of Judaism,"

18 *-20*;

Pharaoni,

coronam

venustatem,
illius

'Hic

Deus

monstravit,

voluit

irruere

cum

esse
prunas

Unde
mant."
tian
source,"

allatas

puero

Comestor

139-46;

D.

what

A.

used.
Wells,

Cf.

Vorau

and

Observations:

The

Source

ter Comestor
28.

influence

of direct
Most

by Jews

on

of Hebrew

the writings

medieval

Christian

sources

man

cf.

versions

Brock,

of this

Story

(Morris,

"Syriac

Legends,"

D.

and

140;

source,"

den

aus

Die

Korol,
Grabbauten

wise

have

Palaea

has

Moses

sources

Many

in the

In
men

counseled
has

(Enikel

as

versions).

accounts

In the

death

urging
to death,

Islamic

Vor au

Moses.

testing

or sages

(the

differ as to who

sources

Moses

and

of the

Phar
Ar

Palaea,

addition,

many
for

a test

advising

has

Enikel

and

Pharaoh,

story

between

Cf.

Palaea,

and

sources

In

"La

is given

no

the story

choice.

Moses

He

pulls
is given

a burning

and
and

138,

Flusser,
and

Scholastica

Historia

on him,

Moses

on Pharaoh's

stone

source,"

Comestor's

versions

one,

sources

Jewish

Moses

two

tramples

gold/precious

dependent

as Moses

he

247-48)
are

Palaeain

other,

late

Hamilton,
66.

"La

or fire (there

the

in the

in the

Also

choice

coal.

in

given

beard;

Anecdota,

(Vasiliev,
of gold

a choice

crown).

little

makes

can

only

sense,
for the

reach

burning coals set before him. The angel Gabriel, who

Tra

is not

counts,
that

role

a dominant

such

plays

in a German

aoh's

the

116

34a,

fols.

crown

Picture

fol.

18,

and

and

from

the

ac

Jewish

to note

It is interesting

Bible

Moses

17v-18,
on

Islamic

in

here.

mentioned

the 15th c., Stadtbibliothek

of Pe

App.
follow

Courtauld

139-41.
of Moses

death

advised

condemning

32.

et

Chris

Moses

Historia

the

knight suggesting the ordeal of fire).

is untenable."
late

a wise

Moses

ditions in the Historia Scholastica," Harvard Theolog

ical Review 66 (1973), 385, correctly observes: "The
thesis

have

medieval

to Exegetical
T. S. Lachs,

Balaam: A Study of their Relationship

Tradition (Cambridge, 1970), 123-24;
"Notes

who

menian

autu

Hamilton,

The

and

aoh

fa

corrupit.

earlier

Early

(Mnster, 1987), p. 106, n. 390.

death

Pharaoh's

fuisse

An

and

in German

Wandmalereien

medieval

rei argumentum
eas ori suo
igne

"La

The

is given

eum

and

source,"

Artapanus,

Hamilton,

31.

puer

linguae

to determine

the

hoc

summitatem

impeditioris

difficult

demanding

frhchristlichen

et

per ignorantiam

In cujus
obtulisset,

suae

linguae

sources

qui

sapientis
asseruit.

Ru

ed.,

Exodus,

Warburg

appear
"La

Jour

est,

and

Illustration
of the

also

Jupiter)

238;

capiti

liberatus

historian

ish

careamus,'

regis

call

of Genesis and Exodus, X). Heliopolis is already men

tioned in the 2d c. b.c. writings of the Hellenistic Jew

occidendum

timor

auxilio

a puero

et Hebraei
It is

sed

in eum,

et

opposuit,

caetero

de

Bible

cf. Hamilton,

liopolis

et fre
in terram,
projecit
a latere
regis surgens,
quem

puer,

ut

chronicle,

Scholastica,

Ehrismann,

(G.

of Genesis

Journal

mid

imago

Hamon

Story

in Cimitile/Nola

gestabat,

nobis

Ems

the

Historia

the

30. The Middle English version has the Bishop of He

rex pueri

Ammonis

ea

Heliopoleos
est

cujusdam

peruasione

in

coronam

autem

Sacerdos

exclamavit:

factum

quam

autem

Puer

forte

tunc

on

crown

The

ed.,

story,

obtulisset

admirans

god

Jovis

Hamilton,

Terimith

adoptaret,

autem

Erat

imposuit.

brefacta.
git.

eum

ut et ipse

im

Deutsche

Institutes 37 [1974], 131, 139, pi. 32-b, c). Aman and

Pro

Poussin,"

on

Scholastica,"

Point

"Legendes

the

as

such

sources,

dependent

teenth-Century

J. Gutmann,

Dura

die

quadam

poems

English Song [New York, 1969], X), and in the Dutch

Jacob van Maerlant's Riimbijbel (S. Hindman, "Fif

nal of Jewish Art 9 (1982), 47-50.

27.

the

call

J. Diemer,

idol),

Abgott,

13th-c.

are

Morris,

Legends,"

"Neglected

Nicholas

189D;

Ordi

Glossa

dolf von Ems Weltchronik [Berlin, 1915), 122-23). He

is also called Hamon in Middle English accounts (R.

(in Hebrew).

Deutsch,

German

of a simula

the

of a

Study

Motif,"

"Haggadic

speak
cf.

accounts.

a choice

ceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Re

search 50 (1983), p. 95, n. 9; S. Rappaport, Agada und
Exegese bei Flavius Josephus (Vienna, 1930), p. 116, n.
137; Brock, "Syriac Legends," 237-55.
26. Gutmann, "Josephus' Jewish Antiquities," 434
47;

Later

which

Palaea

67;

apgot

writings
crown,

and

crown

Jewish

source,"

Lieberman,

Historica,"

Pharaoh's

the

Biblical

Sources," Tarbiz 42 (1972/1973), 48-50

113,

(P.

Gedichte des XI. und XII. Jahrhunderts (Vienna, 1849),

Motif,"

22 (1971), 64-65. Brock, "Syr

and

251,

Legends,"

25.

an

Moses'

version

139.

cf. Flusser,"

Source

Scripta Hierosolymitana
iac

given

being

sword;

Unknown

toricaAn

"La

Hamilton,

227-28;

consisted

crown

golden

naria,

P.L.

col.

Enikel

as in the

head,

12th-century
Early
=
on the
(
image)

Josephus.
on

Werke [Hannover, 1900], X,

removed

has
own

on

crown

[ansen

crum

37.

A.

Moses

relies

the

places

13th-century

it on his

29.

18*19*.
24.

the

130-32)
placed

Haggadah,"

Jerusalem.

In

in turn

which

Pharaoh

Strauch, Jansen Enikel's

ibid., II/3, card 47, MS 180/50, fol. 8v of the Israel Mu

seum

stories

for

Institute

"Yahuda

Scholastica,

these

head.

Seminary of

Jewish Studies of the Jewish Theological

Historia
In

half

second

of

Nrnberg, MS Cent. V,
is shown
fol.

17v

shattering
has

the

Phar

ordeal

of

gutmann:

(cf. T. Ehrenstein,

Moses

Das

Alte

Testament

The Testing of Moses

im

Bilde

nos.

X,

82-83

Frstlich

(Regensburg,

Thum

und

Tax

[Vienna, 192.3], p. 316, fig. 9, and K. Schneider, Die

Handschriften der Stadtbibliothek
Nrnberg: Die

is'sche Hofbibliothek, MS, fols. 39d and 40b from S.

deutschen

liothek,

mittelalterlichen

Handschriften

den, 1965), vol. 1, p. 440). The German inscription

above

the frame

artist

is

count.

of the

Moses

illustration

from

departing
is

here

the

makes

clear

Historia
a choice

given

that

dinar

and

a burning

coal

in Midrash

Enikel

Wa-Yosha,

fluenced

Testament

Pharaoh's

Leg

study.

Semitic

remark:

the two

scended

from

German

Moses'

Kurzmann:

still

"Jews

the

love

to

lisp

"La

de

rhymed

of Andreas

since

Moses

they

Humanae

tica
be

The
on

influence

the

Salvationis

and

S. M.

Cf.

and the Late Medieval

73,

323-84;
C.

The

"Josephus'

Bible

in

Cf.

tionis

E.

Medieval

Mirror,

Padua

still

144-45;

Wilson

and

tury,"

Italian

Connection

Journal

Humanae

Speculum

of the

in
Warburg

the

in

and

lustration,"

pp.
in

Image

is

late

139-40,

pl.

32-b,

C; S.

Cen

Cf.

C.

Fifteenth-Century

Kratzert,

Die

Cf. Strauch,

Jansen

Enikel,

IV, no.

not

was

found
Cf.

in

deserves

of this

in

story
from

the

rendi

in the Enikel

also

an

Pharaoh's

Homed

of

initial

Via

pl. 40.

Dutch

e gette

v fou;

given
denar

de oor),

117

Comestor's

to

reads:
Moyses,

1912),

into

the
me.

"Coment
e il le prent

a mort,
vn

a syre,

charboun
the

explaining
version

fire
The

ar
mini

of the

story,

mentions
that Moses
was
20v,
between
a live coal
and a gold coin
(vn
18 and 67. Cf. supra,
n. 32 and Gut
ibid.,

"Haggadic
Queen

(London,

mettre

inscription

1976),

Antiquities,"

known

il maungereit

to follow

Kata

fr Antike

crown

inscription

comaunde

the
on

source

sur la teste

uoluntiers

itself,
a choice

between

e il le

Although

Manuscripts

2, and

the

sa coroune

appears

signs

Psalter

casting

French

met

neue

4, (Mnster,

Mary's
any

suo."

"Josephus'

Moses
in

con

id est, deo

Jahrbuch

Queen

mentioned

Moyses

Die

in Rom,

Gutmann,

Salvationis

"Puer

hamone,

Ergnzungsband

Wamer,

text

cum

Latina

and

207,

autresi

is:

Art

Jewish

Humanae

Speculum
inscription

R.

crown,

Moses,"

Ktzsche-Breitenbruch,

der

Moyses

ature

Handschriften

1; VI, no.

n.
G.

mann,

illustrierten

din

removes

14th-century

removing

about

pharaonis

L.

an

18, 67,

the

der Weltchronik des Rudolf von Ems (Berlin, 1974), 69.

38.

Cf.

daunt."

Text

Hindman,

as those

investigation.

Christentum,

sire

Institutes

Illustrated

such

The

Anglo-Norman

Bibles (Leiden, 1977), 57-58, 69.

37.

coronam

41.

43(1980), 33, 47.

36. Cf. Hindman, "Fifteenth-Century Dutch Bible Il
and

fregit

pp.

Salvationis:

Courtauld

and

manuscripts

by the

Moses

28.

1972),

437-38.

in E. Silber,

Fourteenth

Early

Pharaoh

details

illustrations

Haggadah

Neumller,

(Graz,

Humanae

originated

Jahrhun

chronicle

these

inspired

scenes,

"More

W.

p. 37,

"La

Wilson,

Speculum

Salvationis

were

and

Enikel
in

the

German

a horned

40.

Salvationis,

13th- or early 14th-c. Italy is discussed

the

sources

deserves

kombe

(Berkeley, 1984), p. 163, pl. II. Whether the

The

of similar

39.

Salva

Hamilton,

J. Lancaster
Humanae

Speculum

Reconstructed

tion

439;

Humanae

14.

on a chair

12/13 (1986/1987), 195-96.

to

1324-1500

"The

century

Bible

Literature

English

Speculum

1930),

A.

156-57;

15th

und

Breitenbach,

(Strassburg,

source,"

has

"The

Antiquities,"

Early

(Seattle, 1976), 129-30.

35.

Europe

Pergament

des

the princess

Whether

whether

South

Mellinkoff,

Biblical Picture Book"

Gutmann,

Fowler,

15th-c.

Arensberg,

Scholas

(Ph.D.
University, 1986), 60-114, 271

diss., Johns Hopkins

D.

Historia

Mitte

is standing

Jewish

Again,

shows

of Comestor's

art of 14th-

researched.

crown.

chronicle,

(London, 1861), p. 15, fig. 43.

34.

c.

Germany

a folio in the English Bible of William of Hales, c. 1254

(The British Library, MS Royal I B. XII, fol. 20v), which

145.

source,"

Speculum

are

they

15th-c.

Salvationis

Hamilton,

Cf. J. P. Berjeau,

since

today

Cf. also

Humanae

therewith,"

33.

lisp

race."

Speculum

honor

still

S.

deutschen

der

show

Moses

by

ends, 106]). The above inscription ends with an anti

"Jews

Staatsbib

Bayrische

35v-36,

Die

Petzet,

illustrations

Chumnos

Old

E.

Munich,
fols.

Weltchroniken

ing at a table;

[Marshall,

11,

derts (Bamberg, 1984), 144, 156, 183, 220. The Jansen

41 [A. Jellinek, ed., Bet ha-Midrash, vol. 1 (Leipzig,

1853)] and "bright coins and fire" in the Georgios
manuscript

and

Cgm.
also

deutschen

money

(Pfenig) and live coals (cf. the similar choice between a

golden

Cf.

1380,

in
Handschriften Nr. 1-2000 der Staatsbibliothek
Mnchen (Munich, 1920), 21-22; V. Kessel, Die sd

ac

between

MS

1340).

the

Scholastica

c.

Germany,

[Wiesba

fol.

Mary's

1310-1320.

19*.

Motif,"

1285-1385

L. F.

Sandler,

Gothic

(Oxford, 1986), II, 64-66,

Psalter

to

London

and

dates

as
it