> [!NOTE]+ Meta > Author:: Irit Ziffer > Date:: 2022-11-23 > Tags:: #Judaism #Arab #craftWords > WeftLinks:: [[Spiritual value of craft]], [[World Craft Dictionary]] > [!SUMMARY] Summary > Like in Arabic, the Hebrew Bible does not distinguish between art and craft. In the Hebrew Bible three terms relate to craft: ,מְלָאכָה melâkhāh (noun): “workmanship”, mainly manual, ,לַחְשֹׁב, מַחֲשָׁבֹת  laḥšob maḥašabōt from the root ḥšb, “skilful thinking, workmanship”, and the verb ,לַעֲשׂוֹת laʿaśôt, from the root ʿśh,  “to produce” in precious materials. In order to craft the tabernacle shrine and its cultic paraphernalia, God endowed Bezalel, son of Uri, with a divine spirit of skill, ability and knowledge in all manner of workmanship (məlâkhāh), to make ṣigns (laḥšob maḥašabōt), to work (לַעֲשׂוֹת laʿaśôt) in gold, in silver and in copper (Exodus 31: 3-4; see also Exodus 26:1). Bezalel of the tribe of Judah and Oholiab of the tribe of Dan are described as the prototypes of various craftspeople. The Bezalel Academy of Art and Design is named after this first craftsman.  The terms məlâkhāh “workmanship” and (laʿaśôt) “production” in reference to Bezalel echo Genesis 2:2 where it is said that God completed “His work which He had made”, מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה, məlâkhtō ašer ʿāśāh referring to the Creation in six days, and rested on the seventh. Indeed, the verses following the description of Bezalel’s tabernacle prescribe: “Six days may work (məlâkhāh) be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord”, God being the model to the Israelites (Exodus 31:15). məlâkhāh in biblical and Talmudic Hebrew refers to any work.   Divine presence is inherent in all work. In ancient Mesopotamia the Sumerian god Enki, and his Babylonian equivalent Ea, the god of subterranean freshwater, was associated with wisdom, cunning, magic, as well as the arts and crafts of civilization (Black and Green 1992; wisdom ,ancient Ugarit (north of Latakiya, Syria) was Kothar wa-Ḫasis, literally “Crafty and Wise”, the divine craftsman (Smith 1997; Botto and Oggiano 2003). His epithet was hyn dḥrš ydm “Ea of artisans”. ḥrš, pl. ḥršm being a generic term for “craftsman” (Ayali Darshan 2011). Skilled with bellows and tongs, Kothar wa-Ḫasis was later identified with Hephaistos, the Olympian god of fire, metalsmiths and craftsmen. In Ugaritic, Phoenician and Punic of the first millennium BCE ḥrš refers to all manual work. Like the Hebrew root ʿśh “produce”, the derivatives of the multivalent root pʿl in Phoenician and Punic designate “artisan, the work of an artisan” (Xella 1993). Likewise, Arabic literature does not distinguish between arts and crafts.   ﻓﻦّfann (pl. funnūn) can be translated as “art”. In texts written before the modern period صناﻋﺔ ṣināʿah and  ﺣﺭﻓﺔ ḥirfah, both meaning “craft” are more common, referring to any sort of specialized activity of which a living can be made (Milwright 2017: 8). Skill and wisdom characterize Mesopotamian artisans, the ummânus, a polyvalent term signifying “investor, craftsman, artisan, expert scholar, sage, an authority to transmit knowledge, expert of secret knowledge, advisor to the king”. These professionals practiced ummânūtu, “arts, craftsmanship, scholarship” and were considered ‘prestige goods’ in diplomatic relations (CAD U/W: ummânu 111-116). The Hebrew cognate, ʾommān, occurs only in the Song of Songs 7:2, where the bride’s thighs are likened to jewels, “the work of a master’s hand” (מַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵי אָמָּן maʿaśēh yedê ʾommān). In the Hebrew of the Mishna and Talmud ummān is a specialist in his field.  Modern Hebrew distinguishes between,אָמָּן   ,אָמָּנוּתʾommān, ʾommānūt “artist, art” and ,אֻמָּן ,אֻמָּנוּת ʾummān, ummānūt “artisan/craftsman, handicraft”. melâkhāh refers to manual labour, craft, and  ,בַּעַל מְלָאכָה bāʿal melâkhāh is a “master of handicraft”.  עׅצּוּבʿiṣṣūb, “design” derives from the root,עצב  ʿṣb “shape, fashion”, said of foreign idol(s), ʿāṣāb (1 Samuel 31:9). ### References Ayali-Darshan, N. 2011. The Meaning of hyn dḥrš ydm in Light of a Parallel from Emar. *Ugarit Forschungen* 43: 1-6. Botto, M. and Oggiani, I. 2003. L’artigiano. In: Zamora, J.Á. ed. *El hombre fenico. Estudios y materiales*. Madrid: 1-19. Black, J. and Green, A. 1992. *Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia*. An Illustrated Dictionary. London. CAD Chicago *Assyrian Dictionary* U/W 2010. Chicago.  Milwright, M. 2017. *Islamic Arts and Crafts. An Anthology*. Edinburgh. Smith, M.S. 1997. *The Baal Cycle*. In: Parker, S., ed. Ugaritic Narrative Poetry (Society of Biblical Literature: Writings from the Ancient World). Atlanta. Xella, P. 1993. *PʿL en Phénicien et Punique. In: Dietrich, M. and Loretz, O. eds. Vom Alten Orient zum Alten Testament Festschrift Wolfram von Soden (AOAT 240). Neukirchen-Vluyn: 529-540. *Irit Ziffer is Senior curator emerita, Ceramics and Nehushtan (metals), MUSA, Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv.*