"Kulmus" (reed pen) Torah pointer. Afghanistan, 5720 [1960].
Silver, cast and engraved.
Flat, stylized Torah pointer with three segments – upper, middle, and lower – each with engraved decorations on either side: three fish on the upper segment; in the middle segment, a bird flanked by gazelles, two pairs of fish to the right and left, and flowers (and on the reverse side, a large Star of David); and a large flower on the lower segment. Hebrew dedicatory inscription: "Moses commanded us a Torah, the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob, 8th of Sivan Year 5720 [1960] / This is the kulmus that was dedicated by Yosef Baba Jan son of Binyamin Gul in honor of our Holy Torah...".
The Gul family originated in the Gilan Region of Iran. From there they migrated to Qazvin, then to Mashhad, finally arriving in Herat, Afghanistan in roughly 1746. For more on this subject, see Abraham Mor, "The Jews of Afghanistan: Family Names and Origins" on the website of Tel Aviv's Beit Hatfutsot Museum of the Jewish Diaspora.
In Afghanistan, the Torah pointer was referred to as a "kulmus" (literally, quill pen or reed pen) because of its similarity in appearance to the type of reed used by a scribe. The present Torah pointer is documented in the catalogue "Afghanistan: The Synagogue and the Jewish Home".
Length: 33 cm.
Reference: Afghanistan: The Synagogue and the Jewish Home, item no. 30 (photographed).