![Parchment manuscript scroll, Ilan Sefirot. [North Africa, ca. 18th century].
Ink on parchment. Western script (square an](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale105/1_1.jpg "Ilan Sefirot on Parchment – North Africa, 18th Century")
![Parchment manuscript scroll, Ilan Sefirot. [North Africa, ca. 18th century].
Ink on parchment. Western script (square an](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale105/1_2.jpg "Ilan Sefirot on Parchment – North Africa, 18th Century")
![Parchment manuscript scroll, Ilan Sefirot. [North Africa, ca. 18th century].
Ink on parchment. Western script (square an](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale105/1_3.jpg "Ilan Sefirot on Parchment – North Africa, 18th Century")
Auction 105 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Esther Scrolls and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Ilan Sefirot on Parchment – North Africa, 18th Century
Opening: $1,000
Sold for: $2,000
Including buyer's premium
Parchment manuscript scroll, Ilan Sefirot. [North Africa, ca. 18th century].
Ink on parchment. Western script (square and cursive). Three membranes sewn together; with detailed illustrations and diagrams of the Sefirot, Partzufim and Hishtalshelut HaOlamot according to the kabbalistic teachings of the Arizal.
The present Ilan's content corresponds to Ilanot from the school of R. Moshe Zacuto (the Ramaz) in Italy, incorporating excerpts from R. Yaakov Tzemach and Maharam Poppers (listed by Prof. Chajes in his book as "Poppers-Zacuto-Tzemach Ilan").
The present manuscript is a detailed and complete Ilan Sefirot, apparently written in North Africa. No Ilan of this kind is documented by Chajes, the Ilanot Project or elsewhere.
A similar Ilan to the present one, also from North Africa and apparently contemporaneous, was auctioned by Kedem, Auction 94 Part 2, Lot 146.
Parchment scroll (three membranes sewn together). Length of scroll: approx. 158 cm. Width of scroll: approx. 29 cm. Fair condition. Stains, including dark stains. Faded or deleted ink in several places. Tears and defects. Open tears, affecting text, mainly to last membrane, repaired.
Ilan Sefirot
Visual diagrams of Hishtalshelut HaOlamot, known as the Ilan Sefirot, have been known since the early period of kabbalah. Many kabbalists composed and drew detailed Ilanot Sefirot for themselves. These were generally inscribed on long scrolls made of parchment or paper. As Lurianic kabbalah spread and gained popularity, these Ilanot came to reflect the complexity of this stream of kabbalistic thought, embodying ideas of the specific schools from which they originated.
Eminent Italian kabbalist R. Menachem Azariah (the Rama) of Fano describes the kabbalists who drew Ilanot on scrolls as follows: "A custom of the ancestors transmitted to their descendants is that they marked the names and bynames of the Sefirot on large scrolls which they called Ilanot" (Paamon VeRimon, Amsterdam 1608, p. 17a).
The Ilanot are highly complex graphic compositions, usually masterfully integrating text and illustrations. The Ilanot visually represent Hishtalshelut HaOlamot (Atzilut, Beriah, Yetzirah, Asiyah), the structure of the Sefirot in each of the Olamot and the mutual influences between the Sefirot, the Partzufim of the Olam HaAtzilut, Sarim, Heichalot and more. These are all integrated with paragraphs of text. Thus, the Ilanot became standalone works, representing the great complexity of the process of emanation according to the various views.
The Ilanot Sefirot prepared by kabbalists were not made purely for rote study, but were also a ritual tool by which the kabbalists would mentally depict the structure of the Olamot during their prayer and spiritual service. Later on, Ilan scrolls served as amulets and as a Segulah for the owner's protection and success.
Over many years of research into Kabbalah, the Ilanot were almost entirely ignored, and they were hardly studied and documented at all. Only in the last decade did research develop, gaining momentum with the Ilanot Project under the leadership of Prof. J.H. Chajes, whose comprehensive book on the subject was recently published. See at length: J.H. Chajes, The Kabbalistic Tree, Pennsylvania University Press, 2022.
Kabbalistic Amulets and Ilanot Sefirot
Kabbalistic Amulets and Ilanot Sefirot