Interdisziplinär erforscht Das Phänomen der „Tagin“ und „Otijjot Meshunnot“ als paläographische Besonderheit in mittelalterlichen Torarollen

Abstract

In Judaism, Torah scrolls must be produced and written according to strict traditional rules. Some letters of the sacred text have distinctive decorations: the so-called tagin (‘little crowns’) and otiyyot meshunnot (‘special letters’). However, despite the binding guidelines for writing a Torah scroll, it is evident that the design and shape of these little crowns and special letters differ greatly in various surviving Torah scrolls and manuscripts. This article shows how the research project ‘ToRoll: Material­ized Holiness’ uses digital methods to examine tagin and otiyyot meshunnot as palaeographic and metaphysical peculiarities in Torah scrolls to comprehensively present the phenomenon of tagin and otiyyot meshunnot for the first time. In addition to the history of the studied texts and the at times complex manuscript situation, the diverse nature of the various sources poses a particular challenge. We use critical digital editions and web annotations to meet the requirements of these complex text structures. This enables us to link variants of the letter decorations in Torah scrolls with the accompanying commentary literature. The use of diverse digital methods and principles allows us to grasp the phenomenon of tagin and otiyyot meshunnot on a phil­ological, palaeographical, and historical level. Combining expertise and methodologies of different disciplines is both a challenge and an opportunity. This article is intended to highlight specific solutions for the research project and open up perspectives for other disciplines.