Despoiling Egypt in Art

Introduction

The two images shown here depict the Biblical episode of despoiling the Egyptians mentioned in Shemot 3:22, 11:2 and 12:35-36 – see Reparations and Despoiling Egypt. Both are from 14th century Catalonian illuminated Haggadot, one known as the Golden Haggadah¹ and the other as the Brother Haggadah.² Neither artist's identity is known, and it is also uncertain whether they were Jewish or Christian.³ In both paintings, the despoiling is depicted in the bottom half of a dual-pane image, with the top half of the panel portraying one of the plagues. The juxtaposition suggests a connection between the two scenes. The artists, though, differ in their choice of plague and hence in their interpretation of the entire episode, reading the nature, timing, and motivation of the transfer of wealth in very different ways.

Contrasting Images

The Golden Haggadah

The image is divided horizontally into two connected scenes. The top half focuses exclusively on the Egyptians as they grope in the dark during the Plague of Darkness. Paroh sits to the left, disoriented, supporting himself on the picture's panel. To his right, other Egyptians are depicted in a variety of poses, all equally helpless. The bottom half of the image turns to the actions of the Israelites during the same time period as they loot precious possessions from their unknowing neighbors. One carries away an entire box while two others reach to take golden chalices. A fourth figure looks on as he grasps his own treasure to his chest.⁴

The Brother Haggadah

Here, too, the picture is divided into two halves, but with the top half depicting the Plague of the the Firstborn rather than the Plague of Darkness. On the right, two figures (presumably Moshe and Aharon) are pointing, perhaps warning of the plague to come. In the middle, a distraught Paroh speaks to his courtiers, a dead body in a dungeon visible underneath them.⁵ The left side of the image is lined with corpses, the upper four are human and the fifth is that of an animal. The bottom pane moves to the next episode in the Biblical text, the transfer of the articles of gold, silver and clothing.⁶

Relationship to the Biblical Text

The artists' choices reflect certain ambiguities in the Biblical text and different possible interpretive stances:

Timing of the Episode

The Golden Haggadah sets our scene during the Plague of Darkness,⁷ while the Brother Haggadah⁸ places it after the final Plague of the Firstborn. In the Biblical account, the timing of the story is ambiguous, as the command is given in Shemot 11:2-3 after the Plague of Darkness while the implementation is described only in Shemot 12:35-36 immediately prior to the Exodus – see Reparations and Despoiling Egypt for the dispute among the commentators.

Despoiling, Gifts, or Loans?

The Golden Haggadah uniquely⁹ portrays the Israelites as exploiting their masters' helplessness during the Plague of Darkness and stealing from the Egyptians. The Golden Haggadah thus completely inverts the Midrashic theme which highlights the Israelites' honesty in not looting the Egyptians' homes during the Plague of Darkness.¹⁰ In contrast, the Brother Haggadah depicts a knowing exchange, where it appears that the articles are being given very willingly.

The respective captions capture the difference between the Haggadot's understandings of the episode. The Golden Haggadah selects the words "וַיְנַצְּלוּ אֶת מִצְרָיִם" even though this does not match its chronological ordering of the events,¹¹ because these words are the most apt description of its perspective. However, the Brother Haggadah instead opts for the more positive account of "וַה' נָתַן אֶת חֵן הָעָם בְּעֵינֵי מִצְרַיִם"‎.¹² This, of course, raises the question of both the meaning of and relationship between these two phrases in the Biblical text itself. Did the nation deceive the Egyptians or was this a friendly transaction? Why were the Egyptians willing to give of their possessions anyway? Was this related to the deaths of firstborns and a desire to hasten the Israelite departure? For an in depth analysis, see Reparations and Despoiling Egypt.

Identity of the Objects

B. Narkiss¹³ identifies the looted objects depicted in the Golden Haggadah as Christian liturgical vessels, a chalice and a ciborium.¹⁴ This choice relates to an unknown in the Shemot narrative. What exactly were the "gold and silver vessels" and for what purpose were they given? Were they ritual objects loaned to the Israelites for their three day holiday to worship Hashem¹⁵ or even the golden and silver Egyptian idols themselves?¹⁶ Or, were they perhaps simply cooking and eating utensils loaned for the journey,¹⁷ or, alternatively, valuables given as reparations for years of unpaid wages?¹⁸ All of these options are raised by different commentators.

"וּבְכָל אֱלֹהֵי מִצְרַיִם אֶעֱשֶׂה שְׁפָטִים"

Interestingly, an allusion to this idea may perhaps be found in both Haggadot. The portrayal of the looted vessels as liturgical objects in the Golden Haggadah may relate to the notion that through the Exodus, Hashem emerged as the victor in His battle with the powerless Egyptian gods. In the Brother Haggadah, this idea is perhaps embodied in the dead animal which appears under the column of human corpses. This is perhaps meant to represent the death of the Egyptian consecrated animals which they worshipped as gods.¹⁹

¹ This Haggadah is in the British Museum, and many of its folios can be viewed online. It received its name due to the extravagant use of gold-leaf in its pages of miniatures. Its Sister Haggadah (the name was coined by Bezalel Narkiss because of its similarity to the Golden Haggadah) is also located in the British Museum and pages from it can be accessed online.

² This Haggadah is also in the British Museum, and many of its folios can be viewed online. It was so named by Bezalel Narkiss due to its similarity in both iconography and style to the Rylands Haggadah (viewable online here).

³ In both Haggadot there are many allusions to Midrashic motifs, but see below that the depiction of the despoiling of Egypt in the Golden Haggadah (as well as in its Sister Haggadah) does not cast the Jews in a favorable light. It should be noted that in the Brother Haggadah (and similarly in the Rylands Haggadah) Hebrew Biblical verses are contained within the artwork itself.

⁴ Interestingly, though depicted in different panes, both the Egyptians and Israelites are clothed in the same reds and blues and are distinguishable only by the length of their tunics.

⁵ This matches the scope of the plague described in Shemot 12:29: "מִבְּכֹר פַּרְעֹה הַיֹּשֵׁב עַל כִּסְאוֹ עַד בְּכוֹר הַשְּׁבִי אֲשֶׁר בְּבֵית הַבּוֹר וְכֹל בְּכוֹר בְּהֵמָה". The prisoner's chains are more clearly visible in the parallel image in the Rylands Haggadah.

⁶ Interestingly, though, there is no hint of mourning or anger over the recent deaths displayed in the top pane. The faces of the figures hold no enmity; if anything the hint of a smile is apparent on some. The artist has also blurred the lines between Egyptians and Israelites, so that one can hardly tell who is giving and who is receiving.

⁷ In the Golden Haggadah (and its Sister Haggadah), the Plague of the Firstborn is depicted only in the subsequent frame.

⁸ Similar to the Rylands Haggadah.

⁹ The Sister Haggadah also appears to depict the Israelites making off with Egyptian valuables during the Plague of Darkness. However, its placement of the Egyptians and Israelites side by side leaves some room for ambiguity as to whether the Egyptians were aware of the Israelites' presence and had granted them permission.

¹⁰ See R. Yosi HaGelili in Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael Bo 13Bo Pischa 13About Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael Shemot who says that the honesty of the Israelites during the plague is what led the Egyptians to give willingly afterwards, and see R. HirschShemot 11:2-3About R. Samson Raphael Hirsch who develops this theme. Shemot Rabbah 14:314:3About Shemot Rabbah has the Egyptians giving more reluctantly, with the Israelites discovering the locations of all of the Egyptians' valuables when they entered their homes during the Plague of Darkness, but it too emphasizes that the Israelites took nothing and that the Egyptians admired their honesty. In contrast, the Golden Haggadah presents the Israelites as outright thieves. It seems odd that a Jewish artist would have chosen to cast the Israelites in such a negative light, and this may be an indication of Christian influence on the artwork. See also below for the opposite suggestion of Julie Harris.

Fascinatingly, however, the Golden Haggadah's portrayal does match at least one Jewish source. See the Lekach TovShemot 10:23Shemot 11:2About R. Toviah b. Eliezer who states explicitly in two different passages that the Israelites actually made off with the Egyptians' hidden valuables during the Plague of Darkness. The second passage is missing in two manuscripts (see S. Buber's footnote to the Lekach Tov and R. Kasher's footnote in Torah Sheleimah Shemot 10:23:71), leading R. Kasher to suggest that it was a rogue addition. However, the consistency between the passages may point in the opposite direction, namely that its absence in some textual witnesses is due to Jewish self-censorship.

¹¹ The phrase "וַיְנַצְּלוּ אֶת מִצְרָיִם"‎ (12:36) appears only after the Plague of the Firstborn, while according to the Golden Haggadah's ordering of the scenes, the despoiling occurred before this final plague.

¹² It should be noted that the illustrator himself only writes "וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עָשׂוּ כִּדְבַר מֹשֶׁה וַיִּשְׁאֲלוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם כְּלֵי כֶסֶף וּכְלֵי זָהָב וּשְׂמָלֹת", and the annotator is the one who adds "וַה' נָתַן אֶת חֵן הָעָם בְּעֵינֵי מִצְרַיִם". Interestingly, the parallel scene in the Rylands Haggadah reproduces the complete verse "וַה' נָתַן אֶת חֵן הָעָם בְּעֵינֵי מִצְרַיִם וַיַּשְׁאִלוּם וַיְנַצְּלוּ אֶת מִצְרָיִם" in both the artwork and the caption.

¹³ See The Golden Haggadah, (Rohnert Park, California, 1997): 46.

¹⁴ A ciborium is a covered container used for storing the Eucharistic hosts, i.e. the equivalent for bread of the chalice for wine. Cf. the 1st century Roman historian Pompeius Trogus (the original work is not extant but is summarized in Justin's Epitome – see 36:2) who writes that Moshe "carried off by stealth the sacred utensils of the Egyptians."

¹⁵ See Reparations and Despoiling Egypt for Rashbam Shemot 3:22 who proposes that the Egyptians gave gifts of jewelry and clothing so the nation would have what to wear when they sacrificed.

¹⁶ Cf. Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael Bo Pischa 13 which interprets the despoiling as the Egyptian idols first melting down and then being taken. See Reparations and Despoiling Egypt.

¹⁷ As per Artapanus and R. Yosef Bekhor Shor – see Reparations and Despoiling Egypt. Cf. Veronese, in his engraving, who has the Israelites carrying more mundane articles, including pots and pans.

¹⁸ See Julie Harris, "Polemical Images in the Golden Haggadah," Medieval Encounters, 8 (2002): 105–122, who suggests that by associating the vessels with contemporary Christian objects, the Golden Haggadah's artist is identifying his Christian neighbors with the oppressive Egyptians. [She also notes that a folio later, the pursuing Egyptians are dressed as contemporary Spanish knights.] According to her reconstruction, the Haggadah was created in a period when tensions between Jewish money lenders and their Christian borrowers were running high. As trade was denied to the Jewish community and loans went unpaid, many Jews saw themselves as similar to their ancestors, looking to take back what was rightfully owed to them.

¹⁹ See Shemot 12:12 where the affliction of the gods accompanies the death of the firstborns: "וְהִכֵּיתִי כָל בְּכוֹר בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מֵאָדָם וְעַד בְּהֵמָה וּבְכָל אֱלֹהֵי מִצְרַיִם אֶעֱשֶׂה שְׁפָטִים". Alternatively, the dead animal is simply the artist's depiction of the extent of the plague, "from man to beast."