Shir HaShirim [Song of Songs]. For use by the Jews of Cochin.

(INDIA)

(Cochin)

19th century

Manuscript written in red ink on paper. Two columns, vocalized square Hebrew with translation alongside into Malayalam (Malabari). The David Solomon Sassoon copy. See D.S. Sassoon, Ohel Dawid: Catalogue of Sassoon Library (1932), p. 30, no. 443.

No printed edition.

The Jews of Cochin have had a long tradition of singing devotional hymns (piyyutim) and songs on festive occasions as well as Biblical and narrative songs in Judeo-Malayalam. Few manuscripts are extant written in Hebrew and Malayalam, the local dialect of the miniscule community of Cochini Jews. Judeo-Malayalam is the only known Dravidian Jewish language. Cochin, a delightful town at the southern tip of India, has had a Jewish presence whose roots are said to extend back to the time of King Solomon. Provenance: Sotheby’s New York, Hebrew Manuscripts from the Collection of the Late David Solomon Sassoon, 4th December, 1984, Lot 4