نصوص أدبيّة: T-S K21.95C

الوصف

This Hebrew text presents a detailed account of a journey to the heavens, perhaps to guide future heaven-bound travels. Many of the themes in this text relate to Hekhalot literature in general and to the early text Measure of the Divine Body (Shi‘ur komah) in particular. The beginning of this manuscript is damaged, but it tells of an encounter between R. Ishmael and the angel Ozhayah, who is describing the features of the name Tandrael, associated with a powerful master or rabbi in Babylonia. The second part of this excerpt describes the sixth and seventh heavens (the translation uses the Hebrew word hekhal) and the dangers of the journeys there. No date has been established for this text, but it must have been written between the completion of the Talmud in the sixth century and the eleventh century, when the extant manuscript was copied. Unbracketed ellipses indicate lacunae in the text. (Information from Posen Library)