Sudra (headdress)

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Jewish man from Yemen wearing a sudra, 1914

Sudra (Classical Syriac: ܣܘܕܪܐ, romanized: swdrʾ About this soundlisten Jewish Babylonian Aramaic square script: סודרא‎, Hebrew: סוּדָר, romanized: sẇdar) is a piece of cloth usually worn as a scarf or headdress as part of ancient Jewish tradition. Over time it held many different functions and today is sometimes understood to be of great cultural or religious significance to Jews. It is mentioned in various ancient and medieval Aramaic and Greek texts written in or about the Near East among them the Gospel of Luke from around 80–110 CE, the Peshitta from the 1st-2nd century, the Targum Neofiti from around the 1st-4th century, the Babylonian Talmud which was completed around 500 CE – this text makes numerous mentions of the sudra and is an important source for its role in Jewish life at the time – and the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan dated between the 4th century and the 14th century.

Etymology[]

The English sudra derives from the Aramaic swdrʾ spelled ܣܘܕܪܐ in the Syriac script and סודרא‎ in the Jewish Babylonian Aramaic square script. It in turn derives from the Ancient Greek: σουδάριον, romanized: soudárion, lit. 'towel' a doublet of the pre-Augustan Latin: sūdārium, lit. 'cloth for wiping away sweat, handkerchief' deriving from the adjective Latin: sūdarius, lit. 'sweaty' from Latin: sūdor, lit. 'sweat' and the suffix -ārium meant to denote purpose in this case.[1][2]

A folk etymology presented in the Babylonian Talmud as a conversation between Rabbi Zeira and Judah bar Ezekiel (containing many other such folk etymologies) has the latter explain the term is a contraction of Biblical Hebrew: ס֣וֹד יְ֭הוָה לִירֵאָ֑יו, romanized: sŵd ʾadonay li-yreʾaw, lit. 'The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him' a section of Psalm 25:14.[3]

History[]

The exact historical origins of wearing a piece of cloth wrapped around one's head are, at the moment, unclear. Some of the earliest examples can be found in artworks from ancient Mesopotamia, like statues of statues of Gudea wearing a turban-like garment.[4] Similar headdresses might have been worn back as early as 2600 BCE. These headdresses are often imbued with great historical, religious, and cultural significance in the Near East.[5] According to the Irish Professor of Biblical Studies John Raymond Bartlett, the Ancient Hebrews also wore pieces of cloth, either fashioned like the kūfīyah, a folded up piece of fabric wound around one's head or like a turban or stocking cap.[6]

Statue of Gudea wearing a turban-like garment from ca. 2400 BCE[4]

The sūdārium was kept much like a pocket handkerchief but mainly used for wiping away sweat, as the name implies. It was a modern invention around the time of Cicero when fine-linen first came to Rome. In the east of the empire, the term was borrowed by Hellenistic writers as Ancient Greek: σουδάριον, romanized: soudárion replacing older terms. It can be found in texts dealing with events in Province of Judaea like the Gospel of Luke for example, where a servant stores money in a sudra to keep it safe.[7] Besides being used to wipe away sweat it was also worn around the neck as a piece of clothing akin to a scarf. In the Latin-speaking empire the term ōrārium came to replace sūdārium during the Augustan age, though it was used again by Saint Jerome when translating the before-mentioned passage of the Gospel of Luke for the Vulgata.[8] This piece of cloth when waved in the air also came to be used to signify applause in Rome, replacing the lappet of the toga used previously for this purpose. There is some debate among scholars if the sūdārium ever was used to wipe one's nose or if this was done by hand alone. Wilhelm Adolf Becker argues against the use of the sūdārium for this purpose but there exists no scholarly consensus.[2] The sūdārium also came to be part of Roman military armor, commonly called focale in its function as a neckerchief to protect against chafing by the armor.[9] This use of the sūdārium in Roman military attire is sometimes seen as precursor of the modern necktie.[10][11]

In the 1st and 2nd century when the Peshitta was translated, we find another meaning for Classical Syriac: ܣܘܕܪܐ, romanized: swdrʾ namely that of a burial cloth for example in John 11:44 Classical Syriac: ܘܰܐܦ݁ܰܘܗ݈ܝ ܐܰܣܺܝܪܳܢ ܒ݁ܣܽܘܕ݂ܳܪܳܐ, romanized: wa-ppaw ᵓasīrān bə-sūḏārā, lit. 'and his face bound in a sudra'. This meaning is reflected in the names of the relics of the Sudarium of Oviedo and the Veil of Veronica. Furthermore, in the Roman Catholic Church a number of ornamental textile objects interpreted to be of great religious significance are called sūdārium to this day. A list of this contemporary usage can be found in the article Sudarium.

The sudra has been mentioned directly in ancient Jewish religious texts, chiefly among them Babylonian Talmud. It details different Jewish customs surrounding the sudra like removing it for the purposes of letting another man hold it as a gesture of trust during a monetary transaction.[12] It has also been interpreted through exegetical translations into Aramaic (Targum) to have been mentioned indirectly in older texts. The Targum of Ruth in its translation interprets different words from the Hebrew Book of Ruth, such as mitpahat (הַמִּטְפַּחַת‎ Ruth 3:15) to mean the sudra.[13] Targum Pseudo-Jonathan's translation of Exodus 21:16 (Aramaic: יתקטיל בשינוקא דסודרא‏, romanized: ytqṭl bšnwqʾ dswdrʾ‏, lit. 'he should be killed by strangulation of the sudra') as well as a section from Avodah Zarah which states Aramaic: רמו ליה סודרא בצואריה וקא מצערו ליה, romanized: rmw lyh swdrʾ bṣwʾrh wqʾ mṣʿrw lyh, lit. 'They threw a sudra around his neck and tormented him' suggest that the sudra also was used for purposes of strangulation or torment.[14][15][16]

Style[]

In Jewish tradition, the sudra was a twisted scarf worn around the neck.[17][18] There is also evidence of Jews wearing the sudra on their heads like a keffiyeh or turban in Tractate Berakhot, Tractate Kiddushin, and Tractate Shabbat in the Babylonian Talmud.[19][20][3] The Jastrow Dictionary, citing Rashi, claims the sudra was both wrapped around the head and wrapped around the shoulders, even extending down to the arms in some cases.[14]

Sudra worn around body and neck according to the instructions of the Shulchan Aruch

The Orach Chaim a section of the Shulchan Aruch, a collection of Jewish religious law from 1565, gives an exemption for the sudra regarding tzitzit. It doesn't require the sudra to have tzitzit despite being a four-cornered garment. Aramaic: סודר שנותנין על הצואר במלכות א"י שנקרא בערבי שי"ד וכן ביק"א שהיו נותנין בספרד על כתפיהם פטורים, lit. 'A sudra which is worn upon the neck in the kingdom of the Land of Israel named in Arabic Šīd, also the Bīqa, which was worn in Sephard (Spain) over their shoulders are exempt [from the requirement of tzitzit]'. In the passage it is stated that a four-cornered piece of headdress called Aramaic: שי"ד, romanized: šīd by the Arabs is the exact same thing as a sudra and the text continues to name a number of conceptually related kinds of pieces of cloth used as headdress and shawls in different countries, declaring them all to be exempt from the requirement for tzitzit.[21] He describes the Sephardi custom as being over the shoulders like a scarf and the Remo states that Ashkenazi custom as covering more of the body when worn in its scarf form, comparing it to coiling round the body like an Egyptian Snake and noting that some wear it like what he calls the 'Kaftanis' of the Tatars when worn on the head.[22] This may be the origin of the shrtreimel for when cloth was exchanged for fur.[23]

Decline[]

Amongst Ashkenazi Jewry, the sudra fell out of common use some time during or after the 16th century. Rabbi Moses Isserles made explicit reference to the Ashkenazi custom of wearing the garment in his commentary of the Shulchan Aruch.

Amongst Mizrachi Jewry, the custom mostly remained despite instances of prohibitions imposed by various non-Jewish rulers. One example of such a prohibition is the 1667 ʿAṭarot decree (Judeo-Yemeni Arabic: עטרת, romanized: ʿAṭarot, lit. 'cloth turban') issued by the Qasimid State, which prohibited Jews from wearing anything resembling said ʿAṭarot, that is of wearing any sort of cloth to cover their heads. Goal of this decree was to humiliate Jews by depriving them of a respectable appearance by forcing them to use their clothes to cover their heads. The situation was remedied with the Jewish community in Yemen bribing government officials. The solution achieved through this act of corruption allowed Jews to wear cloths on their heads again, but they had to be shabby cloths.[24][25]

References[]

  1. ^ Aaron Michael, Butts (2018-12-06). Kiraz, George Anton (ed.). Latin Words in Classical Syriac. Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies. 19. Gorgias Press. p. 134. doi:10.31826/9781463240028. ISBN 978-1-4632-4002-8. S2CID 239370393.
  2. ^ a b "A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), SUDARIUM". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  3. ^ a b Shabbat 77b
  4. ^ a b Legrain, Leon (1927). Sumerian sculptures. The Museum Journal. XVIII, no. 3. Museum of the University of Pennsylvania. pp. 217–247. OCLC 18723697.
  5. ^ Ethnic Dress in the United States: A Cultural Encyclopedia, page 293, Annette Lynch, Mitchell D. Strauss, Rowman & Littlefield
  6. ^ J. R. Bartlett (19 July 1973). The First and Second Books of the Maccabees. CUP Archive. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-521-09749-9. Retrieved 17 April 2013. traditional Jewish head-dress was either something like the Arab's Keffiyeh (a cotton square folded and wound around a head) or like a turban or stocking cap
  7. ^ "Luke 19:20, Novum Testamentum Graece (NA28)". www.academic-bible.com. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  8. ^ "EVANGELIUM SECUNDUM LUCAM (Lk 19,20)". www.bibelwissenschaft.de. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  9. ^ Nic Fields, The Roman Army of the Principate 27 BC-AD 117 (Osprey, 2009), p. 25.
  10. ^ Daniel K. Hall, How to Tie a Tie: Choosing, Coordinating, and Knotting Your Neckwear (Sterling, 2008), p. 8.
  11. ^ Oscar Lenius, The Well-Dressed Gentleman (LIT Verlag Münster, 2010), p. 93.
  12. ^ Bava Metzia 7a
  13. ^ "Aramaic Targum to Ruth 3:15". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
  14. ^ a b "Jastrow Dictionary Online". p. 962.
  15. ^ "Avodah Zarah 4a:11". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  16. ^ "swdr". cal.huc.edu. The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College. 1986-. Retrieved 2021-09-12. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ Stammaim. Babylonian Talmud: Avodah Zarah. Babylonia. pp. 4a.
  18. ^ Taanit 24a
  19. ^ "Tractate Berakhot 60B (Middle of the page)". Retrieved 2013-06-25.
  20. ^ Kiddushin 29b
  21. ^ "Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 10:11-12". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
  22. ^ Shulchan Aruch Orech Chaim 10:12
  23. ^ "Why do Chassidim wear fur hats?".
  24. ^ Reuben., Ahroni (1979). Tribulations and aspirations in Yemenite Hebrew literature. [Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion]. p. 278. OCLC 44706373.
  25. ^ Eraqi-Klorman, Bat Zion (1993). The Jews of Yemen in the Nineteenth Century: A Portrait of a Messianic Community. BRILL. pp. 37–38. ISBN 9004096841.

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