Muiderberg (Ashkenazi) Cemetery

I took a brief break from grading and spent a fascinating day at the Muiderberg (Ashkenazi) Cemetery yesterday, mainly to see how it compared to the Sephardic Cemetery (Beth Haim Ouderkerk) and to the Jewish cemeteries of the same era in the colonies.  Peet, you may find these particularly interesting since Suriname also had an Ashkenazi cemetery.  For most other colonies the cemeteries were mixed.

Note: most of the stones in the older section at Muiderberg don’t have images: I took photos of those that had analogues with images or styles found in the other cemeteries.

View of Newer Section of Cemetery. Photo by L. Leibman, 2013

Hand of ? pouring water from Levite Pitcher, older section of Muiderberg Cemetery. Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

Rare circumcision scene with human figures for a Mohel. Older Section of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

Rare scene with human figures. Levites washing hands of Cohenim. Older Section of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

Levite Pitcher with Ram’s Horn. Horn is associated with the messiah and redemption. Older Section of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

Sephardic Style stones similar to those found in Beth Haim Ouderkerk. Older Section of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

Interesting Sephardic Style Stone belonging to Italian Woman. Older Section of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

Sephardic Style Pyramid Stone on Cool Griffin Feet. Older Section of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

Hand of Cohenim are common in this cemetery. Older Section of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

Tulips on stones, like in Bth Haim Ouderkerk. Older Section of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

More tulips. Older Section of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

Compare these tulips from a yard to the “blown” tulips in the upper left and right corners of the previous stone. What do you make of the pairing of blown and drooping tulips? Older Section of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

I thought this was a shrouded figure up on top of a high pillar, but it turned out to be a draped urn from the back. Older Section of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

Older Section of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

Reflection of stones from the newer section onto a canal. Newer Section of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

Circumcision kits are popular motifs on gravestones of Mohelim. Older Section of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

Parts of older section melt into the forest and are covered in vines. Older Section of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

Rabbit in row between New and Older Sections of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

Levite pitcher. Older Section of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

Hand of G-d Cutting Down the Tree of Life. I don’t know why this photo keeps turning sideways. Apologies. Older Section of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

Hand of G-d Cutting down flowers. Likewise keeps flipping. Older Section of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

View of Newer Section of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

Front gates. Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

Star of David over Secondary Gates. Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

One of the structures which has a side entrance for Cohenim for viewing the funerary rites. Newer Section of Muiderberg Cemetery, Photo by L. Leibman, 2013.

Awesome pyramid stone on metal feet. This is the only one I saw like this in this cemetery, but there are similar ones in Ouderkerk, Hamburg, Suriname, Philadelphia, and Barbados. I have never seen one with feet like this, though.

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Information about the slave ship Leusden that perished off the coast of Suriname, with 670 slaves on board in 1738.

Food Photos from Class Dinner (from “Recipes from the Jewish Kitchens of Curacao”)

Curried Raisin Rice

Arroz con Pollo, Curacao Style

Hot Cucumber and Tomato Salad

Sopi de Gailna (Chicken Soup)

Piska Hasa

Photos from the Cemetery Field Trip

Class Tour of Beth Haim of Ouderkerk aan de Amstel  by Dennis Bueno de Mesquita and Sjakie the Cat. (Let me know if there were other images you wanted to see.)

Slave/Servant Gravestone and Adjacent Stone

Slave Gravestone

Sjakie the Cat leads the way

Elements of the Stone explained by Dennis and Sjakie.

 

Ouderkerk aan de Amstel in the background.

Detail of stone discussed in class

Tulips on stone; See also Faye’s Discussion of the Ketubot.

This Week in Early American History

Those who are working on the British colonies may find this database helpful for our class. http://earlyamericanists.com/2013/03/01/this-week-in-early-american-history/

New Netherlands Institute

The New Netherlands Institute has some resources that might interest people as well.  These include the Curaçao Papers (volume 17 of the Dutch Colonial Manuscripts at the New York State Archives) and other online publications

There is also a good map collection and other digital exhibits.

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People might find this book interesting.

The Junto

Public history can take many forms. We, here at The Junto, are committed to engaging with and covering public history regarding early America. The New Netherland Institute is an excellent example of an organization dedicated to bringing early American history to the public. I want to use this space to talk about its most recent publication, Firth Haring Fabend’s New Netherland in A Nutshell: A Concise History of the Dutch Colony in North America.

Fabend is an independent historian (though she holds a PhD in American Studies from NYU) and is the author of numerous books of fiction as well as two award-winning works of history also dealing with New Amsterdam, both of which were published by Rutgers University Press.

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Puritan Valentine’s Day Cards

For your amusement Puritan Valentine’s Day Cards. (Click on the link for all of them)

Upcoming Events

I will be giving a lecture entitled “Race and Ethnicity in Atlantic World” for “Amerika in Wording” on Wed. Feb. 20 3:15-5 Kromme Nieuwegracht 80 Room 0.06.  I will be talking about the paradox of why some revolutionaries supported both freedom and slavery (first half) and the invention of “race” during the eighteenth century (second half).  Students from my class welcome to attend if it sounds useful to you.

Also on Monday 25 February from 3.00 to 5.00 p.m. (also in Kromme Nieuwegracht 80 but Room 1.06), Derek Rubin and I will be leading the Seminar for Cultural History on the Jewish Atlantic World. I will be speaking about Jewish-black relations in Barbados, but I asked people to read the intro from my book for general background. Even if you don’t go, you may find the timeline at the beginning of the pdf useful as well as the background info the intro itself provides.

Highlights from the first class

• Transationalism
• Port Jews
• Becoming Modern
  • technology
  • urbanization
  • capitalism
  • education
  • transportation
  • cosmopolitan
  • liberal (less traditional)
• Sephardic vs. Ashkenazi

Eras in American History

• 1945+postmodernism
• 1913-1945 modernism
• 1865-1913 Reconstructionism, Gilded Age, Progressive Era (Realism)
• 1812-1865 Antebellum  (Romanticism)
• 1776-1812 early nationalism (Enlightenment)
• 1492-1776 colonial

 

 

Welcome!

Welcome to the website for the graduate seminar on the Jewish Atlantic World (Utrecht University, 2013).  This course explores the intersection of digital humanities, race, and ethnicity through a history of one of early America’s ethno-religious communities.   The course focuses on close readings of material culture and literary and religious texts and exposes students to the methods of digital archives.

If you are in the class, you will need to send Laura your email address to have access  to the class readings.