Gravestone of Mordechai Franco Mendes and His Wife Sara Franco Mendes
1687 and 1696
Image
This gravestone in the oldest Jewish cemetery in the Netherlands (est. 1614), that of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish Community of Amsterdam, is inscribed in memory of Mordechai Franco Mendes (d. 1687), member of a well-known merchant family, and his wife, Sara Abendana (d. 1696). It lies flat on the ground, as is the custom for Sephardic gravestones. Panels above and below the arch-enclosed epitaph bear biblical scenes, including the binding of Isaac and the dream of Jacob’s ladder.
This gravestone in the oldest Jewish cemetery in the Netherlands (est. 1614), that of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish Community of Amsterdam, is inscribed in memory of Mordechai Franco Mendes (d. 1687), member of a well-known merchant family, and his wife, Sara Abendana (d. 1696). It lies flat on the ground, as is the custom for Sephardic gravestones. Panels above and below the arch-enclosed epitaph bear biblical scenes, including the binding of Isaac and the dream of Jacob’s ladder.
Credits
Photo by Laura Leibman. Courtesy of the Jewish Atlantic World Database.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.
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