Template:POTD/2021-03-28
The Birds' Head Haggadah is the oldest surviving illuminated manuscript of the Haggadah, a ritual text recounting the story of Passover, the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt, recited by participants at a Seder. The Ashkenazi Jewish manuscript was produced in the Upper Rhine region of Southern Germany in the early 14th century, with the text copied by a scribe named Menahem. All Jewish men, women, and children depicted in the manuscript have human bodies with the faces and beaks of birds, while non-Jewish and non-human faces are blank or blurred. Numerous theories have been advanced to explain the unusual iconography, usually tied to Jewish aniconism. The manuscript was owned by the German politician Ludwig Marum in the 20th century, and is now in the possession of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, where it is on permanent exhibition.Manuscript credit: Menahem; photographed by the Israel Museum