Created in 2003, this rendition of the Passover Haggadah is a unique work of art illustrating the ancient narrative alongside the ritual Hebrew text. It was also my first foray into the illuminating of ancient texts that would be my main interest for nearly 20 years.  

The Moriah Haggadah contains dozens of lovingly hand-painted illustrations, carefully researched and painted after a year of preliminary studies into the text and artistic traditions of the period and region of the ancient narrative.

My watercolor paintings, created alongside the calligraphed Hebrew text, present a unique visual interpretation of the tale of Passover– a literal story of deliverance from slavery and a symbolic narrative of human nature that transcends time and place.

The images were inspired by the Egyptian and Assyrian wall paintings and reliefs, as well as the small human and animal figurines of the Early Bronze and Iron ages– the time when the Israelites settled the land of Canaan. The flat figures pay tribute to the early Etruscan depictions, and the colors draw on the blues, oranges, and gold of the timeless Middle East landscape.