704 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vot. xxx1v. 
The Ark of the Law, holding the Torah, the most sacred and 
precious possession of the Jew, is the important architectural feature 
of the synagogue. It is called “ Holy Ark” (aron ha-kodesh), after 
the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle and Temple, whose place 
it has taken. The Holy Ark is set in or against that wall of the 
synagogue toward which the worshipers turn in the more solemn 
parts of the lturgy, the wall which is in the direction of Jerusalem. 
Whenever the Holy Ark is opened the congregation rises In reverence 
for the Law of God it holds. It is often surmounted by a headpiece 
of the Tables of the Law, or Decalogue, or some other emblems called 
kapporeth and before its doors is a curtain, of costly material, 
which is named parocheth,? after the curtain which in the Tabernacle 
and the Temple screened the Holy of Holies. 
1. Tor Prece or THE Hoiy Ark in THE SynacocuEr (kapporeth).— 
Made of red velvet and adorned in silver appliqué work with the fol- 
lowing principal parts of the Tabernacle and Temple (proceeding 
from right to left): (1) The golden frontlet of the high priest 
(Exodus xxviil, 36; (2) the table of shew bread (Exodus xxv, 23) ; 
(3) the laver (Exodus xxx, 17); (4) the Ark of the Covenant with 
the two tables of the Law, surmounted by two cherubim (Exodus xxv, 
10); (5) the altar of incense (Exodus xxx, 1); (6) the candlestick 
(Exodus xxv, 31); (7) the breastplate of the high priest (Exodus 
xxvil, 15). The whole is surmounted by the three crowns of the 
Law, the Priesthood, and the Kingdom, and is inclosed between 
wings, symbolizing the presence of God. Made in England. Date 
5509 A. M.=1749 A. D. 
Height, 2 feet 8 inches; width, 8 feet 1 inch. (Plate LX, Cat. 
No. 3627, U.S.N.M.) 
Lent yy Hadji Ephraim Suactee 
2. Tor Prece or THE Horry Ark (kapporeth)—Made of salmon- 
colored velvet and adorned in silk embroidery and gold and silver 
appliqué work with the following parts of the Tabernacle and 
Temple (proceeding from right to left): (1) The table of shew 
bread (Exodus xxv, 23); (2). The altar of burnt offermgs (Exodus 
xxvil, 1); (38) the Ark of the Covenant with the two tables of the 
Law surmounted by two cherubim upholding a crown (Exodus xxv, 
10); (4) the altar of incense (Exodus xxx, 1); (5) the dress of the 
high priest (Exodus xxvii, 6). The whole is surrounded by a gold 
border and gold fringe. Measurements, 4 feet 24 inches long, 2 feet 
wide. (Cat. No. 248914, U.S.N.M.) 
Lent by Hadji [Shalini Benguiat. 
3. VEIL or THE Hoty ArK (parocheth) .—Made in Padua in 1736, 
of yellow silk and richly embroidered in silver, gold, and silk, wilh 
@Pxodus xxv, 17; xxxvii, 6. OID COONS Soya, Bile socahy, Be sth, Bil, 
