In Search of the Shop of Moses Wilhelm Shapira, the Leading Figure of the 19TH Century Archaeological Enigma

Shlomo Guil
The following article is the full original version of the abridged Hebrew article In the Footsteps of the Concealed Shop ( ) which was published in Et Mol, number 223, June 2012.

Abstract : The present research intends

to indentify the exact location of the shop of Moses Wilhelm Shapira, in Christian Street , in the old city of Jerusalem. The applied technique is a cross reference between selected descriptive texts of La Petite Fille de Jerusalem by Myriam Harry and nineteenth century photos .

Keywords: Shapira, Shapira Affair, Fakes, Jerusalem, Myriam Harry. Introduction:

Moses Wilhelm Shapira , born in 1830 ,was an antiquities dealer who was active in Jerusalem during the second half of the nineteenth century. Shapira left Kamenets-Podolsk (presently in Ukraine) at the age of 25, on his way to Palestine. He was of Jewish origin but converted to Christianity sometime during his voyage. In 1861 he opened a tourist shop on Christian Street in Jerusalem where he initially sold standard religious tourist paraphernalia and in 1871 started to deal with local antiquities. His business grew at a rapid pace. The discovery of the Mesha Stele in 1868 triggered significant interest in Moabites artefacts. Shapira started to produce fake items of that nature with illegible engraved inscriptions. Many scholars were fooled to believe that these items are authentic. The German archaeologists, who had no access to the Mesha Stele, rushed to buy these artefacts to the extent that by 1873 the Berlin museum bought, according to Clermont-Ganneau, 1700 of such items . The purchase of the German government was based upon the confirmation of authenticity published by Prof. Konstantin Schlottmann in 1872. It was the French scholar, Charles Clermont Ganneau, who finally put an end to this illicit trade by declaring these items to be fakes. Clermont-Ganneau published an article in The Athenaeum in January 1874, and later in the PEQ of that year, claiming that according to his inquiry, the Moabite items are fakes. Only in 1876 did the German scholars Emil Friedrich Kautzsch and Albert Socin concur with Clermont Ganneau. Shapira defended himself by putting the blame on his partner Salim al Kari. This enabled Shapira to continue his business specializing mostly in trade of Hebrew manuscripts. In 1883 Shapira offered to the British Museum fifteen parchment scrolls written in ancient Hebrew script. These scrolls contained the Ten Commandments, in a version that differs from that of the Massorah. The asking price was 1 million British pounds. Shapira claimed that the scrolls were found by an Arab in a cave east of the Dead Sea .Two scrolls were exhibited to the public. Prior to his arrival in London, Shapira presented the scrolls in June 1883 to Hermann Guthe in Leipzig . Guthe decided that the scrolls were fakes but nevertheless produced a transliteration of the scrolls which he published in the same year.

The publication of Hermann Guthe, 1883

The Shapira scrolls were inspected in London by Christian David Ginsburg on behalf of the British Museum. Ginsburg analysed the scrolls and prepared a full transcription of them pending his decision of their authenticity. Charles Clermont- Ganneau suddenly appeared in London in the midst of the excitement reflected by the local press. He then requested the permission of Ginsburg to inspect the scrolls but was refused by Shapira himself. ClermontGanneau was obliged to glance at the scrolls from afar, together with the general public. It took only an hour or so for Clermont -Ganneau to reach the conclusion that the scrolls are forgeries. He immediately reported his view to the press. Shortly after, Ginsburg came out with a notice that the scrolls are obvious fakes. Shapira could note bear the shame. He left London after having written to Ginsburg a note of despair.He then committed suicide in March 1884 in a hotel in Rotterdam. The scrolls were left behind in the British museum. The scrolls were then auctioned off by Sothebys in July 1885. The buyer was Bernard Quaritch, a well known book dealer who paid for them an amount of 10 pounds and 5 shillings. B. Quaritch later (probably in 1887) sold the scrolls to an unknown buyer for amount of 25 pounds. The fate of the scrolls remains a mystery despite the fact that A. D. Crown suggested in 1970 a name of a buyer without being able to prove his claim. Proving or disproving the authenticity of the Shapira Scrolls, without first locating them, remains quite a difficult task.

Searching for Shapiras shop in Jerusalem

The first written reference to Shapira's shop appears in Baedekers guide to Palestine and Syria of 1876. There, on page 145, is stated that Shapira, Christian Street, is the best shop (for books and photographs). However, the exact address is not provided. The younger daughter of Moses Shapira, Maria Rosetta Shapira, who later on changed her name to Myriam Harry, became a well known authoress in France. She published in 1914 her La Petite Fille de Jerusalem in which she describes the life of her family under the shadow of the Shapira Affair. In this book, she refers to herself as Siona. There is no precise indication in her book, or in any other of her books, as to the exact location of the shop. However, her book does contain some sporadic remarks that can provide some clues.

Myriam Harry, La Vie Heureuse, March 1905

The research technique applied in this article is based upon cross reference between the agglomerate of clues provided in her book and 19th century photos of the relevant area in Jerusalem. Before turning to the book of Myriam Harry, let us first consider an old letter of Moses Shapira which is in the possession of the British Library in London. In this letter addressed by Shapira to David Ginsburg in August 6 , 1883 , Shapira states that My business with antiquities begins from the end of the year 1871

We will now refer to the book of Myriam Harry in its French version. I was obliged to translate from the original French version despite that both a Hebrew and English translations do exist. The Hebrew translation was done in 1935 in a poetic style without adhering to the original technical details. The English version likewise omits detailed descriptions which are of importance to this research. The following citations are referred to according to the page and chapter numbering of the French version of La Petite Fille de Jerusalem and are listed by order of relevance. Page 88, chapter 7 The front of the shop , decorated in European style, with its signs , showcases and its imposing entrance facing Christian Street being the busiest and most cosmopolitan street during the pilgrimage period. On the other hand, the back premises, with their archaic architecture, their Moucharabys, their recessed windows hanging over an old water pool covered with mildew and dozing its peaceful sleep from year to year. They say that it is a pool of thousands of years, Bathsheba's Pool, in which Uriah's beautiful wife , the army officer, was bathing herself while King David watched her from the top of his tower. Page 91 chapter 7 Her father never bothered to serve others than distinguished tourists or American millionaires. He always the farthest end of this large room, at a table in an alcove, which was lighted by a Moucharaby overlooking Bathsheba's Pool. sat at

Behind the simple corridor of Herr Alfred's were the back arches. ... A greenish light filtered through the barred windows. Page 96 chapter 7 She (a beautiful lady client) purchased a small prayer book, and was on the point of leaving the shop, when she caught sight of the pool. With a cry of delight she ran towards the hanging cage ( the Moucharaby) , "it reminds me of Venice, like a dream, or more precisely of Benares (Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges) Page 97 chapter 7 He (her father) left the other clients. He existed only for her He showed her the rare parchment manuscripts and at the end of the back arches (he showed her) the small neglected garden. Page 89 chapter 7 Siona loved very much her father's shop. From afar, when she turned from David Street (towards Christian Street) she looked up with pride at the large signboard set transversely above the five-fold cross of Jerusalem and embellished with gold letters on a white background. At the top , the little girl knew to read her father's name bookseller and antiquarian," whilst at the foot of the cross was the title of which she was extremely proud: "Correspondent to the British Museum."

Page 91 chapter 7 Three high stone steps, with a low reinforced door, led to yet another place, in the direction of the real kingdom of Siona,. It was - how should it be described?- it was , a medley of various picturesque things, ruins of an ancient harem , a platform, a neglected garden, two

arches opening towards two deteriorating balconies which are inclined in the direction of Bathsheba's Pool.

Page 92 chapter 7 On the other side (the faade of the house) was a staircase with half the steps broken away, a terrace surmounted with two cupolas, bordered by a small, deteriorating wall, overgrown with hyssop and honeysuckle. Siona, once having climbed up, could look down on Christian Street , and between the sloping roofs she could watch the continuous stream of Pilgrims.

Page 121 chapter 9 Sometimes, on other occasions, the children (Siona and her friend) deserted the (side of) the pool and climbed on the side of Christian Street, on the terrace, which was surmounted with two identical cupolas. Each one climbed up a cupola on all fours. From the top of the cupolas they could look over the low ruined wall into Christian Street with its stream of tourists Page 125 chapter 9 ... from most balconies (facing the pool) descended suspended ladders. There was also one planted against ( Siona's ) neglected garden where the wall was being repaired

Explanations of terms

Moucharaby : In Islamic architecture,

a kind of closed balcony protruding from the building. It is usually installed on the second floor where the women, remaining at home for modesty reasons, can look outside without being seen.

Bathsheba's Pool : Another name given to Hezekiahs pool.Hezekiah's Pool is an urban rectangular
water reservoir of the Second Temple period, located at the southern section of the Christian Quarter in Jerusalem. The length (north-south) of the pool is approximately seventy-five meters, and the width (east to west), forty-two and a half meters. The pool is surrounded on all sides by buildings. We can now summarize the known descriptive data relating to the house of Shapiras shop as it appears in La Petite Fille de Jerusalem as well in other sources mentioned above. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Shapira had only one shop and his business of antiquities began in 1871. The shop was located in Christian Street in Jerusalem The shop had showcases and an imposing entrance facing Christian Street. The backside of the shop was facing Bathshebas Pool or Hezekiahs Pool as it is known today. On the backside of the shop was a modest Moucharaby having been described as a suspended cage. The shop had backside arches. The house had a small neglected garden. Upon turning from David Street to Christian Street Shapiras shop signboard could be seen. In the garden stood two arches which were facing Hezekiahs pool. There were two large copulas on the roof of the building.

There are not many photos taken of Christian Street towards the end of the nineteenth century and no photographs exist of the shop. Following are two old photos of that street.

Christian Street 1927 in Bilder Fran Det Heliga Landet (Swedish)

Christian Street, in Album De Terre Sainte 1893 Since we know that the shop was located on Christian Street and the back of the store turned towards the Pool of Hezekiah, we should start by inspecting a photo of the pool dating from 1871 to 1883. Following is a photo taken by Felix Bonfils around 1876 but it might have been taken in the mid-eighties of the Nineteenth century.

Photo by Felix Bonfils 1876 or mid-eighties of the Nineteenth century.

The above is a photo of the northeast corner of the pool. On the left side of the photo (the northern side of the pool) is the Copts Khan. Adjacent to the Khan can be seen a relatively small house to which is attached a Moucharaby . It might be difficult to notice but to the right of this house (towards the south) is an open space and then a building with three arches. From now on we will focus upon that building with the arches, being the solution to our inquiry.

Following is a close-up on the north-easterly corner of the pool of the above photo together with a close-up of another photo by F. Bonfils of the same period.

Photo by F. Bonfils ,close-up

Photo by F. Bonfils ,close-up These close-ups clearly show an open space between the two buildings (there were no other empty spaces between the houses which surrounded the pool). This open space is in fact the neglected little garden to which Myriam Harry referred . If so, the structure that we are looking for should be adjacent to this garden. However, it has been noted already that the building to the right of the garden has three arches as described by Myriam Harry.

Let us now look at the following photo by Bergheim taken in 1872.

Photo by Bergheim 1872 Bergheims photo covers the same structures appearing in the photos of F. Bonfils but in this photo we can clearly see that the structure has two cupolas. These twin cupolas were also referred to by Myriam Harry. The same details can be noticed in the following photo by Frith dated 1862

Photo by Francis Frith, in Sinai and Palestine 1862

We can see in the following photo, taken in 1890, that through the years ,very little changes were made in the surrounding buildings.

The Way of the Cross , album of 1890 We have so far identified in the photos all of the characteristics mentioned by Myriam Harry, except two. Firstly, we know that to the back side of the building was attached a Moucharaby. We do however know that it was a modest construction being described as a suspended cage. The Moucharaby cannot be seen in the photos of the relevant period. Two possibilities can be considered. The first is that the structure was quite simple and lasted but a few years. The second option would be that the window above the arch on the right hand side, on the upper floor, was the external side of the Moucharaby. It is interesting to glance at a later photo which was published in 1893 (after Shapiras family left the premises) in which can be seen a Moucharaby all along the arched building.

Album De Terre Sainte 1893

There is still one unresolved issue. We have noted above that in the garden were two arches opening in the direction of two balconies which were facing Hezekiahs Pool. Nineteenth-century photographs do not provide any clue in respect to these two arches. Luckily, as was already mentioned, the buildings surrounding the pool underwent only minor changes in the last hundred years or so. A present day photo reveals those aligned arches in full view.

Photo by the author showing the two aligned garden arches (See arrow for second arch) Behind the left arch hides the second arch as can be seen in the photo above. The two balconies facing Hezekiahs Pool still stand as they did over a hundred years ago. We have now identified the shop at its rear side. We still need to determine its exact location at Christian Street. For this purpose we will use an aerial photograph of the pool with its surrounding houses.

Aerial view of Hezekias Pool We can clearly see in this aerial view the building with the twin cupolas. From topographic maps of Jerusalem we can determine that the distance between Copts Street and the southern wall of the Copts Khan is twenty-five meters. Raising our head, while walking southwards on Christian Street we can see the easterly edge of the Copts Khan. Right

after it is the small house with its wide panels. Beyond the small house is noticed an empty space which is in fact the garden which was mentioned. Adjacent to this garden is the house of Shapira. The shop of Shapira is the present day shop at number 76 Christian Street but the original shop, covering the full facade of the house, included also the present day adjacent shops at its right and left side. This study is hopefully a step forward in an effort to solve the enigma of the Shapira Affair". There are those who believe that the scrolls of Shapira are hidden in some unknown archive. Others believe that the scrolls burned together with the house of Sir Charles Nicholson (the alleged buyer of the scrolls) but this is based upon a speculation presented by A. Crown in 1970 which he himself could not prove. The fact is that no one knows who bought the scrolls from Bernard Quaritch in the year 1887. The authenticity of the scrolls of Shapira was debated in the 19th century and again soon after the publications of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The generally accepted view is that the scrolls were a forgery .This was based upon paleographic and epigraphic analysis. I am personally under the impression, as was M. Mansoor in the nineteen fifties and J. Allegro in the sixties, that there never was a solid scientific proof that the scrolls were a modern forgery. The still existing supportive claims of forgery are identical to the claims raised in the 19th century. I believe that a certain Dead Sea Scroll, as we understand it today, in conjunction with some new paleographic and circumstantial evidences, can refute the claims of forgery.

Selected bibliography
Allegro J. 1965, The Shapira Affair, W.H. Allen, London, 1965 Clermont-Ganneau Ch. 1874, The Shapira Collection PEQ, 1874 pp. 114-118, 201-206 Clermont-Ganneau Ch. 1885, Les Fraudes Archeologiques en Palestine, Paris, Ernest Leroux, 1885 Crown A. 1970, The Fate of the Shapira Scroll, Revue de Qumran , Numero 27, Tome 7, Fascicule 3, Decembre 1970, pp. 421-423 Gaudin C. 2005, Une Orientale a Paris, Voyages litteraires de Myriam Harry, Maisonneuve & Larose , 2005 Guthe H. 1883, Fragmente Einer Lederhandschrift Enthaltend Moses Letzte Rede An Die Kinder Israel, Leipzig 1883 Harry M. 1914, La Petite Fille de Jerusalem, Paris, Artheme Fayard 1914 Mansoor M. 1958, The Case of Shapiras Dead Sea (Deuteronomy) Scrolls of 1883, Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, vol 47, 1958, pp. 183-229 Reiner F. 1995, C.D. Ginsburg and the Shapira Affair, The British Library Journal, Volume 21 number 1, Spring 1995, pp. 109-127 Schlottmann K. 1872, Neue Moabitische Funde und Rathsel, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, Leipzig 1872, Bd. XXVI, pp. 786-797 Shavit Y. 1984 , A Note to the Biography of M.W. Shapira, an Antics Dealer In Jerusalem. Cathedra, 31, April 1984, pp. 182-187 (Hebrew)