"Cup of Joy"
Type:
Drinking vessels
Date:
Eleventh–twelfth century
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Afghanistan
Dimensions:
9 × 12 cm
Description:
This silver cup was hammered from a single sheet of silver worked in repoussé with chasing , engraving, and niello inlay. Inside is a flower executed in repoussé, visible when the cup was empty.
Nine Arabic inscriptions on the fluted body and flat rim alternate with birds enclosed in roundels or teardrop shapes. Read collectively, they offer generic blessings to the unnamed owner of the cup: "Glory and prosperity and wealth and grace and victory and health and contentment and wealth and happiness and health and long life to its owner." The letterforms have good comparisons with eleventh-century works from Khorasan ((i.e., parts of what is now Iran–Afghanistan–Uzbekistan), whereas the blessing formula has closer analogs in the twelfth century.
The two-line Hebrew inscription says either "Simcha son of Salman. Simcha, may he live for eternity" or Simcha son of Salman. Joy! May it last for eternity" (simcha means "joy" in Hebrew). The letterforms accord with works of the eleventh or twelfth century, suggesting that the inscription is contemporary with the cup and not a later addition. This is supported by the composition of the niello, which is very similar (albeit not identical) in both the Hebrew and Arabic inscriptions. If the cup of Simcha or "Cup of Joy" was used for kiddush, the Jewish blessing recited over wine, it would be the oldest such ritual vessel known.
According to a hadith, Muslims were not supposed to eat or drink from silver vessels, so silver objects from the medieval Islamicate world are rare. Textual sources associate them especially with northern Afghanistan, particularly with Balkh and Ghazni, cities known for silversmithing that had silver mines nearby. They also had Jewish communities, living alongside Muslims and Christians. The multifaith, multilingual, and multicultural communities of Khorasan in the eleventh to thirteenth centuries are well attested in the so-called Afghan Geniza. One of its documents, dated 1018–28, mentions a "Simcha ben Shlomo" (= Salman, Solomon)," perhaps an ancestor of the cup's patron.
The cup was sold by Sotheby's in 2025 for $4-million USD, the highest price paid for a Jewish ceremonial object to date. It will be on display at the Toledo (Ohio) Museum of Art starting in 2027.
Nine Arabic inscriptions on the fluted body and flat rim alternate with birds enclosed in roundels or teardrop shapes. Read collectively, they offer generic blessings to the unnamed owner of the cup: "Glory and prosperity and wealth and grace and victory and health and contentment and wealth and happiness and health and long life to its owner." The letterforms have good comparisons with eleventh-century works from Khorasan ((i.e., parts of what is now Iran–Afghanistan–Uzbekistan), whereas the blessing formula has closer analogs in the twelfth century.
The two-line Hebrew inscription says either "Simcha son of Salman. Simcha, may he live for eternity" or Simcha son of Salman. Joy! May it last for eternity" (simcha means "joy" in Hebrew). The letterforms accord with works of the eleventh or twelfth century, suggesting that the inscription is contemporary with the cup and not a later addition. This is supported by the composition of the niello, which is very similar (albeit not identical) in both the Hebrew and Arabic inscriptions. If the cup of Simcha or "Cup of Joy" was used for kiddush, the Jewish blessing recited over wine, it would be the oldest such ritual vessel known.
According to a hadith, Muslims were not supposed to eat or drink from silver vessels, so silver objects from the medieval Islamicate world are rare. Textual sources associate them especially with northern Afghanistan, particularly with Balkh and Ghazni, cities known for silversmithing that had silver mines nearby. They also had Jewish communities, living alongside Muslims and Christians. The multifaith, multilingual, and multicultural communities of Khorasan in the eleventh to thirteenth centuries are well attested in the so-called Afghan Geniza. One of its documents, dated 1018–28, mentions a "Simcha ben Shlomo" (= Salman, Solomon)," perhaps an ancestor of the cup's patron.
The cup was sold by Sotheby's in 2025 for $4-million USD, the highest price paid for a Jewish ceremonial object to date. It will be on display at the Toledo (Ohio) Museum of Art starting in 2027.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
7
Repository and Online Resources:
• Read about the recently discovered "Afghan Geniza," now in the National Library of Israel, here.
Image Credits:
Images Courtesy of Sotheby's.
