JERUSALEM — Willy Lindwer purchased a bronze mortar and pestle in May 2026 in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. Experts determined the mortar was engraved around 1805 in Marrakesh, Morocco, for a prominent Jerusalem rabbinical family.

Lindwer, a collector of Judaica for over 50 years, acquired the item from a shopkeeper who had obtained it from old household goods years prior. The object measures 8.5 cm in height and 8.5 cm in diameter and is a sand-cast bronze mortar. Hebrew inscriptions on the mortar were initially obscured by an oxidation patina. Lindwer stated, "I discovered the mortar, with pestle, in May in one of the many small shops selling antiques and local and Middle Eastern folk art in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem."

The mortar was donated in Marrakesh by Rabbi Josef Delouya to Rabbi Hezekiah Josef Kovo of Jerusalem. Rabbi Kovo was an emissary from Jerusalem and came from a notable rabbinical family. His son, Rabbi Yitzhak Ben-Hezekiah Josef Kovo, served as the chief rabbi in the Land of Israel from 1848 until 1854. Lindwer stated, "Together, we discovered that the mortar was engraved around 1805 in Marrakesh for a rabbi, an emissary from Jerusalem, who descended from a famous rabbinical family."

Heavy bronze mortars, known as mehraz in Morocco, originated in Islamic Spain between the 10th and 15th centuries. This type of mortar was introduced in Morocco after the Spanish Inquisition in 1492. These mortars were traditionally used in Morocco for preparing medicines, grinding herbs and spices, and for ceremonial purposes within Jewish-Moroccan and Amazigh traditions. Lindwer indicated his assessment of the item's authenticity, saying: "It can't be a forgery, it is a very old piece."

The acquisition of this bronze mortar provides a link to the historical Jewish communities of Morocco and Jerusalem. Its inscription connects it to a prominent rabbinical family, offering insight into the material culture and religious exchanges between these communities in the early 19th century.