Hebrew readers, can you please tell me what is written on this pitcher

March 16, 2015 9:53 PM

I recently acquired this small pitcher and I would like to know what it says. Also, if you can tell me anything about its intended purpose, that's be great. Thanks!
posted by at the crossroads to Home & Garden (8 answers total)

Best answer: The top text isn't any phrase I recognize and could be read in a bunch of different ways because of how vowels and certain consonants work in Hebrew (shten vit, sten ooit, something like that). It might be a name.

The bottom text says "al hashulchan" and it means "on the table".

No clue what it's actually for.
posted by Itaxpica at 10:10 PM on March 16, 2015

Oh, wait, I do recognize the first word (the rightmost one on the top since hebrew is read right-to-left). It's shatan, which means adversary and is better known in English as (no joke) Satan. No clue why that would be on a pitcher, though.

It might be something else with the same consonants and different vowels, though I can't think of any other possibilities at the moment.
posted by Itaxpica at 10:16 PM on March 16, 2015

Hmmm, that looks more like a mem than a tet on the pitcher. It looks like Shimon (Simon) Rut (Ruth). Probably a wedding gift.
posted by brujita at 10:33 PM on March 16, 2015

Best answer: Maybe for olive oil.
posted by brujita at 10:33 PM on March 16, 2015

Best answer: The top two words say Shemen Zayit, which means olive oil. I'd bet it was meant to hold olive oil. The bottom two words say Al Hashulchan, which as Itaxpica already said, means "On the table".

If you'd like to confirm the translation, here's some copypastable Hebrew: שמן זית על השולחן
posted by unruthless at 10:36 PM on March 16, 2015 [5 favorites]

Response by poster: I thought it was for oil and that's how I've been using it. Thanks for the translation!
posted by at the crossroads at 10:43 PM on March 16, 2015

Best answer: unruthless is correct.
posted by fingersandtoes at 11:00 PM on March 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

The leaves look like olive twigs.
posted by brujita at 6:29 PM on March 17, 2015 [1 favorite]