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Women of the Bible is a new and significant addition to the Commemorative Medals series of the ICMC, in that it recognizes the important contributions to Jewish history of female personalities - as heroines, wives, mothers, judges, prophetesses, leaders and even political figures - alongside that of the better known men.
All the women in the series are taken from portraits drawn by the artist Yitzhak Tordjman. Among these outstanding and original women is Miriam the Prophetess, the 2nd medal in the series. Miriam is perhaps best known as the elder sister of Moses. Indeed, she announced to her father, Amram, that he would have a son who would redeem the People of Israel from Egyptian captivity, and thus she is acknowledged as the first female prophetess. It was she who persuaded Pharoah's unsuspecting daughter to take the baby Moses from his reed basket to his real mother for nursing, demonstrating her ability to think and take decisive action. The first Biblical description of Miriam described as a prophetess (Exodus 15:20-21) comes after the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, when she "took a tambourine in her hand and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing...". Later she is recalled in Micah 6:4, "I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam."
Obverse:
The obverse side bears an image of Miriam dancing with the tambourine.
Reverse:
Reverse design, common to all the medals in this series (including the 4 "Mothers in the Bible"series) depicts the eternal flame, symbolizing the continuity of Jewish women throughout history, up to the "Daughters of Jerusalem" today.
Edge:
Gold and Silver medals: Smooth.
Bronze and Pure Gold medals: Milled.
Designer:
Portrait Side - Itzhak Tordjman.
Common Reverse - Dina Avinoam.
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