ABERDEEN

ABERDEEN , Scottish seaport, northeast of Edinburgh. In 1665 it was reported that a ship with sails of white satin had put into harbor with a large party of Jews, presumably on the way to join the pseudo-Messiah Shabbetai *Ẓevi in the Levant (A New Letter from Aberdeen in Scotland, Sent to a Person of Quality, etc., by R.R., London, 1665). Marischal College in Aberdeen was possibly the earliest British university to give degrees to Jews (Jacob de *Castro Sarmento, 1739, followed by Ralph *Schomberg; perhaps neither professed Judaism at the time). A small community was established in Aberdeen by Polish and Russian Jews in 1893, and in 1966 numbered approximately 85. The Library of Marischal College contains a magnificent Hebrew illuminated Bible manuscript of the Sephardi type, probably originating in Naples. In 2004 approximately 30 Jews resided in Aberdeen. A refurbished community center and synagogue opened in 1983.

bibliography:

jhsem, 4 (1942), 107; jyb (1968), 120; C. Roth, Aberdeen Codex of the Hebrew Bible (1966). add. bibliography: jyb (2004), 135.

[Cecil Roth]

Aberdeen Third-largest city in Scotland (after Glasgow and Edinburgh), situated between the rivers Dee (s) and Don (n). Aberdeen is the principal seaport on the ne coast of Scotland. Chartered by William the Lion in 1179, Aberdeen is known as the ‘Granite City’ for its grey granite architecture such as St Machar's Cathedral (1131). Since the 1970s, the exploitation of oil reserves in the North Sea has seen the city develop into a major centre of the British oil industry. Pop. (1997) 215,930.

Aberdeen, an ancient royal burgh (1178) and centre for education with two universities by 1600, became a significant port and developed a range of industries after 1750. A diversified industrial economy including linen, cotton and woollens, shipbuilding and engineering, distilling, paper, white fish, and granite reduced the strains of economic change. In 1911 nearly half of total employment was in services, a sector which grew rapidly in the 20th cent. In 1970 oil was first tapped in the North Sea, and in 1975 the Forties field came on stream; Aberdeen became the capital of the British offshore oil industry.

John Butt

Aberdeen ★★ 2000

Ambitious London attorney Kaisa (Headey) gets a call from her terminally ill mother Helen (Rampling), who lives in Aberdeen, Scotland. Helen wants Kaisa to travel to Oslo and retrieve Tomas (Skargard), her alcoholic and estranged father, so Helen and he can have a deathbed reconciliation. Assertive Kaisa tracks the drunk down and makes him come with her on a nightmare trip back. Lead performances are utterly unsentimental. 103m/C VHS, DVD . NO GB Stellan Skarsgard, Lena Headey, Ian Hart, Charlotte Rampling; D: Hans Petter Moland; W: Hans Petter Moland, Kristin Amundsen; C: Philip Ogaard; M: Zbigniew Preisner.