4.6. Aramaic, Hebrew and Syriac scripts
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4.6.1. Proto-Canaanite script/early Phoenician script
4.6.4. Hasmonaean Hebrew book script
- MS 1909 Qumran, 1st c. BC
4.6.5. Herodian Hebrew book script
4.6.6. Hebrew square book script
4.6.7. Semi-cursive Hebrew book script
4.6.8. Rabbinic cursive book script
- MS 705 France, late 13th c.
4.6.10. Syriac Estrangela book script
4.6.11. Syriac Sertâ book script
- MS 577 Mt. Sinai, Egypt, ca. 11th c.
4.6.12. Syriac Rabbinic book script
- MS 1864 Syria?, late 12th c.
4.6.13. Christian Palestianian Aramaic uncial/Palestinian Syriac book script
- MS 036 Mt. Sinai, Egypt., 6th c.
- MS 1911/2 Iran/Mesopotamia/Syria/Jordan, 5th-7th c.
4.6.15. Proto-Manichaean book script
- MS 1928/54 Iran/Mesopotamia/Syria/Jordan, 5th-7th c.
4.6.1. Proto-Canaanite script/early Phoenician script
See also MS 5180, Proto-Sinaitic/Proto-Canaanite alphabetic script Israel/Palestine/Lebanon, 18th - 17th c. BC
ARROWHEAD INSCRIBED: "THE ARROW OF ... ESH AZBA'AL"
MS in Canaanite West Semitic on bronze, Canaan, Israel/Lebanon, 11th c. BC, 1 arrowhead, 7,2x1,5 cm, inscribed on both sides with Proto-Canaanite script/early Phoenician script.
Context: A MS with Proto-Sinaitic/Proto-Canaanite script is MS 5180.
Provenance: 1. Found in Southern Lebanon; 2. Frank Sternberg, Zürich, Auktion XXIV, 19.11.1990:431.
Commentary: The about 50 known arrowheads are the most important link between the West Semitic early Proto-Canaanite and the Phoenician-Hebrew scripts, being critical for the study of the development of the alphabet. The owners of most of the known arrowheads were warriors, possibly under the command of the King of Amurru.
Exhibited: The Norwegian Institute of Palaeography and Historical Philology (PHI), Oslo, 13.10.2003-06.2005.
THIS BELONGS TO MANNUKI. THIS IS WHAT MANNUKI CHIEF ARTISAN MADE
MS in Aramaic on black stone, Neo-Hittite kingdom, North Syria/South Turkey, 8th c. BC, 1 Pyxis lid, diam. 10,6x5,4x1,1 cm, 2 lines in archaic Aramaic script, deeply carved frieze of animals, a chimera.
Provenance: 1. Mannuki, chief artisan, North Syria/South Turkey (8th BC); 2. The Surena Collection, Geneva and London (ca. 1970-1997).
CONTRACT CONCERNING A SLAVE GIRL: AHî SOLD A SLAVE FOR ZAKAREL ..., - WITNESSES: NABUALLI, NURSE', EL'ABAD, THOSE ARE FROM THE MERCHANT ELGABAR. WITNESSES FROM TIL-ABARI(?): 'ATAR'IZRî, SHALLEMLEATî, SHAMASHYABI, ISHTARNAZIR, KêNAY, KUSEH. WHO AGAINST WHOM WOULD RETURN A PAIR OF WHITE HORSES HE WILL GIVE TO SAHAR AND HE WILL BE SATISFIED WITH IT. DEED OF SHAMASHQANAH (NAME OF THE SLAVE?). DATE: LIMU DE SHARASH-SHARRU-IBNU THE TURTANU
MS in Aramaic on clay, Syria, 613(?) BC, 1 tablet, 8,6x5,4x2,6 cm, 7+10+3 lines in Aramaic cursive documentary script, 3 seal impressions of a crescent moon above a schematic winged sun disc, of Sharash-sharru-ibnu the Turtanu.
Context: A similar tablet recently discovered in Syria, is published in Frederick Maria Fales: "An Aramaic tablet from Tell Shioukh Fawqani, Syria", Semitica, 46(1996), pp. 81-121, plates 9-10.
Commentary: The Aramaic alphabet developed alongside and in competition with the existing cuneiform script. The present documents are a hybrid of the new and the old, demonstrating written Aramaic script on cuneiform-style tablets.
Published: Andrè Lemaire: Nouvelles tablettes aramènnes. Seires Hautes Études orientales - 34, Moyen et proche-orient, 1. Genève, Librairie Droz S.A., 2001.
RECEIPT FOR QUANTITY OF FLOUR: THE 23RD DAY OF SHEBAT, YEAR 14, QôSNAQAM FLOUR OF WHEAT: SÉAH 22
MS in Jewish-Aramaic on cream coloured clay, Idumea, Palestine, 2 March 344 BC, 1 ostracon, 7,0x3,5 cm, single column, 3 lines in Jewish-Aramaic script.
Context: This is the second of 4 ostraca that seems to be written in 4 subsequent days by the same scribe; EN 103 is written the day before, L 36 the next day. Cf. A. Lemaire, Nouvelle inscriptions araméennes d'Idumée au musée d'Israel, Suppl. 3 à Trans. Paris 1966. I. Efph'al et J. Naveh, Aramaic Ostraca of the Fourth Century BC Idumaea, Jerusalem 1966.
Provenance: 1. Archive, Idumea, Palestine (344 BC- ); 2. Excavated, Palestine (1991-1995); 3. Sadi Barakat, Jerusalem.
Commentary: There are at least 300 Aramaic ostraca of this type, found from 1991 on.
Published: A. Lemaire,: Quatre nouveaux ostraca araméens d'Idumée; Transeuphratène 18, 1999.
1. BIBLE: EXODUS 3:14 - 15
2. BIBLE: ISAIAH 40:31; 60:11
3. IN THE
NAME OF ABRAHSIYA THE GREAT HOLY SAVIOUR, KING OF THE UNIVERSE, AGAIN, BOUND
AND SEALED ARE THEY WITH SEVEN SEALS AND EIGHT BONDS. THE FIRST SEAL IS OF
NEBURIZ, THE SECOND OF NEBURIZ SON OF IRI, THE 3RD OF IBOL SON OF SAGUL, THE
4TH OF TSURBIN NURBIZ YATGZY', THE 5TH SEAL IS OF THE MIGHTY BURGIZ, THE 6TH
OF TURMIN, THE 7TH OF TURMIS. WITH THE SEAL OF THE SUN(-GOD) AND THE SEAL-RING
OF THE MOON(-GOD). BY THE MYSTERY OF THE EARTH AND THE ANVIL-BLOCK OF HEAVEN,
AND BY THE SEAL-RING OF THE GREAT EL-SHADDAI. - FOR HOSA'YA SON OF HATAI, AND
HADADOI SON OF KIL
MS in Hebrew (texts 1-2) and Jewish-Aramaic (text 3) on clay, Iran/Mesopotamia/Syria/Jordan, 5th-7th c., 1 incantation bowl, 17,0x6,5 cm, 10 lines in Jewish-Aramaic script, drawing of the demon Lilith with her hands and feet bound.
Commentary: Text 1, Exodus 3:14 - 15, quoting the Hebrew Bible is among the earliest known, only preceded by the Dead Sea Scrolls, 4QGen-Exoda and 4QExodb. Text 2, Isaiah 40:31; 60:11, quoting the Hebrew Bible is among the earliest known, only preceded by the 2 Dead Sea Scrolls, 1QIsaA and 1QIsaB, from ca. 100 BC. Incantation or magical bowls are also called demon traps. They were placed with the bottom up under the floors and thresholds of the houses in the Near East. The demons were then believed to be trapped inside the bowl with the magical spells written against them.
The drawing of the demon Lilith with her hands and feet bound, her breasts bare and her hair undone, shows her as a promiscuous adulteress, who is stripped naked and cast out of the house. This picture accords well with Lilith's role as a succubus, who has sexual relations with men at night in order to propagate a new generation of demons.
Published: To be published by Prof. Shaul Shaked in the series Manuscripts in The Schøyen Collection.
Exhibited: 1. XVI Congress of the International Organization for the study of the Old Testament. Faculty of Law Library, University of Oslo, 29 July - 7 August 1998; 2. The Warburg Institute: A Special exhibition on the occasion of the workshop "Officina Magica", London 15 - 17 1999.
4.6.4. Hasmonaean Hebrew book script
THE MANUAL OF DISCIPLINE DEAD SEA SCROLL
BENEDICTIONS 5:22 - 25
MS in Hebrew on vellum, Qumran, 1st c. BC, 1 fragment of a scroll, 3,3x1,6 cm, 1 partial column, (original column 20x13 cm), part of 4 lines (originally 29 lines), in a formal Hasmonaean Hebrew book script; a fragment, 0,7x0,8 cm, with the offset of the letters Shin and Lamed; 2 uninscribed fragments, 2,0x0,7 cm and 0,5x0,5 cm.
Context: Part of the final benedictions (1QSb=1Q28b) of the scroll originally known as the Manual of Discipline (1QS), also named after its 2nd text, The Rule of the Community (1QSa) or Serekh ha-Yahad. This was one of the 7 scrolls found in Cave 1 at Qumran in June 1947. The Metropolitan, Bishop Athanasius Samuel, took 4 of these scrolls (the Manual of Discipline, the Isaiah A Scroll, the Habakkuk Commentary, and the Genesis Apocryphon), to New York in January 1949 to be sold. They were advertised in the Wall Street Journal on 1 June 1954, bought 1 month later by Yigael Yadin on behalf of the Israeli Government and immediately taken back to Israel. They are now in the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The present fragment had either fallen off the scroll in the cave, or while in the possession of Athanasius Samuel.
A further fragment from the bottom of column 7 of 1QS, in The Schøyen Collection, see MS 1926/3. Further Dead Sea Scroll fragments: MSS 1926/1-4, 2713, 2861, 4611, 4612 and 5095/1. There are 10 more fragmentary Rule of the Community scrolls from Cave 4 (4QS255-264).
Provenance: 1. Community of the Essenes, Qumran (1st c. BC-68 AD); 2. Qumran cave 1 (68-1947); 3. Muhammad Adh-Dhib of the Ta'amireh tribe, Judaean desert (1947); 4. Khalil Iskander Shakin ("Kando"), Bethlehem (1947-1948); 5. Syrian orthodox Monastery of St. Mark (Metropolitan Athanasius Samuel), Jerusalem (1948-1973); 6. Dr. William Brownlee, Claremont, California (1973-1983); 7. Louise Brownlee, Claremont, California (1983-1994).
Commentary: The Manual of Discipline/Rule of the Community scroll is one of the most important of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Manual of Discipline is one of the oldest documents of the Essenes. Originally written around 100 BC, it contains the community's liturgies, statutes, organisation, discipline, and a penal code. The 2nd text, the Rule of the Community, is also known as the Messianic Rule. It is the rule for a community adapted to the requirements of the Messianic war against the nations. The 3rd text, from which the present fragment comes, is a collection of blessings, to be recited by the Master or the Teacher of Righteousness for the ceremony of the institution of the new community. It was intended for the Messianic age. Included in the blessings are the members of the Community, the Messiah of Aaron, the sons of Zadok, the priest, and finally the Prince of the congregation, the Messiah of Israel. This text is unique, not witnessed in any other Dead Sea Scroll.
Published: 1. by George J. Brooke and James M. Robinson: A further fragment of 1QSb: The Schøyen Collection MS 1909, in: Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont, California, Occasional papers no. 30, Nov. 1994; 2. Journal of Jewish Studies, vol. 46, Nos. 1-2, 1995, pp. 120-133; 3. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert, XXVI, Philip S. Alexander and Geza Vermes: Qumran cave 4, XIX, 1Q28b, pp. 227-233, plate XXIV.
Exhibited: 1. Conference of European National Librarians, Oslo, Sept. 1994. 2. Treasures from the Dead Sea. Manchester museum, 21 October 1997 - 10 January 1998; 3. XVI Congress of the International Organization for the study of the Old Testament. Faculty of Law Library, University of Oslo, 29 July - 7 August 1998.
4.6.5. Herodian Hebrew book script
See MS 2861, The Judges Dead Sea Scroll, Qumran, 40-20 BC
See MS 2713, The Joshua Dead Sea Scroll, Qumran, 30 BC - 68 AD
See MS 4611, The Leviticus Dead Sea Scroll, Qumran, 30 BC - 68 AD
4.6.6. Hebrew square book script
BIBLE: EXODUS 22:4 - 29
MS in Hebrew on vellum, Iraq or Iran, 10th c., 1 partial f., 34x37 cm, part of 3 columns (28x28 cm remaining, column width ca. 7 cm), 17 lines in a large Hebrew square book script with nikud and the small Masorah between the columns.
Binding: England, 1922-1942, brown cloth.
Provenance: 1. The Cairo Genizah, Fustât, Egypt (-ca. 1900); 2. David Solomon Sassoon's Library, Hertfordshire, MS.566 (1922-1942); 3. David Solomon Sassoon's trustees (1942-1994); 4. Sotheby's 21.6.1994:1.3 (5th Sassoon sale).
Commentary: Contemporary with the earliest primary MSS of the Hebrew Bible in codex form, British Library's Pentateuch BL Or. 4445, the Damascus Pentateuch, the Aleppo Codex, all 10th c. Second to the caves of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the great Genizah in Cairo is the most significant and evocative source for any fragments of early Hebrew MSS. The Genizah was fully unearthed from 1896. Probably no Egyptian finds, except that of Tutankhamon in 1922, has ever excited the public imagination so much at the time of the discovery. No single source has added so much to our knowledge of early Jewish culture. For half a century these were among the oldest Hebrew MSS known. Literature: D.S. Sassoon: Ohel Dawid, Descriptive Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the Sassoon Library, London 1932, I, pp. 27-8.
Exhibited: XVI Congress of the International Organization for the study of the Old Testament. Faculty of Law Library, University of Oslo, 29 July - 7 August 1998.
BIBLE: EXODUS 10:15 - 14:21, WITH ARAMAIC TRANSLATION: TARGUM ONQELOS
MS in Hebrew and Aramaic on vellum, Iraq, first half of 11th c., 8 ff., 39x33 cm, 2 columns, (25x25 cm), 23 lines in a large Hebrew square book script, by a scribe perhaps originating from the Maghreb (North Africa probably Tunisia).
Provenance: 1. The Genizah of a Kurdistan Jewish community, North Iraq (until 1950/59); 2. Dr. Fischel, U.S.A.(from 1950/59 ; 3. Bernard Rosenthal, San Francisco.
Commentary: The Aramaic translation is verse by verse. Among the earliest group of surviving Hebrew targum Bible MSS in codex form.
Exhibited: XVI Congress of the International Organization for the study of the Old Testament. Library of Law Faculty, University of Oslo, 29 July - 7 August 1998.
4.6.7. Semi-cursive Hebrew book script
BIBLE: LEVITICUS 17 - 18, COMMENTARY, SHARAH AL-TORAH BY RABBI TANCHUM YERUSHALMI, QUOTING RABBI SA'ADYA GAON, RABBI ABRAHAM IBN EZRA, THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD AND THE TANNAITIC MIDRASHIM
MS in Judaeo-Arabic on paper, Palestine or Iraq, 13th c., 10 ff., 18x14 cm, single column, (18x12 cm), 32-33 lines in an oriental semi-cursive Hebrew book script.
Binding: England, 1921-1942, in pale brown cloth.
Provenance: 1. The Cairo Genizah, Fustât, Egypt (-ca. 1896); 2. David Solomon Sassoon's Library, Hertfordshire, MS.530 (1921-1942); 3. David Solomon Sassoon's trustees (1942-1994); 4. Sotheby's 21.6.1994:7 (5th Sassoon sale).
Commentary: This MS is contemporary with the author, Rabbi Tanchum Yerushalmi (ca. 1220-1291). His biblical commentaries, Kitab al-Bayan, survive only in fragments. Second to the caves of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the great Genizah in Cairo is the most significant and evocative source for any fragments of early Hebrew MSS. The Genizah was fully unearthed from 1896. Probably no Egyptian finds, except that of Tutankhamon in 1922, has ever excited the public imagination so much at the time of the discovery. No single source has added so much to our knowledge of early Jewish culture. Literature: D.S. Sassoon: Ohel Dawid, Descriptive Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the Sassoon Library, London 1932, I, p. 62.
Exhibited: XVI Congress of the International Organization for the study of the Old Testament. Faculty of Law Library, University of Oslo, 29 July - 7 August 1998.
MESHULLAM EZOVI: HEBREW GRAMMAR, AGUDDAT EZOV
MS in Hebrew on paper, North Africa, 15th c., 6 ff., 16x11 cm, single column, (12x9 cm), 25 lines in a north African semi-cursive Hebrew book script.
Binding: England, 1921-1942, in brown cloth.
Provenance: 1. The Cairo Genizah, Fustât, Egypt (-ca. 1896); 2. David Solomon Sassoon's Library, Hertfordshire, MS.532 (1921-1942); 3. David Solomon Sassoon's trustees (1942-1994); 4. Sotheby's 21.6.1994:53 (5th Sassoon sale).
Commentary: Meshullam Ezovi (13th c.) from Béziers in Provence, brother of the poet Jehoseph Ezovi, settled in Spain, where he wrote the present text and probably a commentary on the Torah, the Sefer ha-Ezovi, both still unpublished. MSS of the Aguddat Ezov are very rare. Second to the caves of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the great Genizah in Cairo is the most significant and evocative source for any fragments of early Hebrew MSS. The Genizah was fully unearthed from 1896. Probably no Egyptian finds, except that of Tutankhamon in 1922, has ever excited the public imagination so much at the time of the discovery. No single source has added so much to our knowledge of early Jewish culture. Literature: D.S. Sassoon: Ohel Dawid, Descriptive Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the Sassoon Library, London 1932, I, p. 485.
Exhibited: XVI Congress of the International Organization for the study of the Old Testament. Faculty of Law Library, University of Oslo, 29 July - 7 August 1998.
4.6.8. Rabbinic cursive book script
YITZHAK BEN ABBAMARE: SEFER HA'ITUR, RABBINIC CODE, PART 2, CONCERNING THE LAWS OF FORBIDDEN PORTIONS OF MEAT, LAWS OF THE PHILACTERIES, FRINGES AND OF MARRIAGE
MS in Hebrew on vellum, Southern France, late 13th c., 10 ff., 39x24 cm, 2 columns, (27x16 cm), 60 lines in rabbinic cursive, some headings in Hebrew square script.
Provenance: 1. Sotheby's 29.11.1990:56.
BIBLE: NUMBERS 7:24 - 19:8
MS in Hebrew on vellum, Nablus (Shechem) or Damascus, 13th c.(?), 1 partial scroll of 5 membranes, 44x125 cm, 6 columns, (38x17 cm), 84-91 lines in a small Samaritan book script without vowel signs. Binding: Barking, Essex, 1993, red cloth gilt folding case, by Aquarius.
Provenance: 1. Sotheby's 7.12.1992:34.
Commentary: Textually the Samaritan recension of the Pentateuch can be as close to the original text as the Hebrew recension of the Masoretes. Since the early 17th c. scholars have argued over the superiority of each. The script is an ultimate descendant of the cursive paleo-Hebrew script of the 6th c. BC, predating the earliest square Hebrew script introduced by the priest and scribe Ezra in Jerusalem after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian exile around 400 BC.
1. SAMARITAN CALENDAR FOR THE YEAR 740 A.H. (=1339/40)
2. LITURGICAL
POEM, TRANSLATED FROM SAMARITAN
MS in Hebrew and Arabic (text 2) on paper, Nablus, Israel (or Damascus?, Syria), ca. 1339-1340, 18 ff., 19x14 cm, single column, (ca. 18x13 cm), 25 lines in Samaritan book script (text 1) and 22 sections of 10 lines in Arabic Naskhi script (text 2), calendar pages ruled in double red-brown lines.
Binding: England, 1920-1942, brown cloth.
Provenance: 1. Abd-Yahweh ibn Absukuwah ibn Ibrahim Demibani Danaftha (1704); 2. Ibrahim ibn Ya'kub al-Samri (1740); 3. David Solomon Sassoon's Library, Hertfordshire, MS.728 (-1942); 4. David Solomon Sassoon's trustees (1942-1994); 5. Sotheby's 21.6.1994:34 (5th Sassoon sale).
Commentary: Literature: D.S. Sassoon: Ohel Dawid, Descriptive Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the Sassoon Library, London 1932, II, 601.
Exhibited: XVI Congress of the International Organization for the study of the Old Testament. Faculty of Law Library, University of Oslo, 29 July - 7 August 1998.
4.6.10. Syriac Estrangela book script
See also MS 2530, Bible: Romans, Syria(?), late 5th c.
JOHANNES CHRYSOSTOMUS: HOMILY ON THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN
MS in Syriac on vellum, Mt. Sinai, Egypt, 9th c., 4 ff., 25x16 cm, 2 columns, (19x13 cm), 40-43 lines in a Syriac estrangela book script.
Binding: Barking, Essex, 1990, green cloth gilt folding case by Aquarius.
Provenance: 1. Monastery of St. Catherine, Mt. Sinai (9th c.- 19th c.); 2. Friedrich Grote (19th c.); 3. Walther Adam, Magdeburg and Goslar, S 9 (1918/30-1964); 4. Carl Wilhelm Adam, Goslar (1964-1987); 5. F. Dörling, Hamburg 11.6.1987:28 ; 6. Wolfgang Görigk, Germany (1989); 7. Sam Fogg Rare Books Ltd., London.
Commentary: There are 20 MSS from Mt. Sinai in The Schøyen Collection. Besides the monastery's own famous library (4300 MSS), only British Library (8 MSS) and The National Library of Russia, St. Petersburg (60 MSS, mostly fragments), have comparable holdings. Assfalg: Syrische Handschriften, pp. 211, No. 108, S 9.
4.6.11. Syriac Sertâ book script
HERMOLOGION: HEIRMOS 705 - 709, MELCHITE USE
MS in Syriac on paper, Mt. Sinai, Egypt, ca. 11th c., 2 ff., 20x14 cm, single column, (17x9 cm), 16 lines in Syriac Sertâ book script, knotwork decorated headpiece, marginal drawings of roundels, interlace patterns, etc. in black and red.
Binding: Barking, Essex, 1990, green cloth gilt folding case by Aquarius.
Provenance: 1. Monastery of St. Catherine, Mt. Sinai (11th - 19th c.); 2. Friedrich Grote, Germany (ca. 1900); 3. Walther Adam, Magdeburg and Goslar, S 14 (1918/30-1964); 4. Carl Wilhelm Adam, Goslar (1964-1987); 5. F. Dörling, Hamburg 1.6.1987:31; 6. Wolfgang Görigk, Germany (1989); 7. Sam Fogg Rare Books Ltd., London.
Commentary: The decorations are among the earliest examples preserved of Melchite art. Melchite is an Eastern sect of Christians who, while adhering to the ceremonies and liturgy of the Greek orthodox church, acknowledge the papal authority. There are 20 MSS from Mt. Sinai in The Schøyen Collection. Besides the monastery's own famous library (4300 MSS), only British Library (8 MSS) and The National Library of Russia, St. Petersburg (60 MSS, mostly fragments), have comparable holdings. Assfalg: Syrische Handschriften, p. 212, No. 112, S 14.
4.6.12. Syriac Rabbinic book script
1. YOZER LIV'ZOT HA'BRACHA-ESA BECHI VE'AL AHASHE, LITURGICAL POEM
2.
ROSH HA'YESHIVA, POEM IN HONOUR OF NATHANIEL GAON
3. MADIACH LA'ASHEM
U'MAOZI, POEM ABOUT JERUSALEM
4. JUDAH HA'LEVI: YERUSHALAIM HEIANCHI
(POEM) DIPLOMA GIVEN BY EMPEROR ANTONINUS PIUS TO THEEON
MS in Hebrew on paper, Syria?, late 12th c., 8 ff., 17x13 cm, single column, (14x11 cm), up to 21 lines in a Syriac rabbinic book script by several scribes.
Binding: England, 1920-1942, in pale brown cloth.
Provenance: 1. The Cairo Genizah, Fustât, Egypt (-ca. 1896); 2. David Solomon Sassoon's Library, Hertfordshire, MS.220 (1920-1942); 3. David Solomon Sassoon's trustees (1942-1994); 4. Sotheby's 21.6.1994:9 (5th Sassoon sale).
Commentary: The Spanish poet and philosopher Judah Ha'levi died in Egypt in 1141 during an attempt to emigrate to the Holy Land. Second to the caves of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the great Genizah in Cairo is the most significant and evocative source for any fragments of early Hebrew MSS. The Genizah was fully unearthed from 1896. Probably no Egyptian finds, except that of Tutankhamon in 1922, has ever excited the public imagination so much at the time of the discovery. No single source has added so much to our knowledge of early Jewish culture.
Literature: D.S. Sassoon: Ohel Dawid, Descriptive Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the Sassoon Library, London 1932, I, pp. 272-3.
Exhibited: XVI Congress of the International Organization for the study of the Old Testament. Faculty of Law Library, University of Oslo, 29 July - 7 August 1998.
4.6.13. Christian Palestianian Aramaic uncial/Palestinian Syriac book script
1. BIBLE: MATTHEW 26:59 - 68; 26:70 - 27:2; 27:3 - 10
2. TABLE OF
CONTENTS OF A CODEX, THAT CONTAINED 11 TEXTS, INCLUDING 4 ABOUT THE FATHERS
WHO WERE PUT TO DEATH ON MT. SINAI
MS palimpsest on vellum, Mt. Sinai, Egypt. Text 1 (underlying text): in Christian Palestinian-Aramaic, 6th c., 1 1/2 ff., 20x16 cm, originally ca. 24x18 cm, 2 columns (19x14 cm, originally ca. 21x14 cm), 22 lines (originally ca. 24 lines) in Christian Palestinian-Aramaic uncial. Text 2 (overlying text): in Syriac, ca. 700, 3 ff., 16x10 cm, single column, (15x9 cm), 15 lines in a somewhat shaky Syriac estrangela book script, with similarities to Mt. Sinai Cod. Syr. 30, dated 698. Binding: Barking, Essex, 1990, green cloth gilt folding case, by Aquarius.
Context: Another 35 ff. = MS 35, and 1/2 f. (1 f.) = MS 37 are possibly from the original codex of 6th c. 16 1/2 ff. (33 ff.), also from the same codex, in St. Petersburg, The National Library of Russia (mostly St. Cyril: Catacheses), brought to St. Petersburg from Mt. Sinai in 1859 together with Codex Sinaiticus by Konstantin von Tischendorf. Further MSS from Mt. Sinai see MSS 35, 37, 571-585, 613 and 2530.
Provenance: 1. Monastery of St. Catherine, Mt. Sinai (6th-19th c.); 2. Friedrich Grote, Germany (ca. 1900); 3. Private collection, Berlin (1929); 4. D. MacLaren; 5. Sotheby's 12.4.1954:302; 6. Dr. Otto Fisher, Detroit; 7. H.P. Kraus, "Monumenta Codicum Manuscriptorum" cat. (1974):2; 8. H.P. Kraus cat. 165(1983):28.
Commentary: Underlying text: Gospels of 6th c. in this rare language, closely related to the mother tongue of Christ, are of considerable textual interest. The script is together with the nearly identical one in "Codex Climachi Rescriptus", Mt. Sinai, mid 6th c., considered the finest and earliest specimen of Christian Palestinian-Aramaic uncial extant. The script is also known as Palestinian Syriac book script. Apart from the 3 MSS. in The Schøyen Collection, only the Vatican, St. Petersburg and Mt. Sinai libraries have MSS in this language and script, and even the Mt. Sinai library has only 3, all from 11th c.
Published: Underlying text: Alain Desreumaux: Codex sinaiticus Zosimi rescriptus; Description codicoligique de feuillets araméens melkites des manuscrits Schøyen 35, 36 et 37. In: Histoire du Texte Biblique 3. Lausanne, Éditions du Zèbre, 1997.
A BINDING FOR THE HOUSE AND ABODE OF NANAI DAUGHTER OF IN - AND FOR IHANA SON OF SHISHA. - I AM FEROCIOUS WITH THE DEMONS BUZNAI SON OF MAHIA DIVIDES ... FINDS THE STINKING ONE OVERTURNED, OVERTURNED ... GOAT(?) FROM THE HOUSE OF GISHI ..., AND FROM THE DAUGHTERS AND SONS AND HE IS ENRAGED BY THE RAGE OF THE WOLF THAT IS FROM THE RAGE OF THE TOWN. ON THE CROWN THE STAND, THEY CAST A THRONE ON HIM, ALL THE ANGELS, I STAND AND I STRIKE(?) WITH THE EYE ALL THE ANGELS WHO STAND OVER MY GATE ... AND THE DEVILS SPEAK AND STAND TO DO EVIL
MS in Mandaic on clay, Iran/Mesopotamia/Syria/Jordan, 5th-7th c., 1 incantation bowl, 19,0x7,5 cm, 44 lines in a careless cursive Mandaic script in 3 blocks at different angles radiating from the centre.
Commentary: Incantation or magical bowls are also called demon traps. They were placed with the bottom up under the floors and thresholds of the houses in the Near East. The demons were then believed to be trapped inside the bowl with the magical spells written against them.
Published: To be published by Prof. Shaul Shaked in the series Manuscripts in The Schøyen Collection.
Exhibited: 1. The Warburg Institute: A Special exhibition on the occasion of the workshop "Officina Magica", London 15 - 17 1999.
4.6.15. Proto-Manichaean book script
1. MAY THE EVIL EYE BE BANISHED AND WIPED OUT ... TO YAWITA DAUGHTER OF
RASHNENDUKH, MAY IT BE BEATEN AND SMITTEN. MAY THERE BE HEALING TO THE HOUSE
OF YAWITA DAUGHTER OF RASHNENDUKH NOW. ... OF ALL THE HOUSE OF YAWITA DAUGHTER
OF RASHNENDUKH, AND ANY ONE WHO STANDS AGAINST HER MAY BE WIPED AWAY AND MAY
HIS SALIVA BE ANNULLED, ANY ONE WHO IS BORN OF A WOMAN AND WHO STANDS AGAINST
HER, MAY THE POWER OF CHRIST ARISE AND HELP HIM. - ALSO FOR ITAI SON OF
RASHNENDUKH
2. THE INNER ROOM OF THE DINING HALL
3. THE GATE OF
EATING, INSIDE
MS in Syriac and Middle Persian (text 3) on clay, Iran/Mesopotamia/Syria/Jordan, 5th-7th c., 1 incantation bowl, 17,5x7,5 cm, 5+4 lines in Proto-Manichaean and Pahlavi (text 3) script, drawing of a demon with a scroll or a dragon above.
Commentary: A Christian bowl, which is unusual in the Near East, see also MS 1928/52. Text 2 and 3 contain the same text in Syriac and Middle Persian, which can be significant for deciphering the rare literary Middle Persian language. Incantation or magical bowls are also called demon traps. They were placed with the bottom up under the floors and thresholds of the houses in the Near East. . Texts 2 and 3 give the exact location in the house. The demons were then believed to be trapped inside the bowl with the magical spells written against them.
Published: To be published by Prof. Shaul Shaked in the series Manuscripts in The Schøyen Collection.
Exhibited: 1. The Warburg Institute: A Special exhibition on the occasion of the workshop "Officina Magica", London 15 - 17 1999.