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WRITINGS & SCROLLS
(photos: thanks to wikimedia commons)
An impressive Timeline from the 7th century BC until 1947 of more than 100 ancient books, letters, papyri or scrolls, related to the Bible and Abrahamic faiths. Found or written in Israel and confirming the ancient ties of both Judaism and Christianity and of the strong Jewish connection to the land of Israel.
Photo by Hoshvilim:
Photo: Disdero
DEIR ALLA INSCRIPTION
880-770 BC - Deir Alla, Jordan
This ancient inscription was discovered during a 1967 excavation in Deir 'Alla, Jordan and can be seen in the Jordan Archaeological Museum. It is written in a peculiar Northwest Semitic dialect. It mentions "Bal'am, son of Be'or", who may be the same Balaam mentioned in Numbers 22-24 and in other passages of the Bible. The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Studies describes it as "the oldest example of a book in a West Semitic Language written with an alphabet, and the oldest piece of Aramaic literature. Though containing some features of Aramaic, such as the word 'bar' "(son of Beor)" rather than the Canaanite 'ben', it also has many elements of Canaanite languages, leading some to believe it was written in a dialect of Canaanite rather than an early form of Aramaic.
SILVER SCROLLS
7th century BC
In 1979 during an excavation the oldest known copy of the Old Testament was found. It was found at a burial cave at a site known as Ketef Hinnom, west of the old city of Jerusalem. Archaeologist Gabriel Barkay dated the small silver scrolls he found at the 7th century BC! A priestly blessing, recorded in Numbers 6:24-26, was discovered on these small silver scrolls. Barkay, professor of archaeology at Bar Ilan University stated that the silver scrolls pre-date the famous Dead Sea Scrolls by approximately four centuries! They are the only biblical verses ever found from the First Temple period. At least part of the old testament was written very closely to when the events were thought to have taken place.
Photo: Tamar Hayardeni
HEBREW JERUSALEM PAPYRUS
7th century BC - Judean Desert
A rare, ancient papyrus dating to the First Temple Period — 2,700 years ago — has been found to bear the oldest known mention of Jerusalem in Hebrew. The fragile text, believed plundered from a cave in the Judean Desert, was apparently acquired by the Israel Antiquities Authority during a sting in 2012 when thieves attempted to sell it to a dealer. Radiocarbon dating has determined it is from the 7th century BC, making it one of just three extant Hebrew papyri from that period, and predating the Dead Sea Scrolls by centuries.
ISHMAEL PAPYRUS
6th century BC
A letter written in ancient Hebrew dating back to the First Temple period, around the sixth or seventh century BCE, was returned to Israel on Wednesday. It was probably found in the Judean Desert caves.
Archaeologists estimated that it dates back to the sixth century BCE which joins two other documents in this time period in the Israel Antiquities Authority Dead Sea Scrolls collection. The script on the extremely rare ripped document starts with "To Ishmael send...", hinting that it is a fragment of a letter.
PASSOVER PAPYRUS
419-418 BC - Egypt
The famous Passover papyrus is a remarkable non-biblical confirmation that passover was celebrated amongst the Jews already 2400 years ago!
Part of the inscription tells: "“In the month of Nisan, the Judahite soldiers should observe Passover. Count fourteen days of the month of Nisan and observe Passover from the 15th to the 21st, seven days of unleavened bread. Be careful and do not work on day 15 and day 21.” the letter concludes, “for my brothers, Yedaniah and the soldiers of the Judahite garrison, your brother Hananiah.”
The Passover Papyrus is part of the Elephantine papyri, an important collection of writings (on papyrus reeds) from the ancient Jewish community in Elephantine, Egypt. The author of the letter was Jewish official in Yahud named Hananiah. Under the Persian Empire Yahud was the name of the former region of Judah with its religious centre Jerusalem. This letter is dated nearly hundred years after the Jews had rebuild the temple of Jerusalem. The Berlin Museum currenlty holds the Passover
Example of papyrus documents from Elephantine (berlin museum) photo: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin
A letter from the Elephantine Papyri, requesting the rebuilding of a Jewish temple at Elephantine. Photo wikimedia commons
ELEPHANTINE PAPYRUS 'REGUEST FOR HELP FROM JUDAH
407 BC - Egypt
Letter from the Elephantine Papyri, a collection of 5th century BCE writings of the Jewish community at Elephantine in Egypt. Authors are Yedoniah and his colleagues the priests and the letter is addressed to Bagoas, governor of Judah. The letter is a request for the rebuilding of a Jewish temple at Elephantine, which had been destroyed by Egyptian pagans. The letter is dated year 17 of king Darius (II) under the rule of the satrap of Egypt Arsames, which corresponds to 407 BCE. (From Eduard Sachau's 1907 publication.)
ARAMAIC PAPYRI OF WADI DALIYEH
4th Century BC - North of Jericho
Samaria Hills, Photo: Daniel Ventura
Between 1962 and 1963, Frank Moore Cross, a former Hebrew professor at Harvard University, acquired a collection of ancient artifacts including papyri, stamp seals, coins, and gold rings from looters associated with the Bedouin tribe of Ta'amireh. The transaction also involved the disclosure of the looting site. This revelation led professor Cross to the Mughâret Abū Shinjeh cave. Cross initiated excavations at this location, revealing additional papyri, stamp seals, some in good condition, and various human remains. The discovered papyri, inscribed in Aramaic, were dated to the end of the Achaemenid rule over Samaria. The site's material suggested it was the remnants of noble Samaritans who had fled the aftermath of Alexander the Great's reprisals in 331 BCE, which followed the assassination of his satrap Andromachus.
According to Jan Dusek, from Charles University in Prague, the papyri provide valuable information about the inhabitants of Samaria in the 4th century BC. Also they give more evidence for the existence of a group of people bearing Yahwistic names that lived in Samaria along other groups. The same group already had a religious centre at Mount Gerezim since the beginning of the 5th century BC. (see article).
ARAMAIC PAPYRUS OF KETEF YERIHO
4th Century BC - Jericho
A rare document dated to the second half of the fourth century BC, with a list of names (possible of donations) was found in a cave near Jericho. Possible the document as hidden in this inaccessible desert cave around the Jewish rebellion against Persian king Artaxerxes III. This rebellion led to the destruction of Jericho and the citizens of the city were Exiled to Hyrcania on the Caspian Sea and Persia.
QUMRAN CAVES
Qumran Caves are a series of caves, some natural, some artificial, found around the archaeological site of Qumran the Judaean Desert. It is in these caves that the famous 'Dead sea scrolls' were discovered.
Photo: Koosg
DEAD SEA SCROLLS
2nd Century BC - 4th Century AD Qumran Caves
The Famous Dead Sea Scrolls include fragments from every book of the Old Testament. (except for the Book of Esther). One complete book of the Hebrew Bible preserved among the manuscripts from Qumran is Isaiah; this copy, dated to the first century B.C., is considered the earliest Old Testament manuscript still in existence. Along with biblical texts, the scrolls include documents about sectarian regulations, such as the Community Rule, and religious writings that do not appear in the Old Testament. Some of the scrolls were found during archaeological research like the 1st century copper scroll. This scroll was made from copper whereas the other scrolls are written on papyrus or parchment and is inscribed with hebrew.
Photo: Matson Photo Service
Photo: Tamar Hayardeni
GABRIEL'S REVELATION
Late 1st century BC - 1st century AD -
Death Sea region, Israel
Gabriel's Revelation, also called Hazon Gabriel (the Vision of Gabriel or the Jeselsohn Stone, is a stone tablet with 87 lines of Hebrew text written in ink. The text seems to be a collection of short prophecies. It is dated to the late 1st century BC or early 1st century CE and is important for understanding Jewish messianic expectations in the Second Temple period. (The mainstream view is that Gabriel's Revelation is a pre-Christian work.) The finding has caused controversy among scholars. Israel Knohl, an expert in Talmudic and Biblical language, translated line 80 of the inscription as "In three days, live, I Gabriel com[mand] yo[u]". He interpreted this as a command from the angel Gabriel to rise from the dead within three days, and understood the recipient of this command to be Simon of Peraca, a Jewish rebel who was killed by the Romans in 4 BC. Knohl asserted that the finding "calls for a complete reassessment of all previous scholarship on the subject of messianism, Jewish and Christian alike". Other scholars, however, reconstructed the faint writing on the stone differently. Ronald Hendel's reading of "In three days, the sign ..." has gained widespread support. Knohl accepted that "sign" is a more probable reading than "live", although he maintains that "live" is a possible reading. However, the meaning of the phrase in the currently accepted reading is still unclear. Knohl still maintains the historical background of the inscription to be as mentioned above. He now views Simon's death, according to the inscription, as "an essential part of the redemptive process. The blood of the slain messiah paves the way for the final salvation".
MASADA SCROLLS & BEN SIRA SCROLL
70 AD - Masada
Since antiquity a Greek translation of the apocryphal book of Ben Sira has been known to scholars. However there were sceptics who dismissed the possibility of a Hebrew predecessor. The Cairo Geniza revealed a later version in Hebrew of the Ben Sira story. Finally in the 1960's Yigael Yadin’s excavations at Masada proved the Hebrew origin of Ben Sire. The teachings of the Mishnah prohibited reading the text of Ben Sira because "it did not boast divine inspiration". The discovery of Ben Sira scrolls at Masada testifies how popular the book was.
NEW TESTAMENT PAPYRI -1ST & 2ND C. FROM EGYPT
Rylands Papyrus
Between 100 &175 AD - Egypt
The Rylands Library Papyrus P52 is also known as the St John's fragment. It is a fragment from a papyrus codex (no scroll) that was acquired on the Egyptian market in 1920 by Bernard Grenfell and it proved to be authentic. This fragment is the oldest known manuscript of the Gospel of John and the the earliest known manuscript of the entire New Testament dating to approximately 125 AD. It is currently preserved at the John Rylands Library, Manchester, UK . The text that corresponds to the gospel of John 18:31–33 is written in Greek.
Ryland Library (Mike Peel)
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P90 (Gregory Aland) papyrus
150 AD - Egypt
Papyrus 90 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering) is a small fragment from the Gospel of John 18:36-19:7 dating palaeographically to the late 2nd century. It names Jesus, Pontius Pilate and Barnabas.
P104 (Gregory-Aland) Papyrus
150 AD - Egypt
This papyrus ranks among the earliest surviving texts of the New testament. It consists of six verses from the Gospel of Matthew, in a fragmentary condition, and is dated late 2nd century.
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TACITUS 'HISTORIAE'
100 AD - Roman Empire now Florence
The oldest existing copy of the original works of Tacitus Historia can be found in the beautiful Museum, La Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence. It is dated between 1000 and 1100 AD. The writings by Tacitus about the Jews are highly controversial (see video). However the texts just like other Greek and Roman writers do confirm many of the Jewish (religious) customs, that Jerusalem was founded by and the capital of the Jews and the place of the magnificent Jewish temple.
Photo: Sailko
TACITUS 'ANNALES'
105-120 AD - Roman Empire
The Annals (Latin: Annales) was written at the start of the second century AD by Roman historian and senator Tacitus and is a history of the Roman Empire from the reign of Tiberias to that of Nero (the years AD 14–68). The Annals are a highly valued source for modern understanding and research of the history of the Roman Empire. Modern historians generally consider this work as Tacitus magnum opus. One of the remarkable stories is Tacitus description (Annals 15.44) of Jesus: "Christ had been executed in Tiberias reign by the governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate". He also described the brutal ways how emperor Nero massacred many Christians in Rome. ('The popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible', N.Geisler and J.M Holden, 2013, pag 298)
CAVE OF LETTERS
136 AD & Older - Nahal Hever, Israel
The Cave of Letters is a cave in Nahal Hever, 20 km south of Qumran in the Judean desert. In the Cave letters, scorlls and fragments of papyri were found dating to the Roman period. Some are related to the Bar Kochba revolt (circa 131-136) and include letters of correspondence between Bar Kochba and his subordinates. Fascinating is the bundle of papyri, known as the Babatha archives. Babatha was a female landowner of the same period and more is described in the following section.
Photo by: Israel Antiquities Authority
Photo by: Antione Heron de Villefosse, Wikimedia
ROMAN MILITARY DIPLOMA MENTIONING SYRIA-PALAESTINA
139 AD - Afiq / Biblical Aphek, Israel
A Roman military diploma written on Bronze plates, from Afiq or ancient Aphek, testifies to the change of names when the provinces of Roman Syria and Roman Judaea were merged into Roman provinces Palaestina I, II and II. This occurred around the time of the Bar Kokhba Revolt. Most scholars believe Emperor Hadrian changed the names trying destroy the connection of the Jews to their historical homeland. The name Palaestina was already older, going back to the Egyptians that mention 'Peleset' and also the name Palestina was mentioned by Herodotus. However the old name of Palaestina was used to describe only the coastal region (today Gaza and Ashkelon) associated with the ancient Philistines.
BAR KOKHBA LETTERS
132-135 AD Cave of Letters - Nahal Hever
About sixty years after the First Jewish Revolt, which led to the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 CE, a group of Jews led by Shimon bar Kosiba attempted a second revolt. He came to be known as bar Kokhba, or “son of the star,” a play on words based on an interpretation of Numbers 24-17 that emphasized the messianic aspirations that were ascribed to him. In this Aramaic letter, Bar Kosiba asks a lieutenant to gather ritual supplies for the festival of Sukkot, or Tabernacles, for his encampment. Another letter composed in Greek contains a similar request.
BABATHA SCROLLS & ARCHIVE
131-136 AD - Nahal Hever
Babatha was the daughter of Shim’on, a Jewish landowner who lived in Arabia during Roman times. She owned a document archive found in a the Cave of Letters. "Babatha’s archive is an extremely important resource for many issues, especially on the question of Jewish women’s legal position in Israel during the Roman occupation. It demonstrates the extent to which Jews reverted to a Jewish code of personal law. It gives information to which extent the people relied on the Greco-Roman legal system and the law courts used to enforce this system.
The last of Babatha’s documents dates from the year 132 AD in Mahoza. In 135 her documents were carefully deposited in a cave inhabited by rebel refugees, who fled Ein-Gedi when the Roman forces occupied it. Babatha, together with other Jewish inhabitants of Mahoza, fled the village probably because they felt threatened by the local population or the Romans. She found refuge in a cave in Nahal Hever and probably she died there in the desert.
Photo: Nadav1
ZOHAR - KABBALAH
2nd century AD & later developments, Picture: Title page of first edition of the Zohar, Mantua, 1558. Library of Congress.
The 'Zohar'which means "Splendor" is the most important text of Kabbalah. It is a mystical commentary on the Torah, written in medieval Aramaic. Some like Gershom Scholem argued that Moses de Leon (1240-1305) was the sole author of the Zohar. More recently, Yehuda Liebes contended that while De León may have been the primary author, he incorporated or recast selections from contemporary kabbalists (e.g. Rabbi Joseph Gikatilla, Rabbi Joseph of Hamadan, Rabbi Bahya ben Asher). Most recently, Kabbalah scholars such as Ronit Meroz, Daniel Abrams and Boaz Huss have been demonstrating that the materials within the Zohar underwent several generations of writing, re-writing and redaction. De León claimed to discover the text of the Zohar while in the land of Israel and attributed it to the 2nd-century Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who is the main character of the text. The text gained enormous popularity throughout the Jewish world. While organized into commentaries on sections of the Torah, the Zohar elaborates on the Talmud, Midrash Rabba, Sefer Yetzira, the Bahir, and many other Rabbinic texts. To some degree, the Zohar simply is Kabbalah.
Photo: wikimedia commons
THE YERUSHALMI OR PALESTINIAN TALMUD
3rd century -400 AD
The Talmud, written as תַּלְמוּד (Talmūḏ) in Hebrew, holds a central role in Rabbinic Judaism as the primary source of Jewish religious law (halakha) and Jewish theology. The Talmud is basically a large collection of extended discussions on how to interpret the Mishnah. For generations prior to modern times, in virtually all Jewish communities, the Talmud occupied a pivotal position in Jewish cultural life. It served as the cornerstone of "all Jewish thought and aspirations" and functioned as the guiding force in the daily lives of Jews.
Despite it's name the Jerusalem Talmud is believed to have originated in Tiberias within the School of Johanan bar Nappaha, serving as a compilation of teachings from the schools of Tiberias, Caesarea, and Sepphoris. It is primarily composed in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, a Western Aramaic dialect distinct from its Babylonian counterpart.
This Talmud represents a condensed summary of the Mishnah's analysis, a process that spanned nearly two centuries and was undertaken by the Talmudic Academies in Syria Palaestina, notably those in Tiberias and Caesarea. Due to their geographical location, these academies placed significant emphasis on the examination of the agricultural laws specific to the Land of Israel.
The Communities in Babylon and the Roman Province of Palaestina did communicate with each other and there are many similarities. The development of the Babylonain Talmud lasted much longer and gained a higher status in the study of Judaism. Parts of the Yerusalem Talmud were lost mainly because it was for a ling time forgotten. However a recent revival in the study of the Jerusalem Talmud increased it's importance.
EIN GEDI SCROLL
3th-4th century AD- Ein Gedi Israel
The Ein-Gedi Scroll is an ancient and fragile Hebrew parchment that was part of a Torah Scroll. It was found in the byzantine era synagogue in Ein Gedi in 1970. Radiocarbon testing however dates the scroll to the third or fourth century CE (210–390 CE), The scroll includes verses from the beginning of Leviticus.
Photo by: Israel Antiquities Authority
Photo by Carole Raddato
ITINERARIUM BURDIGALENSE
333 AD
An anonymous pilgrim from Bordeaux visited the Holy Land in 333 AD. He travelled through Italy, the Danube valley and Constantinople, through Asia Minor to Jerusalem. His remarkable account of his travels he recorded in The Itinerarium Burdigalense. This is the first description in Latin of the Holy Land by a Christian pilgrim. The Itinerarium survives in four manuscripts, all written between the 8th and 10th centuries. The upside down inscription (see picture) is from the Roman statue of Emperor Antoninus Pius that the Bordeaux Pilgrim recorded seeing when he was on the Temple Mount in AD 333.
FIRST LATIN BIBLE BY HIERONIMUS
386 AD - Betlehem
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(Picture example of an centuries old Latin Bible) public domain
Saint Gerome or Hieronimus was a Dalmatian priest who was ordained in 379 and began his life as a Biblical scholar. In 385 A.D, he moved to Bethlehem at that time the centre of Christianity in Israel. He started in 386 AD and finished his translation of the Bible in 404 AD and he worked in total 30 years in the cave beneath the church of the Nativity in Betlehem. The intention of St Jerome, translating into Latin the Hebrew of the Old Testament and the Greek of the New Testament, was that ordinary Christians of the Roman empire should be able to read the word of God. Known as the 'Vulgate', it remained the authoritative version for Catholics until the 20th century and the most used Bible in History.
St Jerome spent more than 36 years in the Holy Land. He was well-known for his ascetic lifestyle and his passionate involvement in doctrinal controversies. His library was considered to have been one of the most important private collections of the period but in 416, his library was destroyed when Bethlehem was sacked by bandits. St Jerome is believed to have been the second most voluminous writer in ancient Latin Christianity. He was known to have had an insatiable desire for knowledge, matched by an exceptional memory for everything he ever read.
CATECHETICAL LECTURES OF CYRIL OF JERUSALEM
4th century AD - Saint Cyril of Jerusalem
Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386) was a distinguished theologian and archbishop of Jerusalem in the early Church.
He wrote his famous 23 catechetical lectures (in Greek, Katecheseis) while he was still a presbyter in the year 347 or 348. His work contain instructions on the principal topics of Christian faith and practise, in a popular rather than scientific style.
Photo: wikimedia commons
SILVER HEBREW-GREEK SCROLL
A fascinating article describes a silver scroll with a Hebrew and a Greek text. According to the writers of this article the scroll is similar and probably from the same maker as a 3th-4th century silver scroll from Evron in the north of Israel. but based on the Paleography of the Greek writing this scroll is dated to the 4th or 5th century CE. The text is a religious text that glorifies the Yahweh the God of Israel and is a request to God for a good life and for a healthy deliverance by Nonna the daughter of Marcellius. Similarly a 3th-4th century hebrew copper scroll can be found in the National Library of Israel (see link: copper scroll of Nonnus son of Severa)
5th Century - Israel
CODEX SYRIAC 1
462 AD - Original was written in Caesarea around 313 AD
The National Library of Russia, houses the Codex Syriac that is a early copy of 'Church History' written by Eusebius of Caesarea. Eusebius became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima about AD 314. He was a scholar of the Biblical canon and is regarded as one of the most learned Christians of his time. The copy of Eusebius 'Church History', the Codex Syriac, is dated by a Colophon to the year 462 AD. According to Andrew Louth the original Church History was first published in 313 AD and surely before 325 AD since part of it (book x) is dedicated to Paulinus, the Archbishop of Tyre who died before 325 AD. Eusebius had access to the Theological Library of Caesarea and made use of many ecclesiastical documents, letters and (extracts from) earlier writtings. (more information on Jewish-Christian Gospels)
Photo: wikimedia commons
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REHOV MOSAIC 'INSCRIPTION'
Photo: Talmoryair
3th-6th century AD
The Mosaic of Reḥob, also known as the Tel Rehov inscription (& Baraita of the Boundaries), is dated at 3th-6th century AD and was found at the ancient synagogue near Tel Rehov. It is the largest and most important inscription of all floor mosaics found. The text, written in Hebrew, the oldest known of its kind, is from the Yerushalmi Talmud. The text deals with details of the Sabbatical Year ( shmita ), agriculture and contributes greatly to the geographical history of Jewish settlement in Israel in the Talmudic Period. The translation of the text is:
"Shalom. These fruits are forbidden in Beit She'an during the seventh year, but during other years of the seven-year cycle they are tithed as demai-produce: cucumbers, watermelons, musk, parsnip (carrots), mint that is bound by itself, black-eyed peas that are bound with rush,wild leeks betweenShavuot and Hanukkah the seed kernels, black cumin sesame, mustard, rice, cumin dired lupines large-sized peas that are sold by measure, garlic, scallions of the city that are sold by measure, grape hyacints late-ripening dates, wine, [olive] oil, on the Seventh Year the seventh-year laws apply [to them]; on the [other] years of the seven-year cycle, they are tithed as demai-produce, and [if there was] a loaf of bread, the Dough portion (Heb. ḥallah) is always [separated from it].
'JERUSALEM OR SABBAITE TYPIKON'
5th - 8th century AD
Photo: Alexjds
A Typikon (meaning "prescribed form") is a lithurgical book. The Jerusalem Typikon was written by Saint Sabbas (or Savas) the Sanctified (439–532), a Cappadocian-Greek monk, priest and saint, lived mainly in Israel. He was the founder of several monasteries, most notably the one known as Mar Saba. The Saint’s name is derived from Hebrew meaning “old man”. The standardization of what became Byzantine monastic worship began with Saint Sabbas who recorded the office as it was practiced at his time in the area around Jerusalem, passing on what had been handed down to him by St. Euthymius the Great (377–473) and St. Theoktistos (c. 467). Mar Saba & Jerusalem was at the time a major center of both pilgrimage and monasticism, and as a result the daily cycle of services became highly developed. St. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem (560–638) revised the Typikon, and the material was later expanded by St John Damascene (c. 676 – 749). This ordering of services was later known as the Jerusalem or Sabbaite Typikon. Its usage was further solidified when the first printed typikon was published in 1545. It is still in widespread use among most Byzantine monastic communities worldwide as well as in parishes and cathedrals of Eastern or Russian Orthodox church.
JEWISH AMULETS ON METAL SCROLLS
4th-7th century AD - Israel
Rolled metal amulets from the Byzantine era (4th–7th centuries CE) are fascinating finds in Israel and beyond. These thin metal plaques, often carried in cases around the neck, featured engraved magical texts including incantations, holy names, and biblical verses. Designed to protect against illness, demons, and harm, the amulets were personalized with the bearer's and their mother’s names, as well as specific ailments. Such protective texts were widespread across the Roman-Byzantine Empire. 15 Amulets from the Land of Israel date were examined in a fascinating article written by Hanan Eshel and Rivka Leiman from Bar Ilan University. The amulets date from the late 4th to early 7th century CE and were written mostly in Aramaic and some in Hebrew or Greek. While these examples of Amulets were in use for about 250–300 years two silver amulets found in a Jerusalem tomb at Ketef Hinnom date back to the 8th or 7th century BCE, showing the much earlier tradition of rolled silver amulets.
The video shows a 1,500-year-old Byzantine-era pendant that sheds light on Jewish life in ancient Israel. It was found in Arbel, in the Galilee, and bears the Greek inscription “The One God who Conquers Evil.” and the Greek letters I A W O, representing Y-H-W-H.
PALIMPSEST OF HEBREW POET YANNAI
6th century AD - Israel
This fragment from the Cairo Genizah originally contained portions of the Greek translation of the Torah by Aquila, a second-century student of Rabbi Akiba. In the ninth century, the Greek text was scraped off and replaced with Hebrew liturgical poems by the sixth-century Palestinian poet Yannai.
HEBREW "SONG OF THE SEA"
8th century AD - Egypt
A rare hebrew Torah manuscript from the "silent period". This period ranging from the 3rd to 9th centuries AD was a time with almost no surviving Hebrew biblical manuscripts. Persecution of the Jews and the destruction of Jewish manuscripts are the most prevalent explanation as to why very few Hebrew manuscripts survive from this period. This Torah scroll was likely written in Egypt and is included in this timeline because the Egyptian Jewish community had strong ties to the Jews in the Eretz Yisrael during most centuries. This important scroll features a famous passage from Exodus, including the Song of the Sea, an early example of biblical poetry. Closely matching the Masoretic text of later Bible codices, it bridges medieval manuscripts and ancient texts from the late Second Temple period. On loan from Duke University’s Rare Book Department, this fragment is a valuable historical link.
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CODEX CLIMACI RESCRIPTUS
6th-8th century AD - Israel
The Codex Climaci Rescriptus is a 7-8th century Greek manuscript of the New Testament as well as a 6th century Aramaic manuscript of the Old and New Testament. This Codex is "the closest surviving witness to the words of Jesus Christ". It preserves the Gospels in the nearest dialect of Aramaic to that which he spoke himself, and unlike all other translations, those here were composed with a living Aramaic tradition based in the Holy Land." The Aramaic palimpsest-manuscript was probably written in Judea, Israel, in the sixth century AD.
Photo: Denysmonroe81
APOCALYPSE OF ZERUBBABEL
770 - Probably Tiberias
Sefer Zerubavel, also known as the Book of Zerubbabel or the Apocalypse of Zerubbabel, is a medieval Hebrew text written around the early seventh century CE. It adopts the style of biblical visions, reminiscent of works like Daniel and Ezekiel. The narrative is attributed to Zerubbabel, a significant figure in Israel's history as the descendant of King David.
In this text, Zerubbabel is depicted receiving a visionary revelation that outlines various figures and events associated with the restoration of Israel, the End of Days, and the eventual establishment of the Third Temple. It is believed that the groundwork for this book was laid in Palestine between 629 and 636 CE, a period marked by the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, which fueled Messianic expectations among the Jewish population, including the author of Sefer Zerubavel. The Book of Zerubbabel exists in several manuscript and printed versions. The oldest known manuscript copy is believed to be a part of a prayer book dating back to around 840 CE.
PACT OF UMAR
7th-9th Century - Jerusalem
The Pact of Umar, a document purportedly signed by the second caliph, Umar I (634-44), is the source of the restrictive regulations on non-Muslims embedded in the shari'a or Islamic law. Under shari'a, both Jewish and Christian minorities ('dhimmi' meaning literally "protected peoples") have freedom to remain in Muslim countries but very limited freedom and no freedom to recruit. Conversions can only be to Islam, not away from it. Umar's pact is hard to pin down to a date. It may have originated as early as 673, after the Muslims conquered Christian Syria and Israel. According to the Greek Orthodox Church, In 637, after a long Siege of Jerusalem, Patriarch Sophronius surrendered Jerusalem to Caliph Umar, but secured the Covenant or Pact of Umar. This 'pact' recognised Christian rights to protection. But scholars date the text in its current form to about the ninth century. The pact is purportedly written by the conquered Christians themselves. In it, those Christian subjects gratefully receive the protection of their Muslim masters and in return agree to certain religious and social restrictions of freedom.
Some commentators write about the positive side of this 'Pact'. Others focus on the negative side of this restrictions of freedom. (see for example this article). Clearly it is no pact of equal rights at best an attempt to spare the non-muslim population.
ARMENIAN GOSPELBOOK FROM JERUSALEM
Another Gospelbook in the Library of Congress from Urmia, Iran: the 18th century Ewangeliyon (The Assyrian Gospel).
770 - Jerusalem (Now Library of Congress)
This Gospel book (See link) represents the oldest among the Armenian manuscripts housed in the Library of Congress. Its content comprises the text of the Gospels, which was meticulously transcribed in the year 770 of the Armenian era (1321) by Nerses the Abbot in Jerusalem.
The translation of the Bible into Armenian occurred in the early fifth century, shortly after the creation of the Armenian alphabet between 407 and 412. Tradition attributes it to Mesrob Mashtots (circa 361-440), the revered figure behind the Armenian alphabet's development, along with Isaac (Sahak) the Catholicos and their assistants. Remarkably, this monumental task was accomplished prior to the convening of the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431. The present manuscript is an 'awetaran', containing only the four Gospels, a popular literary genre cherished by the Armenian people.
OLDEST DOCUMENTS OF THE CAIRO GENIZAH
872/73 - Jerusalem
According to rabbinic law holy books that can no longer be used (because age or other reasons) cannot be destroyed or casually discarded: texts containing the name of God should be buried or, if burial is not possible, placed in a sacred storeroom (genizah). For a thousand years, the Jewish community of Fustat (Old Cairo), placed their worn-out books and other writings in a storeroom (genizah) of the Ben Ezra Synagogue. Not only religious works were stored but also secular works and documents used in daily lives of the Jews: letters, marriage contracts, medical books, trade documents and Arabic fables and works of Sufi and Shi'ite philosophy. So practically every kind of written text produced by the Jewish community. Therefor the Genizah Collection presents an unparalleled insight into the medieval Jewish world. Great sites to search this fabulous source is Princeton Genizah project or the Cambridge Digital Library!
The oldest document is a bill for a of divorce, copied from a bill dated 872/73 CE, in Jerusalem that was named "The 'oldest dated document of the Cairo Genizah'.
Another remarkable letter is from the Persian Yeshiva in Pumbdita that also mention the Persian Yeshiva in Sura. The letter dating to 850 is even older and shows the fascinating connections between different Jewish communities in the Diaspora.
ALEPPO CODEX
920 AD - Tiberias Israel
The Aleppo Codex, a medieval bound manuscript of the Hebrew Bible was written city of Tiberias (Galilee) in the 10th century AD (circa 920). It is the oldest Hebrew Bible that contains also the vowels (Death sea scrolls have no vowels) in the world and it was endorsed for its accuracy by Maimonides. Together with the Leningrad Codex that was written in Cairo, it contains the Ben Asher Masoretic tradition. Ben Asher was part of a group of Jewish scribes called Masorites. They created a system of dots and dashes, called nikkudot or vowel pointings and added these to the Hebrew text. These vowel pointings served to supply the vowel sounds to the text in order to codify the pronunciation. (Before these codex the Bible needed to be memorized!) The Masorites also included notes in the margins of the text.
The codex was kept for five centuries in the Central Synagogue of Aleppo until the synagogue was torched during anti Jewish Riots in 1947. In the next ten years, the fate of the codex remained unclear when it resurfaced in Israel in 1958, roughly 40% of the manuscript—including the majority of the Torah section—was missing. Only two additional leaves have been recovered since then. Maybe the other pages are still in private hands since the codex survived the burning of the synagogue. Al new versions of the Hebrew Bible are based on the Aleppo and Leningrad Codex (The Leningrad Codex is now used as the authoritative text for the missing portions).
Photo by; OHAYON AVI
10TH CENTURY JERUSALEM
10th Century - Jerusalem
From the 10th century the Cairo Genizah reveals some fascinating documents:
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A Ketubah (marriage contract) from the late 10th century Jerusalem that mentions the name of the Groom: Yehuda b.ʿAmram, and the Bride: Sutayt bt. Shemuel Gaʾon.
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Letter sent from Jerusalem to Egypt/Cairo. In Hebrew. Asking for support for the poor and the scholars of the community of Jerusalem. The sender describes his journey to Jerusalem by way of Gaza. He describes the difficult state of the community in Jerusalem, including allegations that they owe money to the government.
CODEX SASSOON
10th century AD - Syria & Tiberias
The Codex Sassoon is the oldest nearly complete Hebrew bible in the World. Carbon dating revealed it was written in late 9th to early 10th century. The codex contains the 24 books of the bible with only 12 pages that are missing. In the 11th century it was sold by Khalaf ben Abraham, assumed to be a near eastern businessman active in the region of Palestine and Syria, to Isaac ben Ezekiel al-Attar. In the 13th century, it was dedicated to a synagogue in Makisin, Syria but latered ended up in private collections. The Codex Sassoon contains faithful notes of the Masorah, commentary that ensures the biblical text’s proper inscription and recitation. One such note refers to “the great teacher, Aaron ben Moses ben Asher” and his work on al-taj, the traditional honorific of the Aleppo Codex, suggesting the Masorete scribe who copied the Masorah of Codex Sassoon may have consulted the revered volume when it resided in Tiberias or Jerusalem in the 10th or 11th century.
SEFER DIKDUKEI HA-TE'AMIM
9th -10th century AD - Tiberias
Sefer Dikdukei ha-Te'amim, written by the Jewish Scribe Aaron Ben Mozes Ben Asher is a collection of grammatical rules and masoretic information. Grammatical principles were not at that time considered worthy of independent study. The value of this work is that the grammatical rules presented by Ben-Asher reveal the linguistic background of vocalization. The book was first published in Biblia Rabbinica edited by Pratensis, the format later called Mikra'ot Gedolot (1516–18), and again in 1879 by S.I. Baer and Strack, who edited the material according to topics, in a manner different from that in the first edition. Until recently all studies relating to Ben-Asher's system of grammar and masorah were based on this edition. A. Dotan's edition (1967), which includes a commentary and studies on the content of the book, changed the previous conception of Dikdukei ha-Te'amim as it had been understood for 90 years. Many of the phonological and morphological topics which had been commonly attributed to Dikdukei ha-Te'amim are not included. The main theme discussed in the book is the relationship of the biblical accents to the rules of vocalization and pronunciation. The sheva and its pronunciation play a major part in this work.
AL-MUQADDASI
10th Century
Al-Maqdisī or al-Muqaddasī who lived from 945/946 – 991, was a medieval Arab geographer and author of Aḥsan al-taqāsīm fī maʿrifat al-aqālīm (The Best Divisions in the Knowledge of the Regions), as well as author of the book, Description of Syria (Including Palestine).
Aḥsan al-taqāsīm describes in detail all the places and regions al-Maqdisi had visited. Al-Maqdisi gave detailed insights into the region's population, their way of life, the local economy and climate and he paid special attention to Jerusalem.. He described the city's people and customs, focusing on its Muslims, but also its Christian and Jewish communities, whose significant presence he lamented: " I Learned men are few and the Christians numerous, and the same are unmannerly in public places… Everywhere the Christians and the Jews have the upper hand, and the mosque is void of either congregation or assembly of learned men.”
WASHINGTON PENTATEUCH
1000 AD - Tiberias
The Washington Pentateuch (WP) stands as one of the oldest and most complete Jewish Bible manuscripts within the United States. Dating back to around the year 1000, it encompasses the entirety of the Pentateuch, comprising the five foundational books from Genesis through Deuteronomy. The manuscript was acquired by a Karaite Jewish community in Yevpatoria, Ukraine. It was gifted in 1835 to Gabriel, the Archbishop of Kherson (southern Ukraine) and after transfer via Moscow and London the Bible was donated in 2018 to the Museum of the Bible in Washington.
While the majority of its content remains intact, the final 10 folios were lost at some point and substituted with folios from another manuscript scribed in 1141 by Joseph ben Jacob, as indicated by his colophon on f. 245r. Although these added pages hail from medieval Egypt, the manuscript's predominant association seems to lie with Tiberias, evident from its writing style and utilization of the Tiberian Masoretic system. Notably, manuscripts like the WP are often dubbed "Masoretic Bibles" owing to their inclusion of the masorah—a comprehensive system of annotations—and their origin during or near the Masoretic era (AD 700–1000).
NATAN BEN ABRAHAM'S COMMENTARY ON THE MISHNAH
Between 1040 and 1050 - Ramla
Nathan ben Abraham, also known as the "President of the Academy" (Hebrew: רבינו נתן אב הישיבה) in the Land of Israel, was an 11th-century rabbi and Mishnah exegete who lived in Ramla under the Fatimid Caliphate. He authored the earliest known complete commentary on the Mishnah. This commentary enjoyed widespread circulation in the Jewish world in the late 12th and early 13th centuries and gave Nathan Ben Abraham a prominent place in Jewish scholarship.
GOSPEL BOOK ("EVANIS" GOSPELS)
1050-1100 AD- Possibly Mar Saba Monastery
A Gospel Book, also known as Evangelion or Book of the Gospels (Greek: Εὐαγγέλιον, Evangélion), refers to a codex or bound volume that contains one or more of the four Gospels found in the Christian New Testament. Typically, these volumes include all four Gospels and focus on the life of Jesus. Beginning in the 4th century, Gospel Books were created primarily for liturgical purposes, serving in religious ceremonies. Additionally, they were utilized for private study and often served as ornate "display books," adding ceremonial and decorative elements to religious settings.
The Gospel book from the museum of the Bible in Washington was created between AD 1050 and 1100, and was possibly created at the St Sabas monastery. Another example is the 11th Panagios Taphos 56, also containing the Four Gospels from the Greek orthodox and Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem (see link).
11TH C. JERUSALEM, RAMLA, ASHKELON, CAESAREA, TIBERIAS & HEBRON
Medieval document of the Yerushalmi Talmud found in the Cairo Genizah, Wikimedia commons
The Cairo Genizah showed remarkable manuscripts or fragments dating from the 9th century until 1947. Four 11th century examples:
- Letter from Jerusalem dating to 1004, describing a debt 'drawn up in the ''high court" between two brothers, both Kohanim, Hiba b. Ghālib and Yisraʾel b. Ghālib'.
- The famous ‘Ramla earthquake letter’ written in Hebrew in 1033 which describes the disaster that struck ‘all the land of Palestine, in the fortified towns and the rural villages alike, even in all the coastal fortresses up to the fortress of […] and in all the towns of the Negev and in the hill country as far as Jerusalem, and in all the towns up to Shechem and the villages as far as Tiberias, and in all the […] of the hills of Galilee and all of the Land of Israel.'
- Part of a letter, c. 1025 CE, from the Jewish community in Ashkelon, to the Palestinian and Babylonian congregations in Fusṭāṭ)
- A letter from the Yeshiva to the community of Hazor (Caesarea), 1025 AD.
- A Hebrew Letter from Shelomo Ha-Kohen b. Yosef from Dalton, to Hillel Ha-Ḥaver b. Yeshua Ha-Hazzan, Tiberias, dated to approximately 1030.
- Hebrew letter dated to 1034 from Tiberias to Fusṭāṭ, regarding help for the leper community in Tiberias.
- Part of a letter, c. 1035 AD, written by the Gaʾon Solomon ‘the humble’ b. Judah, in Jerusalem, regarding disputes between Karaites and Rabbanites.
- A rhymed letter to Solomon b. Judah (Gaʾon), mentioning Judah b. Samuel, with magical symbols on the letter.
- Letter from Saadya b. Avraham in Hebron to Yeshu'a b. Yakhin in Fustat, dated to approximately 1080.
Ben Ezra synagogue in Cairo (Dirk-Pieter Mellema)
11TH C. KETUBBOT - SAFED, ACRE, RAMLA, & TIBERIAS
Example of a Kettub from Venice, 1750 depicting Jerusalem. For the Kettubah from Safed click on the link.
1023 -Safed/1006 Ramla
An extremely rare 1,000-year-old ketubbah, inscribed in Aramaic was on exhibit in the National Library in Jerusalem. The Jewish marriage contract dates from November 28, 1023. The document found in the Cairo Genizah is especially significant as it provides concrete evidence of a Jewish community, in the city of Safed in the 11th century. Of similar importance are these Ketubbah:
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The Karaite Ketubbah from Ramla written in Hebrew dating to 1006
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Fragment of a ketubba mentioning that the bride would move from Tyre to Akko, ca. 1028-1037
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The Aramaiac Marriage contract from Tiberias (called Tiberias Colonia) dated to 1035.
CODEX CAIRENSIS
11th century - Tiberias
The Codex Cairensis, also known as the Codex Prophetarum Cairensis or the Cairo Codex of the Prophets, is a Hebrew manuscript that comprises the entire Nevi'im (Prophets) section of the Hebrew Bible. This includes the Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) as well as the Latter Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets).
According to its colophon, the manuscript was meticulously written, complete with punctuation, by Moses ben Asher in Tiberias, "at the end of the year 827 after the destruction of the second temple" (equivalent to the year 895 CE, during the reign of Al-Mu'tadid). Initially presented to the Karaite community in Jerusalem, it fell into the hands of the Crusaders as spoils of war in 1099. Subsequently, it was later redeemed and returned to the possession of the Karaite community in Cairo. Traditionally regarded as "the oldest dated Hebrew Codex of the Bible that has survived," recent scholarly investigation suggests a probable 11th-century origin rather than the date inscribed in its colophon, which states 895 CE. Also other scolars stated that the Codex Cairensis seems to be closer to ben Naphtali than to Aaron ben Moses ben Asher.
MEGILLAT AHIMAAZ
Depiction of the family tree mentioning Paltiel and Ahimaaz Ben Paltiel and his sons.
1054 - Italy
The Scroll of Ahimaaz, according to Ahimaaz Ben Paltiel was written in 1054 and is composed in rhymed prose. It described the history of his family starting with the Roman destruction of the Second Temple and the exile of Palestinian Jews to Italy in the first century. It also covers the ninth and tenth centuries, during which the author’s ancestors held leadership positions in their communities and were renowned poets. Ahimaaz work provides valuable information. He was a relative of Paltiel who lived until 975. Paltiel was an astrologer, physician, and statesman at the court of the Fatimid caliph al-Muʿizz. Originally from Oria, Italy, his skills caught al-Muʿizz's eye after the caliph conquered the city in 962. Impressed, al-Mu'izz made Paltiel his top advisor.
Ahimaaz, who live from 1017 until 1060 in Capua, Italy mentions Paltiel in the scroll of Ahimaaz and called Paltiel a 'nagid'. It seems that this was the first time this title, suggesting leadership among Egyptian Jews, was used. According to the Ahimaaz scroll, Paltiel supported the Jewish communities in the diaspora generously. He donated large sums to support the scholars and the Yeshiva in Jerusalem and to the academy of the geonim and jewish communities in Babylon. When his parents died Paltiel brought his parents' remains to Jerusalem in caskets. Remarkably, Paltiel's descendants continued his legacy by served as court physicians to the Fatimid caliphate for four generations.nerations.
MEGILLAT EVYATAR/ABIATHAR
Probably 1094
Example of a Cairo Genizah document
Abiathar ben Elijah Ha-Kohen (c. 1040–1110) was the last of the Palestinian geonim and a prominent scholar. He studied under his father, Elijah b. Solomon, president of the Palestinian academy, and gradually rose in rank. Following the Seljuk capture of Jerusalem in 1071, the academy relocated to Tyre, where Abiathar became vice president and later gaon in 1081, even before his father's death. Abiathar fiercely defended the autonomy of the Palestinian academy during a bitter conflict with David b. Daniel, the Egyptian exilarch, who sought to control it. In his Megillat Eviatar/Abiathar, he documented his family's struggle against these attempts, emphasizing the unique status of Ereẓ Israel as distinct from the Diaspora.
Abiathar was in Tripoli around the start of the First Crusade (c. 1095), but little is known about his later years. His legacy lies in his staunch defense of Palestinian scholarly and communal independence.
SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH
Tradition says the Abisha Torah scroll dates to 1065 AD and was a copy of the Torah going back to the original writings from Moses and was kept by the Samaritans after the Babylonians took many Jews into captivity.
This picture shows the Samaritan High Priets (Kohen Gadol) Yaakov ben Aharon. He was the high Priest from 1896 until 1916 and this picture (1905) shows him with the old Pentateuch in Nablus. According to the Samaritan religion Samaritans reject all scriptures except the Pentateuch which is their holy scripture. The text accompanying this image states "We are looking into the eyes of the chief representative of a religious sect, one of the oldest and certainly smallest in the world...They claim that they are the lineal descendants of the Israelites of old, from a remnant that was left when the tribes were carried into Syrian captivity. There is no doubt but that they are the representatives of the Samaritans of the time of Christ, for whom the Jews had such a deadly hatred. Here is kept with jealous care this ancient copy of the Pentateuch which is before us - one of the very oldest copies in existence. We could not have seen it on any account except in the presence of this high priest."
ACCOUNT OF THE JEWS FROM JERUSALEM SURVIVING THE CRUSADER CONQUEST
1100 - Ashkelon
Despite the popular narrative depicting the Crusaders' conquest of Jerusalem as a brutal massacre of all Muslims and Jews, historical accuracy suggests a somewhat different perspective. Surviving letters from the Cairo Genizah shed light on this matter. The text from a letter from 1100 not only describes the jews that survived the crusader conquest but also the readful plagues and diseases that afflicted the inhabitants of Ashkelon:
"The letter also explains that the fortified city of Ashqelon had not yet fallen, but the residents are struggling to cope with an influx of refugees and the need to make large payments to the Crusaders to ransom back Jewish captives - men, women and children - as well as books and scrolls pillaged from the synagogues of the Holy Land. Despite the terrible circumstances, they take solace in the fact that that the Crusaders appeared not to have mistreated the women. The writers report that they had received the suftaja (bill of exchange), at least the second substantial donation from the Jews of Fustat to the campaign to redeem captives and books. This letter is a request for further donations. The community in Ashqelon had spent over 500 dinars; ransomed over 40 captives; continues to bear the high expenses of caring for the 20 redeemed captives who remain in Ashqelon; and is now in debt for more than 200 dinars. The writers also mention Jews who had escaped from Jerusalem on their own, and others who had been given safe-conduct with the wālī. Of the refugees who arrived in Ashkelon, many had died of the epidemic they encountered there: "The attacks of these illnesses (amrāḍ), the falling of that plague (wabā'), that pest (fanā'), that disaster (balā')" (recto, lines 17–19); later, describing how the refugees perished, "Some of them arrived here healthy, and the climate turned against them (ikhtalafa ʿalayim al-hawā'), and they arrived at the height of that plague (wa-waṣalū fī ʿunfuwān dhālik al-wabā'), and many of them died".
MELISENDE PSALTER
1135 AD - Made in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (now British Library)
The Melisende Psalter that is currently kept in the British Library (Eggerton Collection) is a beautiful example of Crusader art. A Psalter is a combination of the book of Psalms, a liturgical calender and Prayers. The Melisende Psalter combines Catholic and Greek Orthodox influences with the Armenian Art of an illuminated manuscript. It was created in 1135 by seven scribes and illuminators probably by King Fulk for his wife Queen Melisende. The artist worked in the Church of the holy Sepulchre on the creation of the psalter. The Church was restored by Queen Melisende just like other Christian buildings in Jerusalem
'DESCRIPTIO DE LOCIS SANCTIS'
Around 1130 - Galilee or Nazareth
Rorgo Fretellus was a Frankish priest who was born in France and moved to live in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He became chancellor of the Principality of Galilee and in 1121 he was a canon of the Archdiocese of Nazareth. His work, the 'Descriptio de locis sanctis', composed around 1130, became a widely famous description of the Holy places during the crusaders rule. Over a hundred manuscripts are found that confirm this popularity. In his Latin description he used both the names Judea and Palestine: "The city of Jerusalem is situated in the hill-country of Judea, in the province of Palestine".
Cover of the 1880 Hebrew language Warsaw edition of the Kuzari.
KUZARI - BOOK OF THE REFUTATION AND PROOF ON BEHALF OF THE DESPISED RELIGION
1139 - Spain
The Kuzari written in 1139 is one of the most famous works of the Spanish-Jewish poet and philosopher Judah Halevi. The Book was written in Arabic and translated by Judah ben saul ibn Tibonin in Hebrew. completed in the Hebrew year 4900 (1139-40CE). Judah Halevi became a good friend of Moses ibn Ezra from Granada. While living most of his live in Spain, Judah Halevi travelled to Cairo to meet the Nagid, Samuel Ben Hananiah and then travelled in May 1141 to Jerusalem. It the exact date and place are unclear. he seems to have died in July or August in the same year, according to a letter from Halfon ben Netanel, written in November 1141. Judah's religious poetry and writings express a passionate attachment to the land of Israel/Zion for example in a passionate song about Jerusalem. Not only was the Holy Land the place where all Jews would one day gather after the return of the Messiah but also travelling to and living in the land of Israel would also hasten the coming of the Messiah. Many (parts of) the writings by Judah Halevi can be found in the National Library of Israel
SAMARITAN TORAH SCROLL
Around 1160 - Nablus
This scroll was likely written by the scribe Shalmah Ben Abraham around 1160 in Nablus, where many Samaritans still live. It contains Genesis 1:1–Exodus 9:35 in the Samaritan Hebrew script and is one of the oldest surviving Torah scrolls from the Samaritan religious tradition. The Hebrew scroll is part of the magnificent collection of the Museum of the Bible in Washington.
An example of a Samaritan Torah Scroll , photo by Anat BMW
12TH CENTURY DOCUMENTS OF THE JEWS IN JERUSALEM, HEBRON. ASCALON & BANYAS
Map of Jerusalem, 12th Century, Wikimedia Commons
The Cairo Genizah has revealed the fascinating ties between the Jewish communities in Egypt and Holy land. Examples from the 12th. century shown that many Jews seems to have fled from Jerusalem and Hebron to the Jewish Community in Egypt. Also evidence of the Jewish communities in Ascalon and Banyas emerge.
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An early 12th century letter from Avraham b. Saadya the Hebronite from Bilbays to Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel the Sefaradi in Fustat. The letter mentions the rebuilding of a synagogue in Bilbays (Egypt) for the Jewish refugees from Hebron. A Muslim judge objected to the construction of the new synagogue, so the community tactically rebranded their construction as a ‘home’, to which the judge had no objection.
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A list dated to 1159 AD with the inventory of silver vessels and expensive fabrics belonging to the two synagogues in Fustat, which were given to Maḥfūẓ, the beadle of the Jerusalemite synagogue.
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Legal document validated in Fustat in the court of the synagogue of the Palestinians, which describes itself as acting on behalf of the High Court of the Yeshiva of Jerusalem which had now moved to Cairo.
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A Letter from Ṭoviya b. ʿEli ha-Kohen, in Fustat, to his father ʿEli b. Avraham ha-Kohen, in Banyas/Dan dating to 1112 AD. Toviya tells about an epidemic in 1111AD and asks his father to come to Fustat.
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Aramaic papers describing payments and leaseagreements from Ascalon dated between 1120 and 1146 AD.
BOOK OF TRAVELS
12th century
The Book of Travels, a travel account of Benjamin Tudela has been a unique gift for historians. There is no general account of the Mediterranean world or of the Middle East in the mid-twelfth century which approaches that of Benjamin of Tudela in importance, whether for Jewish or for general history.
He indicates the distances between the various towns he visited, tells who stood at the head of the Jewish communities, and who were the most notable scholars. He gives the number of Jews he found in each place, though it is not clear in many instances whether he is speaking of individuals or of householders, and in some cases such as Baghdad, the figures seem to be exaggerated. He notes economic conditions, describing the activity of merchants from various lands in Barcelona, Montpellier, and Alexandria, and speaking frequently of the occupations of the Jews: the dyers in Brindisi, the silk-weavers in Thebes, the tanners in Constantinople, and the glass-workers in Aleppo and Tyre.
Part of his travels went through the Land of Israel, which was still under the rule of the Crusaders. He reports on the mass murders by the Crusaders of Jews and other desperate surviving Jews he called 'Mourners of Jerusalem'. He traveled throughout the country, giving a detailed account of the Holy Places
FERMAN (EDICT) OF SALAH-DIN GRANTING PROTECTION TO ARMENIANS
1187 AD- Jerusalem
In the year 626 Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem Abraham travelled to Mecca and met with Prophet Mohammed. After the meeting, Prophet Mohammed issued a declaration which recognised and respected the Armenian Church with its Patriarch and followers. Prophet Mohammed commanded all Muslims to respect his declaration.
In the year 1187 Salah al Din al Ayyubi conquered Jerusalem and exiled all non-Muslims with exception of Christian Armenians. Salah al Din al Ayyubi honoured Prophet Mohammed’s declaration. Additionally, Salah al Din al Ayyubi issued his own firman. This Edict of Salah-Al-Din that recognised and respected the Armenian Church with its Patriarch and followers has recently been restored at the Armenian Museum in Jerusalem.
NACHMANIDES LETTER TO HIS SON
13th century Acre
(picture by Deror Avi, Wikimedia Commons: Letter of Nachmanides to his son, Ramban Synagogue, Jerusalem)
Nachmanides (1194-1270) known as the "Ramban") was a leading medieval Jewish scholar, Sepharidc Rabbi and biblical commentator, kabbalist and filosopher. He lived for most of his life in Girona, Spain and he also considered to be an important figure in the re-establishment of the Jewish community in Jersualem after the destruction by the crusaders in 1099. In 1267 when he was already 72 years old, Nachmanides arrived at the port city of Acre. After a brief stay, he traveled to Jerusalem where he was struck by its desolation. Buildings were dilapidated and abandoned. In a letter to his son, Nachmanides wrote: Many are [Israel's] forsaken places, and great is the desecration. The more sacred the place, the greater the devastation it has suffered. Jerusalem is the most desolate place of all.
Yet Nachmanides saw hope. He recalled the Torah verses (Levitus 26:32-33) in which God describes Israel during the period of exile: So devastated will I leave the land, that your enemies who live there will be astonished... Your land will remain desolate, and your cities in ruins.
SHEVET YEHUDA & MIGRATION TO ERETZ YIRAEL
13th century Jerusalem
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Pope Innocent known for his active persecution of the Jews in the 13th Century.
n 1211 groups of Jews from France, England and Germany came to the Land of Israel and Jerusalem in expectation of redemption. This wave of arrivals is known as the “aliyah of the 300 rabbis,” or the “aliyah of the Tosafists.” It was headed by important rabbinic figures like Rabbi Jonathan of Lunel and Rabbi Samson of Sens. The emigration of 1211 was undertaken principally not as a result of political, economic or religious pressure, or as a manifestation of messianic fervor, but indeed as a manifestation of piety. The remarkable 'Aliyah' of the 13th century was mentioned in the 'Scepter of Judah' (Hebrew: Shevet Yehuda שבט יהודה), a text produced by the Sephardi historian Solomon Ibn Verga in 1550 who lived in the Ottoman Empire. It contains some 75 stories of Jewish persecution, and is a transitional work between the medieval and modern periods of Jewish history. Born in Spain, Verga's views were shaped by the expulsion in 1492, his forced baptism, and the massacres as he fled Portugal.
13TH CENTURY DOCUMENTS OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN JERUSALEM
13th century Ramban Synagogue in Jerusalem
The Cairo Genizah also showed the connections between communities in the Diaspora and Jerusalem and the revival of Jewish community in the 13th century:
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Legal document (dated 1211 AD) concerning the community in Alexandria sending a sum of money to help repair an old synagogue in Jerusalem.
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A letter dated to 1214 AD concerning the dispatch of gold from the Jewish congregation in Bilbays, to be delivered in Jerusalem to 'the synagogue of the Yemenite' and to 'the rabbis.'
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Letter from the office of Avraham Maimonides, in Fustat, to the community of Alexandria. Dating: ca. 1220 AD. He instructs them to help a woman and her little daughter to get to Palestine, where she had another daughter. She was the divorcee of Futūḥ, the cantor in the Yemeni synagogue in Jerusalem.
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Letter (dated 1227 AD) from Ṭāhir b. Maḥfūẓ, the retired beadle of the Babylonian synagogue in Fustat, in Jerusalem, to al-Shaykh al-Thiqa Hibat Allāh, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. The letter consists entirely of expressions of longing and regards, informing his friends and patrons in Fustat that he is now living in Jerusalem and that he is in good health.
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Letter from the Mosul Nasi dated 1237 CE. Concerns in part a negotiation between members of the Jewish community and Christians about preventing Jews from entering Jerusalem. The writer mentions that the Christians welcomed him and his companions, and also mentions the town's ruler.
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Part of a (badly-written) letter from Ḥananya b. Judah, to Yeḥiʾel the judge b. Elyaqim, inviting the Elyaqim to journey to Jerusalem and give his verdict in a legal matter.
'PILGRIMAGE GUIDEBOOK'
Middle Ages - Possibly Franciscan Guidebook
In medieval times, Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land seems to have used a sort of guidebook that they used to visit a specific number of holy places and often in just ten days. This knowledge is based on travel accounts of a large number of pilgrims who wrote about their journey. Many of these travel account use the same words and mention the holy places in the same order. This led to an old assumption that there must have been a common source that was like a guidebook for pilgrims. Possibly this guidebook was obtained from the Franciscan friars, who have assisted and guided pilgrimages in the Holy land for 800 years. Josephie Brefeld succeeded in proving the existence of this source-text by using the statistical method of 'Factor analysis' for the study of 18 pilgrimages texts One of the factors, Brefeld convincingly argues, is the influence of a written source-text and many textual arguments support her findings.
TANHUM HAYERUSHALMI 'S COMMENTARY ON THE MINOR PROPHETS
Bodleian University
13th century - Jerusalem
Tanhum ben Joseph of Jerusalem, also known as Tanḥum ha-Yerushalmi (1220–1291), was a distinguished 13th-century Hebrew lexicographer and biblical commentator. He authored several notable works, the most prominent being Murshid al-Kāfī ("The Sufficient Guide"), a lexicon focused on Mishnaic terms. Tanhum’s profound scholarship in Jewish studies earned him the title "the Abraham ibn Ezra of the Levant."
Tanhum ha-Yerushalmi is believed to have been born in Jerusalem and spent most of his life in the Land of Israel. Later in life, he relocated to Cairo, Egypt, where he resided until his passing. The primary details of his life come from a eulogy composed by his son, the Jerusalem born poet Yosef ben Tanhum. This eulogy notes that Tanhum died in Fustat (now Cairo) on the 21st of Tammuz, 1291. His writings also suggest that he lived in the Land of Israel.
HEBREW LETTERS FROM EGYPT
14th century - Egypt/Jerusalem
Examples of 14th century letters form the Cairo Genizah & related to the Jews of Jerusalem:
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A letter to Moses Qaṣṣāṣ in Jerusalem (dated to the c. 14th century. (Letter (T-S 13J21.32)
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Letter writte in Judeo-Arabic by Joshua Maimonides, instructing the two congregations of Fusṭāṭ to arrange a collection for an old man called Yešuʿa who desired to travel to Jerusalem.
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A Hebrew letter from [Hi]llel b. Yeshuʿa to Shela b. Bū l-Khayr ha-Kohen that probably did not date earlier than 14th century. The sender had left the addressee in charge of his property in Jerusalem, so that it would be ready for him upon his return, or if he wished to send something there.
Ben Ezra synagogue, Cairo (Dirk-Pieter Mellema
FLORENCE SCROLL
14th century - Jerusale
The Florence scroll is a unique scroll from the 14th century that documents the pilgrimage of an Egyptian Jew to the Land of Israel. The scroll measures almost eleven meters long and has 130 illustrations that are often accompanied by inscriptions. They are illustrations of sanctified places from Egypt to Lebanon creating a unique 700 years old picture of this region. The work of this medieval Jewish artist-pilgrim gives old information of the customs and traditions associated with the pilgrimage to holy sites. Many of these sites are shared by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
(Picture of a Hebrew scroll from the Laurentian Library in Florence - wikimedia commons)
KAFTOR VAFERACH
14th century - Pilgrimage to Israel
Ishtori Haparchi is the writers name of the 14th-century Jewish physician, geographer and traveller, Isaac Ha Kohen Ben Moses. He was born in Tours in the Provence (France) in 1280 and he was a descendant from a line of sages and rabbis of fame. Kaftor VaFerach was the first Hebrew book printed on the geography of Palestine. this book of Ishtori mentions 180 locations from the Bible and Talmudic literature. Significant is the visit by Ishtori HaParchi of Huqoq then called in Arab Yakuk. This is also the site of the tomb of the biblical Habakuk. Ishtori mentions seeing a "synagogue with a very old floor" that might have been the Synagogue of Huqoq. This old synagogue according to recent research seems to consists of both a 12th century synagogue on top of the older synagogue dating to the 5th century.
Title page of Ishtori Haparchi's Kaftor VaFerach, Venice 1549 Photo: Chesdovi
15th century Abuhav synagogue in Safed
(Dirk-Pieter Mellema)
15TH CENTURY DOCUMENTS RELATED TO THE JEWS LIVING IN JERUSALEM & SAFED
15th century - Egypt
The Cairo Genizah also hold many documents that mention the Jews living in Jerusalem:
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A marriage contract or ketubbah written in Aramaic from 1450, Jerusalem.
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Hebrew letter from the Nagid Natan Sholal ha-Kohen, in Fustat to Moshe b. Yehuda, in Alexandria, mentioning help for the orphans of R. Avraham b. Ḥisān, who previously lived in Alexandria but moved to Jerusalem to live with their mother. The letter was dated before 1502 and perhaps after 1498, since Shalom b. Zaytūn lived in Safed before then. Another late 15th century hebrew letter was send to Natan Sholal and discussed Natan's property in Jerusalem and the books that he left behind him in 1481. (See links for source).
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A Letter from Avraham Kohen written in Judaeo-Arabic and ating from the 15th century. The letter tells of the reports on the complaint of a teacher from Ṣafad who had settled in Gaza, to the effect that the local leader had incited the boys of the congregation (sibyan al-yahud) against him, a charge that the leader strongly denied.
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A letter from A Karaite Jew in Jerusalem to Cairo
Link to this book (1992) with the letter of Rabbi Obadiah Ben Abraham Bertinoro (Bartenura).
PATHWAYS TO JERUSALEM, LETTERS OF BARTENURA
15th century - Israel/Italy
Rabbi Ovadiah Ben Abraham Bertinoro is well-known and highly respected because of his still used Hebrew commentary on the third century Mishnah. Born in Bartenura, Italy, sometime around 1445, he left his family in Italy and travelled to the holy Land in 1488. The letters he wrote to his brother and other contain highly valued historical descriptions of his travels and the Holy land and other countries like Greece or Egypt. Bartenura studied the conditions of the Karaites in Alexandria and praises them for the generosity and liberality he died not see when he met the Rabbanite Jews. He also described daily live in detail like for example the drinking of strong wine in Jerusalem and Gaza. This tragic tale about wine reveals also the way Jews and Christians were treated badly in this period: "a Muslim in Jerusalem murdered his own mother. When he was brought to trial, he claimed that he had acted under the influence of alcohol. The judges decided that the Jews and Christians were responsible, because they are the only ones who make wine. So the Jews were fined six golden florins, the Christians twelve florins - and the Muslim went free."
FELIX FABRI'S TRAVELS
1482- Israel
In 1482, Dominican priest Felix Fabri who visited the holy land and the middle-east. he noted the presence of Jews in Jerusalem, describing the city disparagingly as “a collection of all manner of abominations” and labeling Jews as “the most cursed of all.” Fabri’s was also very critical towards both the Muslim religous practices and also in his writings he clearly wanted to de-legitimize Eastern Christian customs and habits.
Evagatorium in Terrae Sanctae, Arabiae et Egypti peregrinationem (wikimedia commons)
BEIT YOSEF & SHULHAN ARUCH
Beit Yosef is a comprehensive commentary on the Arba'ah Turim, citing and analyzing the Talmudic, Geonic, and major subsequent halachic authorities. It analyzes the theories and conclusions of those authorities cited by the Tur, and also examines the opinions of authorities not mentioned by him. Karo began the Beit Yosef in 1522 in what is now Turkey and finished it in 1542 at Safed were the book was also published it in 1550–59.
The Shulhan Aruch was written in the mid 1500 in Safed by Joseph Caro. The Shulchan Aruch is an influential Jewish code of law (meaning the “set table”). Joseph Caro (1488-1575) was part of a Sephardic family that was expelled from Spain in 1492. Caro based his decisions in the Shulchan Aruch on three leading pillars of Jewish codification: The writings of Rabbi Isaac Alfasi ("Rif"), Maimonides (Rambam) and Rabbi Asher ben Jehiel. In cases of disagreement among those three, Caro usually followed the majority position.
Wikimedia Commons; public domain
Mid 16th Century - Safed, Israel
SEFER SAR SHALOM
Safed - 1579
The Sefer Sar Shalom is a commentary on the Songs of Songs written by Rabbi Samuel ben Isaac Aripul who was one of the greatest rabbi's of the sixteenth century. Sefer sar shalom on the Song of Songs stresses the ethical messages of the biblical text and was printed in Safed. When Eliezer Ashkenazi passed away in 1586 Hebrew book production in the Land of Israel came to a halt until 1832.
SHA'AR HA GILGULIM
16th century - Safed
Sha'ar ha Gilgulim (Gate of Reincarnations, שער הגלגולים) is a kabbalistic work on Gilgul, the concept of reincarnation put together by Rabbi Hayyim Vital who recorded the teachings of his master in the 16th century CE.
Hayyim ben Joseph Vital was a rabbi in Safed and the foremost disciple of Isaac Luria. He recorded much of his master's teachings.
ABUHAV TORAH SCROLL
Rabbi Ya’acov Beirav is thought to have brought the synagogue’s famous scroll to Safed. The Abuhav Synagogue scroll is the oldest in Safed and it is associated with many legends and traditions. The 16th century scroll is kept locked in the synagogue Torah Ark and is only used three times a year at Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and Shavuot. The synagogue has also a second precious Torah scroll brought to the synagogue by 16th century Moroccan Kabbalist Rabbi Solomon Ohana.
16TH C. CONTACTS BETWEEN JERUSALEM, HEBRON, SAFED AND FUSTAT.
1567 - Jerusalem
The ancient synagogue in Jerusalem as depicted in the Casale Pilgrim, an anonymous 16th-century illustrated guide to the Holy Land. According to the Hebrew annotation, the image shows the synagogue attributed to Nachmanides. “In it are four pillars of marble. The gentiles destroyed it, but recently it was rebuilt by order of the king.” Wikimedia Commons
In the 16th and 17 th centuries the Jewish communities in Fustat (Egypt) supported the Jewish communities in Hebron, Safed and Jerusalem. This can be seen in many letters of the Cairo Genizah (see article).
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A Hebrew letter from Eliezer Zussman in Jerusalem to his son describing a devastating earthquake in 1546, that killed a few people in Jerusalem but hundreds of people in Nablus! Among them 3 or 4 Jews. (see link)
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A fascinating example is a letter send from Jerusalem and dated to 1567 AD. It was sent from Rachel b. Avraham Zussman of Prague, in Jerusalem, to her son Moshe, a scribe in Cairo. The first part of the letter was written in Hebrew and the second in Yiddish. She refers to her desperate financial situation as well as a plague that has afflicted both Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem.
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Part of a letter, c. mid-16th century, from Abraham Sagis, in Jerusalem, to Joseph Qorqos, who is normally resident in Jerusalem but is currently visiting Egypt, regarding the distribution of funds sent to Jerusalem by various Egyptian donors, including the dignitary Shelomo Alashqar, from which support was also given to the Ashkenazi yeshiva and the recipient’s own yeshiva, both in Jerusalem.
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A fundraising letter from the leaders of the Jewish community in Hebron to the leaders of the Jewish community in Egypt (16th-17th century). (see link)
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A Kettubah from Safed dated to 1539 AD. (See link)
Old Avraham Avinu Synagogue in Hebron, photo by Beit Hashalom
MELEKHET SHELOMO
Before 1611 - Hebron
The Mishnah, is a cornerstone of Jewish tradition, embodying the Oral Torah in its earliest form. Among its most profound commentaries is Melekhet Shelomo by Solomon Adeni who was born in Yemen in 1567 CE. Adeni moved with his family to the Land of Israel at age four, living in Safed, Jerusalem, and later Hebron. He studied under renowned figures like Rabbi Bezalel Ashkenazi and Rabbi Hayyim Vital. Despite personal tragedies and extreme poverty, Adeni devoted 30 years to his Mishnah commentary, The manuscript on from the Braginsky collection covers Zera’im, the Mishnah's first order, addressing blessings, prayers, and agricultural laws. Adeni meticulously corrected and expanded the text, preserving traditions and vocalizations that might have otherwise been lost. Drawing on manuscript libraries from Talmudic academies, he integrated medieval rabbinic insights alongside his own exhaustive analysis. Though published only in the late 19th century, Melekhet Shelomo is now a key feature of standard Mishnah editions and continues to inspire new generations of students.
SEFER EMEK HAMELECH
1648 - Published in Amsterdam
Sefer Emek haMelech first published in Amsterdam in 1648.
Rabbi Naftali Hertz Bachrach wrote in 1648 his book Emek HaMelech. The book deals with the kabbalah, but in the introduction, the Rabbi mentions a dramatic story about the ancient Avraham Avinu synagogue in Hebron.
R. Naftali Hertz Bachrach lived in the first half of the 1600’s. Born in the town of Bacharach in the German Rhineland, he excelled in Kabbalistic philosophy and travelled to Israel to study from the students of the R. Yitzchak Luria known as the Ari Zal (1534-1572). Although he had never met the Ari Zal personally, he referred to him as his ‘teacher’.
Interior view of Ben Ezra synagogue showing the entrance to the Cairo genizah high in the end wall. (Wikimedia, Public Domain)
The incredible archives of the Cairo Genizah holds many valuable documents. A fascinating 17th century example is a Legal document from Jerusalem (T-S 8J6.23 ) dated to the year 417 (= 1657 CE). The letter was written in hebrew and tells of a disputed inheritance. Jacob Espadil (אישפדיל) made a statement before the court detailing how Kelaiah (כילייא), the wife of Isaac Obadiah, kept back some of the inheritance from her late sister Oro (אורו), widow of Solomon Pesante (פיזאנטי), which had been left to the orphan Judah (יאודה). Words have been deleted and additions made between the lines and in the left-hand margin.
HEBREW LEGAL DOCUMENT
1657 - Jerusalem
SYNOD OF JERUSALEM (OR BETHLEHEM)
1672 - Israel
Dositheus II Notarius of Jerusalem was the Patriarch of Jerusalem from 1669 to 1707 and a theologian of the Orthodox Church. He took a firm stand against influences of the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches. He convened the Synod of Jerusalem to counter the Calvinist confessions of Cyril Lucaris.
PALAESTINA EX MONUMENTIS VETERIBUS ILLUSTRATA
1714 - Amsterdam
Adriaan Reland was a noted Dutch orientalist scholar, cartographer and philologist. He
first studied Latin language in Amsterdam studied theology and philosophy at University of Utrecht in 1693. Initially interested in Hebrew and Syriac, he later began studying Arabic. In 1705 professor Reland completed 'De religione Mohammedica libri duo'. This work, was considered the first objective survey of Islamic beliefs and practices. It became a reference work throughout Europe and was translated into Dutch, English, German, French and Spanish. As Reland argues, the study of other religions in general is often tarnished by misconceptions due to the struggles both between Jews, Muslims and Christians. Reland published 'Palaestina ex monumentis veteribus illustrata (1714)', in which he described and mapped the Biblical-era geography of Palestine. Despite this background he did not mentioned places with important mosques that are dating before his travels to the land of Israel! For example Jerusalem, Nablus, Jenin, Tsfat, Jaffa and Ashkelon. Perhaps these places were not as populous during the early 18th century. However three main conclusions of Adriaan Reland are important:
○ The land was empty, sparsely populated as confirmed nearly two centuries later by Mark Twain.
○ The Jewish origin of the names of nearly all cities are also very clear.
○ The Arabs he called Bedouins, were not living in large numbers in the holy land while the Jewish and Christian presence in the country was far more important and visual.
Map by Adriaan Reland mentioning biblical places in the holy land
SAFED, TIBERIAS & HEBRON ASKING FOR HELP
1726 & 59 AD - Tiberias. Safed and Hebron
Fascinating hebrew letter from the Cairo Genizah testify to the poor situation of the Jewish communities in Safed and Tiberias in the 18th century.
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Letters from Safed dating to 1726/27 and 1735 from the community of Safed. The Jews are begging for financial aid form the Jews in Pisa, due to the heavy taxes that are imposed on them.
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A letter dated 1759/60 CE from the Jewish community of Tiberias to the Jewish community of Pisa with a similar request for financial help. The letter gives interesting details about political struggles, unrest in the Galilee and the month-long siege of Tiberias (1742) are mentioned.
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A hebrew letter from the community of Hebron dated to 1778/79 CE to Refa'el Ḥannuka (maybe living in Istanbul). The community has sent their shaliaḥ (legal emissary), and if he does not receive enough money to bring back, the Hebron Jews will perish.
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More letters can be found dating for example to 1748 and 1796 in the Cairo Genizah.
TRAVELS OF CHARLES THOMPSON
1744
The travels of the late Charles Thompson written in his book dating to 1744, are his observations on France, Italy, Turkey in Europe, the Holy Land, Arabia, Egypt, and many other parts of the world.
His travelbook gives a particular and faithful account of what is most remarkable in the manners, religion, polity, antiquities, and natural history of those countries with a curious description of Jerusalem as it now appears, and other places mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. An interesting and very complete view of these countries and illustrated with historical, geographical, and miscellaneous notes by the editor.
19TH CENTURY KETUBBAH
19th century, Jerusalem, Tiberias, Jaffa, Hebron and Safed
Many Jewish Marriage contracts or Ketubbot have survived with the names of the couples who married. The Jewish National museum houses many of these beautiful decorated testimonies to the romantic past. There are examples from many countries around the world and many are from Jerusalem (1807 and later). Also some examples of Tiberias 1837), Jaffa (1865) and Hebron (1874) and a marriage contract from Safed (1830) survived. Another from the Braginsky collection has a kettubah from Jerusalem (1864).
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NAPOLEON'S DECLARATION TO
"RE-ESTABLISH ANCIENT JERUSALEM".
1799- France
During the siege of Acre in 1799 by Napoleon, the primary French newspaper of the French Revolution, Gazette Nationale, published a concise statement on the 22th May 1799). The statement read as follows: "Buonaparte a fait publier une proclamation, dans laquelle il invite les juifs de l'Asie et de l'Afrique à venir se ranger sous ses drapeaux, pour rétablir l'ancienne Jérusalem; il en a déjà armé un grand nombre, et leurs bataillons menacent Alep." Translated: "Bonaparte has published a proclamation in which he invites all the Jews of Asia and Africa to gather under his flag in order to re-establish the ancient Jerusalem. He has already given arms to a great number, and their battalions threaten Aleppo."
Historians were divided on whether such a proclamation really existed but fascinatingly a Turkish source confirmed this revolutionary message that circulated in french newspapers (see: article link).
MAP & DESCRIPTIONS OF PALESTINE BY JOSEPH SCHWARTZ
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1829, 1843, 1845 - Jerusalem
Joseph Schwarz was born in Bavaria, 1804 and died at Jerusalem in 1865. He studied in Colberg and at the University of Würzburg, where he devoted himself to the history and geography of the Holy Land. He published a map of Palestine in 1829 (republished at Vienna in 1831 and in Triest, 1832). He decided to migrate to Jerusalem in 1833 and began a series of journeys and explorations in various parts of Ottoman province of Palestine. This took him 15 years and his investigations and researches into the history, geography, geology, fauna, and flora of that country have placed him in the front rank of explorers and geographers of the holy land. Some of his publications where:: "Luaḥ," a calendar for the year 5604 (Jerusalem, 1843); "Tebu'ot ha-Shemesh," on the physical history of the Holy Land, the cycle of the sun, and the calculation of sunrise and sunset (1843); "Tebu'ot ha-Areẓ," geography, geology, and chronology of Palestine (ib. 1845). Isaac Leeser translated the "Tebu'ot ha-Areẓ" with the title "A Descriptive and Historical Sketch of Palestine. " This book contained maps, engravings, and a portrait of the author (Philadelphia, 1850).
Joseph Schwartz - photo National Library of Israel
VAYIKRA - SEPHARDIC PRAYER BOOK
1833 - Safed
After a hiatus of 246 years, Israel Bak reestablished the Hebrew press in Eretz Yisrael, and he, like his predecessor, chose the city of Safed. His first published work, in 1832, was a Sefardi prayer book, the second, the Book of Leviticus, the first printing of a book of the Bible in the Holy Land. The title page describes the contents and the enterprise: "The Book of Leviticus, the third of the Five Books of the Torah with the commentary of Rashi, Ba'al ha-Turim (Jacob ben Asher), Siftei Hahamim (the Lips of the Wise) and ... on the Haftarot and the Five Scrolls by the illustrious godly man, Hayim Yosef David Azulai ... printed by the eminent and wise Israel Bak ... of Berditchev. Here in Upper Galilee, in the holy city, Safed ... under the sovereignty of the noble Mohammed Ali Basha (1833)."
SAFED "POGROM" LETTER
1834 - Safed
The 1834 a violent attack by the Druze and Arab population was aimed at the Jews of Safed. The looting and killings have been described as a pogrom and it happened during the 1834 uprising (Peasants' Revolt). It began on Sunday June 15, the day after the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, and lasted for 33 days. Most contemporary accounts suggest it was a spontaneous attack that evolved into a month long disaster that included large scale looting's, the killing and raping of many Jews and the destruction of homes and ancient synagogues. Hundreds fled the town seeking refuge in the open countryside or in neighbouring villages. The rioting was quelled by Lebanese Druze troops who were ordered by Ibrahim Pasha to stop the riots and violence after intervention of foreign consuls.
19TH CENTURY HEBREW LETTERS
19th Century - Jerusalem, Safed
Many Hebrew letters dating to the 19th century and written by or to the Jewish Community in Jerusalem and Safed were found in the large collection of Cairo Genizah.
For example;
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In 1807 the Safed community asked again for financial aid in a letter to the Jewish community in Pisa.
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A letter written in hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic from Eliyyahu b. Seʿadya, in Fustat/Cairo, to the Moshe ha-Levi the Qaraite, in Jerusalem (1827)
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A hebrew letter from the community of Jerusalem to the gabbay ( a warden, who assists in running the synagogue) and treasurer of כארכוך (=Kirkuk?) and written in 1843 CE.
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A hebrew letter from the community of Safed to the community of Izmir concerning fundraising dating to 1851 CE.
ANTIONE ALPHONSE MONTFORT
1838 - Jerusalem & middle east
'Juifs des environs de Jérusalem' (1838)
Montfort, Antoine Alphonse
Antoine-Alphonse Montfort (1802–1884) was a French painter renowned for his Orientalist landscapes and genre scenes. Born in Paris, he trained under prominent artists like Horace Vernet and Antoine-Jean Gros and gained inspiration from Théodore Géricault.
In 1827–1828, Montfort served as the ship's painter on La Victorieuse, sailing across the Mediterranean and visiting regions like Corsica, Malta, Istanbul, Syria, and Egypt. Later, during an 1837–1838 expedition to Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine, he immersed himself in local culture, traveling with caravans, living in tents, and studying Arabic. His detailed travel diary, now housed at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and his sketches from these journeys became lifelong sources for his art. Apart from landscapes (see photo), he also painted ordinary people like "Juifs des environs de Jérusalem" ("Jews from around Jerusalem")
IMPERIAL FIRMAN CONCERNING CHRISTIAN HOLY PLACES
1852 - Jerusalem
Abdulmejid ruled the Ottoman empire between 1823 and 1865 during a periode of rising nationalist moveents in the Empire. He wanted to encourage 'Ottomanism' and stop the rising nationalism. Despite new laws and reforms to improve the integration of non-Muslims and non-Turks into Ottoman society, these efforts failed.
The "Imperial Firman of February 1852, Concerning the Christian Holy Places" from Abdülmecid I of the Ottoman Empire confirms the Status Quo agreements between the Eastern/Greek and Latin Christian communities in the Holy land. The reason for this Firman were rising disputes between the Greek and Latin nations in Jerusalem (Church of the Holy sepulchre) and the Firman revived respecting the Holy Places.
(Konstantin Cretius) Wikimedia
HA-TOLIDAH 'ASHER MIT AKEH BEYN HA-SHEMARIM
1859 - Nablus
The Tolidah (Hebrew: תולידה, "Genealogy") is the oldest Samaritan historical chronicle, written mainly in Hebrew with sections in Samaritan Hebrew and Aramaic. It provides a concise history of the Samaritans and their priestly dynasty up to the Middle Ages. The final version was copied in 1859 by Jacob ben Harun, accompanied by an Arabic translation, and is also known as the Chronicle Neubauer.
The work originated in 1149 by Eleazar ben Amram of Nablus, was expanded by Jacob ben Ishmael in 1346, and continued by other scribes until 1859. Its composite nature reflects its gradual development over centuries.
EMPEROR FRANS JOSEPH DONATION TO TIFERET YISRAEL SYNAGOGUE
1870 - Jerusalem
In 1869, the Suez Canal's completion revolutionized trade, linking Europe to the Far East. Franz Joseph, emperor of Austria-Hungary, was among the world leaders at the canal’s dedication ceremony and afterwards he visited Jerusalem. During his visit Franz Joseph witnessed the Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue unfinished without a dome. The building of the Tiferet Ysrael synagogue was stated in 1860 but due to financial problems the dome of the synagogue was missing when the kaiser arrived. Franz Joseph granted the funds to complete the structure and the synagogue was completed in 1872. (see 'Old city synagogues').
The kaiser’s donation to Tiferet Israel, Ha-havatzelet, 12 Tishrei 5631/October 7, 1870
LETTER FROM MENUCHA ROCHEL SLONIM
between 1845 and 1888 - Hebron
A handwritten letter from Menucha Rochel Slonim hangs in the historic Menucha Rochel Slonim synagogue in Hebron's Avraham Avinu neighborhood. Rebbetzin (Wife of a Rabbi) Menucha Rochel Slonim (1798–1888) emigrated to Hebron in 1845. When she became dangerously ill, her father promised that she would live to emigrate to the Land of Israel. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, Menucha Rochel Slonim and her family emigrated to Hebron in 1845. She is regarded as a matriarch both to the Chabad dynasty and Hebron's Jewish community.
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SEFER YERUSHALEM
1884 - Jerusalem
Sefer Yerushalayim is a book about Jerusalem "providing a summary of the history and characteristics of four holy sites". It was written in 1884 by Tuvia Salomon (1862-1951) a printer, poet, writer and researcher and the son of R. Yoel Moshe Salomon. It is a small book with illustrations depicting holy sites. The name of the book ("Yerushalayim") and the borders of some illustrations are printed in gold.
Example of a wall painting: La nouvelle Jérusalem (Tapisserie de l'Apocalypse) Kimon Berlin.
WALL HANGING 'OFFERING OF ISAAC'
1879/80 - Jerusalem
A beautiful wall hanging made from perforated paper and embroidered with wool ws made by Frieda Leah Shifman in Jerusalem in 1879/80. It depicts the biblical story of the offering of Isaac (Gen. 22). The artwork that is part of the Biblical collection in the Jewish Museum in New York. It has two original hebrew inscriptions:
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At top: "The Offering of Isaac should be remembered by his descendants today as an act of mercy. The year 5640 (=1879/80)"
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Along the bottom border: "A gift sent by Frieda Leah Shifman in the holy city of Jerusalem.
SHUKAT OLAM
1893 - Jerusalem
Shlomo Moussaieff was born in the city of Bukhara in 1852, in what is today Uzbekistan. In the Hebrew prayer book which he authored, Shukat Olam, Moussaieff described his motivation in moving to Jerusalem and his religious conviction: "I, Shlomo Moussaieff, native of Bukhara.. My spirit moved me to leave the land of my birth, in which I grew up, and to ascend to the Holy Land, the land in which our ancestors dwelled in happiness, the land whose memory passes before us ten times each day in our prayers...We do not have any festive occasion without a memorial to Jerusalem....There is no doubt that I am required to thank God for all the good he has done for me. He has brought me across the sea three times. He has kept me alive, and has brought me to the place of my desire for the good life and peace to see the pleasantness of God and to visit his sanctuary. If the temple was standing, I would bring a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ARCHIVES OF JERUSALEM
Documents of 1915 taken to Jerusalem in 1930 AD.
The archive of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem contain extremely valuable documents regarding the Armenian Genocide.
For example a copy of a shocking telegram, a deciphered version of the original telegram that was used to help planning the mass killings of Armenians. According to researchers the discovery proves both the existence of the tribunals and, for the first time, the deliberate and willful official planning involved in carrying out the massacres. The telegram creates an earthquake in the reserach of the Armenian Genocide and makes denial of this genocide totally ludricous. The killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I is widely viewed by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. The telegram was discovered in a collection of court records, shipped out of Turkey in 1922 by Armenian leaders fearing they would be destroyed by Turkish nationalists who would later seize control of the country. Brought to Jerusalem in the 1930s, the collection was put in an archive in the Armenian Patriarchate but was inaccessible to researchers. Recently was discovered that the entire collection had been photographed in the 1940s by an Armenian monk who passed the photos on to a nephew currently living in New York.
CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN YUSUF DIYA AL KHALIDI & HERTZL
1899 - Jerusalem
The correspondence between the Major of Jerusalem Yusuf Diya al Khalidi and Theodor Hertzl is of great historical significance. Here a translation of a letter written by Al Khalidi:
"As far as the Israelites are concerned [...], I really do regard them as relatives of us Arabs; for us they are cousins; we really do have the same father, Abraham, from whom we are also descended. There are a lot of affinities between the two races; we have almost the same language. Politically, moreover, I am convinced that the Jews and Arabs will do well to support each other if they are to resist the invaders of other races. It is these sentiments that put me at ease to speak frankly to You about the great question that is currently agitating your people.
You are well aware that I am talking about Zionism. The idea in itself is only natural, beautiful and just. Who can dispute the rights of the Jews to Palestine? My God, historically it is Your country! And what a marvellous spectacle it would be if the Jews, so gifted, were once again reconstituted as an independent nation, respected, happy, able to render services to poor humanity in the moral domain as in the past!
Unfortunately, the destinies of nations are not governed solely by these abstract conceptions, however pure, however noble they may be. We must reckon with reality, with established facts, with force, yes with the brutal force of circumstances. But the reality is that Palestine is now an integral part of the Ottoman Empire and, what is more serious, it is inhabited by people other than only Israelites. This reality, these acquired facts, this brutal force of circumstances leave Zionism, geographically, no hope of realisation"
TEMPLE MOUNT HISTORICAL DOCUMENT
1925 - Jerusalem
In 1925 During the British Mandate the Muslims that controlled Temple Mount produced this guide which gives an insight in how they looked at history in 1925. Clearly their own scholars confirmed the history, confirmed by modern archaeology that this was the site of the original Solomon's Temple, the temple of the Jewish people.
1930 DESTRUCTION OF EIN ZEITIM
1930 - Ein Zeitim
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Many people think that Arab violence against Jews began with the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 (or after Israel’s capture in 1967 of Jordanian territories) But even before the Mandate for Palestine was assigned to Great Britain by the Allies at the San Remo Conference (April 1920) and endorsed by the League of Nations (July 1922), Arabs were carrying out organised attacks against Jewish communities.. Systematic violence began in early 1920 against Jerusalem’s Jews and in 1921 Arab rioters attacked Jews in Jaffa and its environs. The primary responsible agitator behind this violence was the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al Husseini. He often called for war and attacks against the jews. One of the attacks was done by Arabs who destroyed Ein Zeitim. Ein Zeitim was an agricultural settlement (2 km north of safed) that was first established in 1891 after Jews bought the land. A newspaper article in hebrew gives an account of the violent attacks.
A Torah scroll which survived the rioting and vandalism in Hebron is brought to Jerusalem in 1929. (Source: Sefer Hevron, page 86 / wikimedia)
HEBRON TORAH SCROLS
before 1929 -Hebron
After the tragic 1929 Hebron massacre, in which 67 Jews lost their lives, the British authorities evacuated the entire Jewish community from the city. Survivors were gathered at Romano House, where the dead were buried in the local cemetery, and the wounded were transported to Jerusalem for medical care. The remaining community members were also relocated to Jerusalem for their safety. This marked the complete removal of Hebron's Jewish population, effectively ending centuries of Jewish presence in the city. The community returned in 1931 with many of the original inhabitants attempting to rebuild their lives. This foto shows a Torah scroll being taken away, having been saved from the synagogues that were ransacked and vandalized. This scroll was left undamaged and was later reinstated in the rebuilt Avraham Avinu synagogue in the 1980s. Some of the Torah scrolls however are dating back nearly 500 years.
AZHARA NORA'AH
1934 - Jerusalem
Azhara Nora'ah" was a placard Issued by the Maghreb Community in Jerusalem in 1934. It is aimed at protesting the "Dardaim" Yemenite Faction that Disavowed the Zohar, the most important text of Kabbalah.
The "Dardaim" was a small faction of Yemenite Jewry founded in Sanaa, Yemen at the start of the 20th century. It was formed within the Yemenite Baladi community by Rabbi Yichya Kapach. The Dardaim considered themselves disciples of Maimonides. They viewed the kabbalah as an idea foreign to Jewish tradition and they called for a return to a more Talmudic based Judaism. In the Israel they were strongly opposed, both by the Yemenite Jews and by all other Jewish factions.
CALL TO WAR BY MUFTI ALL HUSSEINI
1 March 1944
Transcript of a broadcast made by Amin al-Husseini on March 1, 1944.
Haj Amin el-Husseini, also known as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, was internationally renowned as a collaborator with Nazi Germany. He was known for his meeting with Adolf Hitler in Berlin in November 1941, and his Arabic language tirades to “kill the Jews”. These speeches were broadcasted to the Middle East on the Third Reich’s short wave radio transmitters.
Husseini was a key figure in an ideological and political fusion between Nazism and Islamism. A cooperation that gained influence in the Arab world after WWII and certainly among those who want to block the United Nations Partition Plan to establish an Arab and a Jewish state.
CONNECTION BETWEEN FOUNDER OF MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD & NAZI GERMANY
A document from the British archives reveals that Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, acted as a spy for Nazi Germany. Together with Amin al-Husseini, a key figure in the Palestinian national movement, they recruited tens of thousands of Muslims to serve in the Nazi army—al-Banna focusing on Egypt and al-Husseini on the Balkans. In a 1941 letter to Hitler, al-Husseini described Britain as the Arabs’ enemy for supporting Jewish settlement in Palestine and expressed admiration for Hitler. That same year, al-Husseini led a pro-Nazi revolt in Iraq, sparking pogroms against Jews that killed 179 people.
ARAB LEAGUE BOYCOTT OF JEWS IN PALESTINE
4 December 1945
The Arab League Council formally instituted the Arab boycott on December 2, 1945, making a clear statement: "Jewish products and manufactured goods shall be considered undesirable to the Arab countries.” All Arab “institutions, organizations, merchants, commission agents and individuals” were called upon “to refuse to deal in, distribute, or consume Zionist products or manufactured goods.
This declaration highlights the interchangeability of the terms "Jewish" and "Zionist" in the Arab context. Consequently, well before the establishment of Israel, the Arab states had initiated an economic embargo against the Jewish population of Palestine. Subsequent to this proclamation, the Indian Express stated that the primary objective of the boycott was "to undermine the economic strength of the Jewish community in Palestine, thus rendering further Jewish immigration economically unfeasible." The Arab nations collectively agreed to impose a complete blockade on all Jews residing in Palestine, irrespective of age or gender, preventing them from traveling to any country within the Arab League.
An Arab Legion soldier after they destroyed the historic Tiferet Ysrael synagogue, 1948. (wikimedia)
RABBI ORENSTEIN'S LETTER FROM JERUSALEM UNDER ATTACK FROM THE JORDANIAN ARMY
Jerusalem, 1948
The letters from Rabbi Yitzchak Avigdor Orenstein, the first Chief Rabbi of the Western Wall, provide insight into the challenges faced by residents in the Jewish Quarter during the 1948 siege by Arab forces. Written just three months before the city fell under Jordanian control, one of the letters, a plea for help, was signed by Rabbi Orenstein himself, who tragically lost his life with his wife during the shelling of the Old City on May 23, 1948.
Despite having served as Chief Rabbi since 1930, Orenstein returned to the Old City at the start of the siege, stating, "If someone is destined to sacrifice himself for the sake of the sanctity of ancient Jerusalem and its holy sites, I am hereby committed to do so more than anyone else."
In these letters a frightening cry for help was written by Orenstein:
“Have mercy on the men, women, and children, and take drastic measures where needed so that we don’t perish, God forbid,” The letter was sent as a cry for help to Israel’s then-Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Herzog. “The Old City residents’ lives are in grave danger. British troops have been shelling the Jewish Quarter over the last nights, harming the sanctity of the synagogue,” wrote Rabbi Orenstein who signed the letter alongside Rabbi Yisrael Mintzberg, Rabbi Shalom Azoulay, and Rabbi Benzion Chazan.