Rare scroll fragment to be unveiled [7th century scrap of "Exodus"]

Jerusalem Post ^ | May 22, 2007 | Etgar Letkowitz

[Alouette]

A rare Torah scroll fragment from the Book of Exodus dating back to the 7th century that includes the famous Song of the Sea will be unveiled Tuesday at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the museum announced Monday.

The manuscript, which is a fragment of a Torah scroll from the Book of Exodus (13:19-16:1), comes from the six-hundred year period from the 3rd through 8th centuries known as the "silent era," from which almost no Hebrew manuscripts have survived.

The scroll, which is on loan to the museum, is believed to have originally been part of a vast depository of medieval Jewish manuscripts discovered in Cairo's Ben-Ezra Synagogue in the late 19th century.

The Song of the Sea, widely recognized as one of the most beautiful examples of biblical poetry, celebrates the Israelites' safe crossing of the Red Sea, praises the Almighty for vanquishing their enemies, and anticipates their arrival in the Promised Land.

"The Song of the Sea manuscript is one of a kind in terms of its historical and literary significance," said Israel Museum Director James S. Snyder. "It bridges the gap in the period of history between the Dead Sea Scrolls [1st-2nd century CE] and the Aleppo Codex [10th century], both of which are permanently housed in the Shrine of the Book."

"The opportunity to display this manuscript fragment alongside the museum's own remarkable holdings of ancient biblical texts provides a unique example of textual continuity," he added.

Until the late 1970s, the scroll was part of the Hebrew manuscript collection of Lebanese-born American physician Fuad Ashkar, who was not aware of the historical significance of the Song manuscript until he contacted Prof. James Charlesworth at Duke University.

Carbon analysis proved that the manuscript dated from "the silent era" and was therefore one of a few of its kind ever to have surfaced worldwide.

While biblical manuscripts do exist from this period in Greek, Latin and other languages, it is only from the 9th century onward that Hebrew manuscripts have been found in greater abundance, the museum said.

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.

The scroll is on extended loan to the museum through the generosity of Dr. Fuad and Mrs. Terry Ashkar of Miami and Charlesworth.

The scroll will go on exhibit at the museum on Tuesday, the eve of Shavout, which marks the giving of the Torah to the Israelites at Mount Sinai.

[Alouette]

FReepMail to be added or removed from this pro-Israel/Judaic/Russian Jewry ping list.

Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.

[Alouette]

ggg ping

[mtbopfuyn]

Cool.

[SunkenCiv]

A rare Torah scroll fragment from the Book of Exodus dating back to the 7th century that includes the famous Song of the Sea will be unveiled Tuesday at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the museum announced Monday... The Song of the Sea, widely recognized as one of the most beautiful examples of biblical poetry, celebrates the Israelites' safe crossing of the Red Sea, praises the Almighty for vanquishing their enemies, and anticipates their arrival in the Promised Land. "The Song of the Sea manuscript is one of a kind in terms of its historical and literary significance," said Israel Museum Director James S. Snyder. "It bridges the gap in the period of history between the Dead Sea Scrolls [1st-2nd century CE] and the Aleppo Codex [10th century], both of which are permanently housed in the Shrine of the Book." ...Until the late 1970s, the scroll was part of the Hebrew manuscript collection of Lebanese-born American physician Fuad Ashkar, who was not aware of the historical significance of the Song manuscript until he contacted Prof. James Charlesworth at Duke University... The scroll will go on exhibit at the museum on Tuesday, the eve of Shavout, which marks the giving of the Torah to the Israelites at Mount Sinai.

:')

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[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Alouette.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[Red Badger]

Somewhere, someday, they will find buried, a complete Torah, stored in a sealed container from the Davidian period..............soon, I hope & pray.......

[CondorFlight]

“Somewhere, someday, they will find buried, a complete Torah, stored in a sealed container from the Davidian period”

Since the Jews have a wonderful custom of burying old scrolls, it may well be that in desert places (like IRAQ) there are still scrolls preserved from relatively ancient times (Pumbeditha would be a good place to look).

[Red Badger]

It’s gonna happen. Maybe Iraq, maybe even in the ruins of Babylon, but it will happen...........

[George W. Bush]

Nice find, yet more evidence for the authenticity and preservation of scripture.

It seems God continues to rebuke those scripture-scoffers among the archaeologists who began to try to tear down the preservation of scripture 150 years ago. Only when they turned back to scripture for clues did they make many of the astonishing discoveries in their field.

Modern archaologists may not be devout. But they do know better than to scoff at scripture's historical accuracy.

[massgopguy]

Let me be the first to say; “Muslims outraged!”

[Zionist Conspirator]

The Song of the Sea, widely recognized as one of the most beautiful examples of biblical poetry, celebrates the Israelites' safe crossing of the Red Sea, praises the Almighty for vanquishing their enemies, and anticipates their arrival in the Promised Land.

And that song is recited every single morning in Jewish prayers.

Now if only Jews throughout the world would invoke this against all the attacks on Israel's legitimacy. For some strange reason, though the Bible is the deed of`Am Yisra'el to 'Eretz Yisra'el, it is rarely invoked in day-to-day political arguments.

[Lijahsbubbe]

ping

[blam]

"It seems God continues to rebuke those scripture-scoffers among the archaeologists who began to try to tear down the preservation of scripture 150 years ago. Only when they turned back to scripture for clues did they make many of the astonishing discoveries in their field."

I don't know of one archaeologist that has done that. Do you?

[gcruse]

There you go, again. Picking on the lame.
;)

[Cinnamon Girl]

Are there any pictures we can see?