Petersburg – is entirely complete, though being almost a century younger than the Sassoon. and is similar in age to the present lot – but it is missing nearly two-fifths of its pages, including most of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.Īnother one, the Leningrad Codex – housed in the National Library of Russia in St. The Aleppo Codex, which resides in the Israel Museum, was created around 930 A.D. For the next 700 years, a period the scholars called near-total silence, there appeared to be no records of a written bible, as Jews mainly relied on inherited oral traditions.Īnd then there came the earliest known Hebrew Bible in the form of a book – instead of scrolls – which were copied by the Masoretes with indication on how the words should be spelled, vocalized and accented.Īpart from the Codex Sassoon, two other complete Hebrew Bibles from this period are known to exist. to the 1st century A.D, with the vast majority having survived as fragments. The earliest known manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible are the Dead Sea Scrolls, which dated from the 3rd century B.C. Moses of Washington, DC and the Moses family acquired the Codex Sassoon Constitution when it sold to billionaire Ken Griffin in 2021 at Sotheby's New York.Īmbassador Alfred H. While Codex Sassoon has become the most valuable manuscript ever sold at auction, it failed to beat the record for a historical text – which currently stands at US$43.2 million, set by a first printing of the U.S. In the collection there are well over 3,000 individual objects, though for this project we are focusing on. From 1994 to 1997, he was the US Ambassador to Romania from 1994 to 1997, and Special Presidential Emissary for the Cyprus problem from 1999 to 2001. Since 2004, he has also been the Chair of UN Watch. British Library Hebrew Manuscript Collection - British Library’s Hebrew manuscripts collection is a vivid testimony to the creativity and intense scribal activities of Eastern and Western Jewish communities spanning over 1,000 years. It was my mission, realizing the historic significance of Codex Sassoon, to see that it resides in a place with global access to all people," Moses said in a statement.Īn attorney who works at Covington & Burling, Moses has been active in religious life, and was President of the American Jewish Committee from 1991 to 1995. Under President Jimmy Carter, he served as Special Advisor and Special Counsel to the President. "I rejoice in knowing that it belongs to the Jewish People. As reported by US media, however, the eight-figure sum was presumably paid by Moses and his family. Moses on behalf of the American Friends of ANU, where Moses serves as Chair of the International Board of Governors. Sale: Codex Sassoon: The Earliest Most Complete Hebrew Bibleīreifly after the auction, Sotheby's announced that the winning bid was placed by Alfred H. Lot 1 | Codex Sassoon | Circa 900, Land of Israel or Syria (Auction record for a manuscript and any item of Judaica ever sold)Ĭondition: Probably lacking about twelve whole folios, eight containing biblical text and four others at the front which may have contained frontmatter
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