The Fascinating Exodus From The 'Sassoon Codex', The World's Oldest Hebrew Bible

The so-called

is the oldest known Hebrew Bible.

Radiocarbon evidence dates it to between the 9th and 10th centuries and, according to Richard Austin, world director of the Books and Manuscripts department at Sotheby's auction house, “it is a bridge between the ancient Dead Sea

[3rd century B.C.

C.] and the current Bible”.

This thousand-year-old sacred volume, which will go up for auction next May in New York with a price of 30 million dollars (28.1 million euros), hides behind its pages a fascinating history that goes through the destruction of cities, wars against the Mongols or testamentary notes.

At the moment, only the first edition of the United States Constitution (40 million) and Leonardo Da Vinci's

(30.8 million), owned by billionaire Bill Gates, exceed their starting price.

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Celtiberian and Roman archeology, for sale

The

is named after one of its last owners, the scholar David Solomon Sassoon (1880-1942), who owned the world's largest collection of Judaic and Hebraic manuscripts, the so-called Ohel David.

The book is currently in the hands of the collector Jacqui Safra, who commissioned the radiocarbon test that dates it between the 9th and 10th centuries, “confirming the research of previous scholars and giving it a similar age to the Aleppo

[ dated to 930], although the

is significantly more complete”, according to Sotheby's specialists.

The codex is made up of 24 books divided into three parts: the

, the

, and the

.

Thus, this ancient document includes the spiritual basis of Judaism, as well as other Abrahamic religions, such as Christianity, in what is called the Old Testament, and which is recognized as such by Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants.

also collects some of these stories.

Prior to the appearance of codices such as the

, only fragments of the Biblical texts were known in the form of rolled manuscripts.

They are called the

but unlike the Hebrew Bible they lack punctuation marks and the numbering of their verses and chapters.

Sharon Mintz, specialist in Judaic books at Sotheby's, assures that the “Hebrew Bible is a sacred and fundamental text for peoples all over the world.

For thousands of years, believers have studied, analyzed, meditated and delved into the Holy Scriptures.

And he adds: “The

marks a critical turning point in the way we perceive the history of the Divine Word throughout thousands of years and represents a transformative witness to how the Hebrew Bible has influenced the pillars of the civilization: art, culture, law and politics”.

But the codex not only includes documents of religious tradition, but also personal ones, such as notes from their owners over the last thousand years.

For example, among its pages, notes from the 11th century are discovered that refer to the fact that it was bought by a certain Khalaf ben Abraham, perhaps a businessman who lived between Israel and Syria, and to Isaac ben Ezekiel al-Attar, who left it in inheritance to his sons Ezekiel and Maimon.

Around the 13th century, the codex was delivered to a synagogue in northwestern Syria, as evidenced by the dedication inside: "Sacred to the Lord God of Israel in the synagogue of Makisin."

Another note recalls that the Makisin was destroyed by Tamerlane's Turco-Mongol armies in 1400 and that the book had to be hidden by Salama ibn Abi al-Fakhr, who was ordered to return it when the synagogue was repaired.

The book is known to have suffered some damage around this time, in fact it is missing 12 pages.

However, as the temple was never rebuilt, the specimen began a long journey around the world that ended in 1929 when David Solomon Sassoon acquired it and placed its ex

a Latin locution that refers to the owner, as it is preserved today. in day.

Evolution of the Hebrew Bible

The codex comes to cover, say the experts, the "period of silence" that exists between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the 9th century (1,200 years), which allows us to know how the Hebrew Bible evolved from the Ancient Age to the Contemporary.

For example, the scrolls - which were found in a cave near the Dead Sea and which are 230 fragments - contain all parts of the Old Testament, except the book of Esther.

The 'Sassonn Codex' goes up for auction for 30 million euros. Sotheby's

The ancient Jews based their beliefs on inherited reading traditions, passed down orally from one generation to the next to understand the Bible.

In the early Middle Ages, around the 7th century, scholars, known as masoretes (

means tradition), attempted to systematically capture religious traditions in documents.

The main method used to equalize the texts - called Tiberias after the city of Tiberias, on the Sea of ​​Galilee, where the main school of Masoretes was located - became in time the standard used throughout the world by the Hebrews and that it already included, unlike the scrolls, vowels and accents.

In addition, to ensure that the scribes copied the biblical text correctly, the Masoretes produced extensive lists containing the frequency with which words appear in the Bible, the details of the correct spelling, as well as their vocalization and accentuation of the texts.

These notes, known as

appear on the top and bottom margins of the codex that will be up for auction.

Only two codices comprising almost the entire Hebrew Bible and dating from the 10th century have survived into the modern era: the

and the

.

The latter was written in Tiberias around the year 930 and has long been recognized as an exceptionally accurate version of the biblical text.

Unfortunately, nearly two-fifths of the

including the vast majority of the

and parts of the

were lost under mysterious circumstances sometime in the 1940s or 1950s. By contrast, the

it maintains almost the entirety of the Bible and is only missing a few pages.

Therefore, it is the oldest and most complete copy of the extant Hebrew Bible.

The codex, before its auction in New York, will be exhibited in Dallas, London, Los Angeles and the ANU Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv.

According to Richard Austin, this holy book occupies a "revered and legendary place in the pantheon of the most unique historical manuscripts in human history."

But acquiring this jewel of humanity requires having at least $30 million in cash, which Sotheby's experts believe will grow to age 50.

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