ible Readings
T-S A42.2, folio 4v

Date: 924 c.e.

MATERIAL: Vellum

LANGUAGE: Hebrew

CONTENT:

The main part of the text consists of the final verses of a collection of prophetic readings for the synagogue (hafṭarot) according to the custom of the Jews of Eretz Yisrael in pre-Crusader times. To the right there is the colophon written by the scribe, providing details of when he completed his copying work, and in the centre is a text of the final rabbinic benediction following the prophetic reading, according to some rites, with an instruction in Judeo-Arabic about reciting it on the sabbath.

IMPORTANCE:In addition to testifying to the synagogal customs of the Jewish homeland over a thousand years ago, this fragment also demonstrates how the relevant biblical texts were written and pointed. Perhaps of equal importance are the colophon which provides evidence of how precisely Hebrew was written by a scribe in 924 c.e. and the use of Judeo-Arabic to provide liturgical guidance. The rabbinic dating of the loss of the Second Temple was equivalent to 68 c.e.

QUOTE: "This collection was completed on Thursday afternoon, 18 Av, in the year 856 after the destruction of the Temple" [= 924 c.e.]

READING: Hebrew Bible Manuscripts in the Cambridge Genizah Collections, by M. C. Davis, vol. 1, University Library, Cambridge, 1978, p. 221