1. The Epistle of the Number

الوصف:

Isaac b. Solomon ibn al-Aḥdab b. Ṣaddiq Sefardi's The Epistle of the Number was composed at the end of the 14th century after Isaac settled in Syracuse, Sicily, and this is the only known copy of the work. The Epistle is a translation and enlargement of the famous Talḵīṣ ʿAmal al-Ḥisāb ('A summary of the operations of calculation', 13th century) by the Moroccan Muslim mathematician Ibn al-Bannā ابن البنّاء‎ and it is especially notable in being the first known treatise in Hebrew to include extensive algebraic theories and operations. The Epistle attests novel mathematical vocabulary and enhances our linguistic understanding of the mechanisms that helped create the scientific vocabulary of Medieval Hebrew. The work proper begins on f.1v, with an explanation of how Isaac came to compose the Epistle. Book 1, arithmetical operations on integers, fractions and roots is on ff.1v–25r, and consists of three parts: part 1, arithmetical operations on integers; part 2, arithmetical operations on fractions; and part 3, arithmetical operations on the roots of expressible (rational) and inexpressible (irrational) quantities. Book 2, the rules which enable us to obtain the unknown from the given known, is on ff.27r–38v, and also consists of three parts: part 1, proportions and scales; part 2, the algebraic operations of restoration and operation; part 3, solution of problems of a practical nature by methods of algebra. The last words in part 3, on folio 38v, are 'another example', thus the manuscript is truncated. First words and headings are written in larger, bolder script; some words and the numerals in calculations are rubricated. There are tables with both Hebrew and Arabic numerals, as well as diagrams. There are occasional marginal calculations in a different hand, e.g., f.6r, as well as manicules, e.g., f.7v. Diagrams include the place-value numerical system with zero and Hindu-Arabic numerals, f.2r; various scales, ff.25v–26v; and multiplication tables of algebraic expressions, f.34v. Unrelated to the Epistle, f. 1r describes a mathematical problem, with a diagram of two birds sitting on two towers of unequal height, and referring to Elijah Mizraḥi אליה המזרחי in the last line. Various elaborate signatures and owners' marks follow in the lower half of the leaf, including the name Judah Eli יאודה עלי.Condition: Slightly affected by damp, a few pages show evidence of ink corrosion.Layout: Written in one column with 37-38 lines per page.

2. Ha-Maʾor ha-Gadol

الوصف:

Ha-Maʾor ha-Gadol, a super-commentary on Abraham ibn Ezra Ibn Ezra, Abraham ben Meïr, 1092-1167 on the Pentateuch, by Shem Ṭov b. Judah ibn Mayor שם טוב בן יהודה ן מאיור of Briviesca in Spain. The work was composed in 5144 A. M. (1384 CE), when the author was 24, see f. 2v, where he states ואף כי איש כמוני בן ארבע ועשרים. This copy was produced by the scribe Yoḥanan b. Abraham ibn ʿAziz Yoḥanan b. Abraham ibn ʿAziz in Salonika in 1557, f. 240r; MS Oxford, Bodleian 228 is another copy of the same work by the same scribe. There are catchwords on every verso and the titles at the beginning of each paraša are written in larger letters, decorated with supralinear dots. There are some diagrams within the body of the text, e.g. ff. 77v and 80v. Some of the margins are defaced by scribbled calculations, e.g. f. 1r, children’s alphabetic and other writing exercises, e.g. f. 1v-2r or f. 77r, and more than a few manicules, e.g. ff. 117v–118r. A later hand has added the name of the corresponding paraša to the top margin of every recto. Other owners have left their marks, including some notes in Ladino on ff. 138r-139r, which perhaps relate to items for a dowry. An identification of the work and its author, signed by M. Steinschneider and dated 1867, is pasted into the front fly-leaf. Solomon Schiller-Szinessy explained the importance of this work (of which only two copies were known to him) as resting on two essential features: (a) it is mainly concerned with explaining the grammatical content of Abraham ibn Ezra’s commentary, and thus as a grammatical supercommentary it is unique, and (b) it contains ‘an inexhaustible source of biography and bibliography’ based in large part on oral traditions known to the author, which are not found elsewhere. He also lauded the copyist in hyperbolic terms: ‘[of] the copyist of this MS. it is impossible to speak in too high terms. His intelligence is only equalled by his conscientiousness; and even editors of our own time could only rival but never exceed him’!Condition: Slightly wormed and affected by damp.Layout: 26-27 lines

4. Hebrew Bible

الوصف:

Illuminated Hebrew Bible (Pentateuch and Hagiographa) with full Tiberian vocalisation and cantillation (gaʿya is rare; rafe occurs over quiescent he and alef), masora parva and magna (often in the form of micrographic geometric designs, flora and even fauna). The stars of David (which occur occasionally at the end of books, for instance, at the end of Leviticus, f. 89v), seder and paraša markers in the Pentateuch are all gilded or rubricated. Other rubrics (e.g. the rubric noting the middle of a biblical book) are also treated decoratively (e.g., the micrographic lion at the end of the book of Daniel, f. 315v). The word in the text to which masoretic notes refer is marked with two tiny supralinear dots, side by side. Omissions from the text are given by the naqdan (presumably) in the margin, using larger letters than the masora and marking them with a supralinear dot, for example לשרת at Exodus 39:26, f. 66v. Crude taggim (‘crowns’) have been added to a number of letters in Genesis 1, including בראשית. These are probably not the work of the original scribe or naqdan. The pentateuchal text and non-poetic hagiographa are written throughout in 2 columns, with the exception of the poetical parts of the Torah, which are written either text over space (The Song of the Sea, Exodus 15:1-18, ff. 47r-v) or space over space (The Song of Moses, Deuteronomy 32:1-43, ff. 143v-144v). Schiller-Szinessy (vol. i p. 24) writes: ‘The text is a model of beauty and correctness and in strict accordance with the מסרת.’Condition: Stained and some leaves are damaged on the outer or lower margins; some repairsLayout: 26 lines in 2 columns; pricked in the inner margins, and probably originally in the outer margins too.

5. Samaritan Pentateuch

الوصف:

The Samaritan Pentateuch contains the text of the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, written in the consonantal Samaritan script, a development from the Paleo-Hebrew script. Add.1846 is believed to be the earliest extant manuscript of the Samaritan Pentateuch and dates from the early 12th century CE. Epigraphs and scholia in Samaritan Hebrew/Aramaic and Arabic follow the end of each biblical book. They are in various hands. The copying of the book itself is the product of five different hands. Some notable features of the manuscript are: f. 53r: An epigraph at the end of the book of Genesis states that the codex was owned (and restored) by Mešalma b. Abi Beraḵata, c. 1275, whose daughter sold the manuscript in the 14th c. f. 103r: An epigraph at the end of the book of Exodus records the purchase of the codex by Miṯpaṣia b. Meṯuḥia from his brother for 25 shekels, in the year 5752 of the Exodus, 544 of the rule of Ishmael = 1149-50 CE. f. 188v: A marginal scholium at the end of the book of Numbers suggests unconvincingly that this manuscript was saved from the fire at the time of the King of Babylon, in the presence of Zerubbabel the Jew (hence, Codex Zurbil). f. 137v: An epigraph at the end of the book of Leviticus explains how this manuscript was saved from a fire that broke out in a manuscript store-room (a Samaritan Genizah?) in 1201 CE. f. 147r: There is marked grease stain on f. 147r, where worshippers have kissed the Priestly Blessing, Numbers 6:24–26.Condition: Some small holes; margins cropped; occasional staining; a few leaves badly faded and/or rubbed; several leaves lost at the beginning and end, some being replaced by leaves in a different hand. The beginning of the book of Genesis (up to 1:28) and the end of Deuteronomy (after 33:1) are lost. Some erasures and corrections. Pricked in outer margins; ruled. Foliated, but some leaves have an alternative foliation.Layout: 28 lines

6. Jewish prayer-book

الوصف:

Siddur or prayer-book according to the Ashkenazi rite, containing prayers for weekdays, Sabbaths, High Holy days and Pilgrim Festivals. The manuscript is missing pages at the beginning and end, and is probably one volume of an original pair. There are frequent, quite crude, repairs to the vellum. Various later Ashkenazi hands have annotated the margins. Many passages have been blacked out, apparently in deference to Christian susceptibilities (e.g. f. 26r and f. 141v). The scribe and vocaliser are identified by a marginal note (הסופר והנקדן) alongside the names Abraham and Isaac (decorated with crowns) at the end of the Grace after meals (f. 47r).Condition: Some staining and holes, with crude repairs; margins slightly cropped.Layout: 22 lines

7. Mishnah

الوصف:

The text of the Mishnah describes the first written account of the early Jewish oral tradition and the earliest significant work of Rabbinic Judaism. It dates from the period of the second century BCE at a time when persecution of the Jewish populations gave rise to the fear that the details of the oral traditions dating from the first five centuries BCE might be lost. As a written authority it is second only to the Bible text and can be used as a source of authority for making judgements. The Mishnah is divided into six orders (Shisha Sedarim) and over the next six centuries, along with further commentaries, came to form the Talmud. The major part of the text of the Mishnah is written in Hebrew and reflects the debates which took place in the first and second centuries CE by a group of Rabbinic thinkers known as the Tannaim. It teaches by drawing on examples of specific judgements along with debates by notable Rabbis, and discusses problems from all areas of human existence. This is one of only three complete manuscripts of the Mishnah, and considered to be 'an outstanding witness of the western type of Mishnaic Hebrew'. Of the manuscript, Schiller-Szinessy (vol. ii p. 9) writes: ‘Although this copy can lay claim neither to a very great age, nor to absolute correctness, we cannot hesitate to pronounce it to be a MS. beyond all price.’ Edited by W. H. Lowe, ‘The Mishnah on which the Palestinian Talmud Rests’ (Cambridge, 1883) – although that title can be considered inaccurate given more recent research on the manuscript.Condition: Slightly affected by damp; some repairs; margins croppedLayout: 30 lines

8. Medical tract, in five parts

الوصف:

This beautifully-illuminated work is a medical tract, in five parts, dealing mainly with medicine and pharmacology, but with excurses on astronomy (astrology) and divination. The handwriting is Italian, of the 15th century. Joseph b. Isaac is the first author cited (on f. 2r) and a later note on the fly-leaf attributes the whole work to him. It appears to be a composite work, however, put together from a variety of sources but on the same general subject. A single scribe produced the manuscript, by the name of Solomon (many times throughout the manuscript, when the letters שלמה appear close together at the start of lines, they are marked with rows of dots), although other hands have left annotations in the margin and additions in the text. There are frequent illuminated headings, borders and miniatures (the latter on ff. 2r, 7v, 37v, 104r, 211r, 223r and 234r). Dr Solomon Schiller-Szinessy, in his description of this manuscript, concludes: 'Not forgetting that the MS. has plenty of superstitious reminiscences in it, it is on the whole very valuable & well worth the perusal of a professional man'.Condition: Slightly creased and lightly stained in places; some margins cropped, with loss of headings. Some leaves missing.Layout: 2 columns; 35 lines; ruled.

10. Schematic map

الوصف:

Colourful schematic map of Jerusalem, employing the tropes of Jewish folk art of the 17th–18th centuries. Jerusalem is depicted as a walled city with many towers and is surrounded by illustrations denoting the sites of the tombs of various biblical figures and rabbinic sages in the wider Land of Israel. A title is written in a large square script at the top of the map: זאת אגרת מספרת יחסותא דתקיפי וצדיקי וחסידי ותנאי ואמוראי ארעא דישראל זכתום יעמד לנו ולכל ישראל ובא לציון גואל אכי״ר. Towards the bottom, on the left-hand side, there is a note by the artist: אני שמואל בן ישי מסיניגאליה העתקתיו מאחר שהובא מארץ רחוקה ח׳ ימים לחדש תשרי, ‘I, Samuel b. Yišay from Senigallia, copied it from one that had been brought from a distant land, on the 8th of Tišri’. Jerusalem itself is depicted as being divided into two by the Western Wall, with the Tower of David sitting prominently in the lower section. Four cypresses stand above the wall, dividing the Dome of the Rock from the Al-Aqsa Mosque (called מדרש שלמה). Each item is identified in carefully penned Hebrew, and there are occasional pious verses. The whole map is surrounded by a decorative border, lost in part.Condition: Creased, slightly torn at edges, faded and discoloured