Beschreibung:

EXODUS 10:10 TO 16:15, INCLUDING THE SONG OF THE SEA, membrane from an Oriental Torah Scroll, in Hebrew, MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Middle East, 10th or 11th century] 590 x 600mm. Five columns (the first four approximately 570 x 90mm, the fifth, with the Song of the Sea, approximately 135mm wide) of 71 lines (the fourth of 72 lines) written in Oriental (Middle Eastern) square script hanging below scored horizontal lines, single prickings visible in the left-hand column, sewing stations for adjacent sheets visible in outer margins (upper and lower margins cropped, no loss of text, a few holes affecting single letters, folds, scuffed, some staining) MOSES LEADING HIS PEOPLE THROUGH THE RED SEA AND THE SONG OF THE SEA: THE EARLIEST KNOWN COPY OF THIS SECTION OF EXODUS FROM A TORAH SCROLL PROVENANCE: 1. The place of origin of the Torah scroll of which this membrane was part has been identified by comparison with other medieval Torah scrolls and massoretic codices containing the same section of Exodus. In every aspect -- text, section divisions, and layout of the Song of the Sea -- the present membrane fits precisely within the tradition of the Aleppo Codex and the closely related Tiberian codices, all of which were written in the Middle East during the 10th and 11th centuries. A thorough analysis of these issues, prepared by Dr Jordan S. Penkower of Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, is available upon request. Features of other early Oriental Torah scrolls, although none contain this section of Exodus, confirm the localization and date (see census, below). The most notable of the shared features are the extremely long text columns, ranging from 49 to about 100 lines (according to Colette Sirat's reconstructions). This use of extensive text columns is supported in the Babylonian Talmud's minor tractate Soferim (2:11), which notes that a Torah scroll should contain 42, 60, 72 or 98 lines per column. The present sheet, like several other extant fragments, approximates one of these options: all but one of its columns has 71 lines. Its fourth column was extended by one line (making 72) so that the Song of the Sea column could begin with the desired word, 'ha-ba'im'. Such elongated columns are highly uncharacteristic of later Torah scrolls, for Maimonides opined in the 12th century that 'the number of lines in every column should be no less than 48 and no more than 60' (Hilkhot Sefer Torah 7:10). The fact that Maimonides' influential ruling is not reflected in this Torah scroll further supports the sheet's early dating. The same is true of the script: the Oriental square script is without taggin or peculiar massoretic shapes of letters that are characteristic of later scrolls. No attempt was made to justify left-hand margins except for the fifth column with the Song portion; this was clearly copied from a prepared model; dilated letters were thus used only for corrections. 2. By the mid-19th century, the sheet was in the possession of Karaites in Chufut-Kale ('Rock of the Jews'), Crimea. It is quite possible that the manuscript was brought to the Crimea by the famous Karaite leader and bibliophile Abraham Firkovich (1786-1874), who collected scores of Oriental Hebrew manuscripts during his travels in the Middle East. 3. Two dedicatory inscriptions on the back of the membrane record its transfer in 1863 from the Karaite hazzan of Chufut-Kale, Solomon Beim (1817-1867), to the Grand Duke of Russia, Constantine Nikolayevitch (1827-1892; second son of the late Tsar Nicholas I and brother of the reigning Tsar Alexander II) and his daughter Alexandra Yosifovna. The first inscription, in Russian, reads: 'A fragment from the Book of Exodus, written in Hebrew, in the most ancient style of script, presented with exalted feelings as a memento to their Imperial Highnesses Constantine Nikolayevitch and Alexandra Yosifovna. From their obedient servant, the Karaite Rabbi Solomon Beim, as a memento of their most noble visit to Chufut-Kale, September 1863.