First of its kind research seminar by the Israel Science Foundation in cooperation with ANU – Museum of the Jewish People and Bar Ilan University, on Codex Sassoun – the Earliest Most Complete Edition of the Hebrew Bible, donated last year to ANU Museum after acquired by Alfred Moses for 38 million dollars.
Three days of lectures and studies on Codicology, biblical and Masoretic Texts, history and museum display.
Free admittance – please register in advance.
Register Here
Seminar Program:
Monday, January 6 2025, Beck Auditorium, Bar Ilan University
12:30pm assembling
1pm opening
Yosef Ofer, Bar Ilan University, Opening speech
Michael Avioz Dean of the Faculty of Jewish Studies, Bar Ilan University, Greetings
First Session: The Reading of the Torah and the Biblical Text
Mordechai Weintraub, Institute for Hebrew Bible Manuscript Research Reading the Torah in the Land of Israel: the testimony of the Sassoon manuscript and other Tiberian manuscripts (Hebrew Lecture)
Jonathan Howard, Ben Gurion University The Text of Codex Sassoon in Light of the Tiberian Masoretic School and its Surroundings (Hebrew Lecture)
Second Session: The Methods of Codex Sassoon’s Scribe
Yossi Peretz, Mikra’ot Gedolot Haketer, Bar Ilan University and Talpiot College The Tradition of Open and Closed Sections in Ms. Sassoon 1053 (Hebrew Lecture)
Leeor Gottlieb, Department of Bible, Bar-Ilan University About the Lines and Between the Lines: Irregular Lines Rendered by the Scribe of Codex Sassoon 1053 (Hebrew Lecture)
Third Session: The Masora and the Biblical Versions
Yosef Ofer, Bar Ilan University A Comprehensive Presentation of Masora Comments – A Challenge for Scholars in the Twenty-First Century (Hebrew Lecture)
Tuesday, January 7 2025 at ANU – Museum of the Jewish People, Chronosphere Auditorium
9:30 opening
Oded Revivi, CEO, ANU Museum – greetings
Fourth Session: The Book and the Ink
Judith Olszowy-Schlanger, University of Oxford – The making and the Script of Codex Sassoon
Ira Rabin, Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) & Nehemia Gordon, Institute for Hebrew Bible Manuscript Research
The Inks of Early Bible Masoretic Codices
Fifth Session: The work of the Scribe and the Masorete
Nehemia Gordon, Institute for Hebrew Bible Manuscript Research Scribal Corrections in MS Sassoon 1053
Vince Beiler, University of Cambridge The place of MS Sassoon 1053 among Early Manuscripts: A Consideration of Its Masorah Parva Recension and Paratextual Features
2pm: Lunch Break
Sixth Session: Biblical Manuscripts – Locating and Making Accessible to the Public
Orit Shaham-Gover, Chief curator of ANU – Museum of the Jewish People Between Preservation and Presentation: Codex Sassoon at the ANU Museum (A gallery tour followed by discussion; (Hebrew Lecture)
Yitzchack Gila, Yael Okun, Ezra Chwat and Yaakov Fox, National Library of Israel Can We Discover What Is Known? Manuscripts and Their Transformations Between Private and Public Domain (Hebrew Lecture)
Wednesday, January 8 2025 at ANU – Museum of the Jewish People, Chronosphere Auditorium
Seventh Session: The Masoretes of Codex Sassoon
Yosef Ofer, Bar Ilan University Between Two Masoretes: The Style and Working Methods of Each Masorete of the Sassoon Codex (Hebrew Lecture)
Neria Klein, Bible Project, Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Connections of Codex Sassoon and the Aleppo Codex (Hebrew Lecture)
Eighth Session: Codex Sassoon through the Ages
Miriam Frenkel, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Sassoon Codex against the backdrop of a Jewish Cultural Revolution (Hebrew Lecture)
Shaul Seidler-Feller, Sotheby’s Books and Manuscripts Department “Nor Is It across the Ocean” (Deut. 30:13)? On the Journey of Codex Sassoon from Turkey to Tel Aviv
2pm: Lunch Break
Ninth session: conclusion (TBA)
