Hard-coded id of currently selected item: . JSON version of its record is available from Blacklight on e.g. ??


Metadata associated with selected item should appear here...

Add MS 19250

Record Id:
032-003371847
Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
032-003371847
MDARK:
ark:/81055/vdc_100042205629.0x000001
LARK:
SLARK:
Format:
TEI
Reference (shelfmark):
Add MS 19250
Title:
Kaifeng Torah Scroll
Collection Area:
Oriental Manuscripts
Project / Collection:
Hebrew Manuscripts Digitisation Project
Hierarchy Tree:
[{ "id" : "032-003371847", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Add MS 19250: Kaifeng Torah Scroll" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
Hierarchy Record Ids:
032-003371847
Is part of:
not applicable
Hierarchy:
032-003371847
Container:
not applicable
Record Type (Level):
Fonds
Extent:
95 membranes, 239 columns.
Digitised Content:
http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Add_MS_19250 (digital images currently unavailable)
Thumbnail:
Languages:
Hebrew
Scripts:
Hebrew
Start Date:
1643
End Date:
1663
Date Range:
1643-1663
Era:
CE
Access:
Restrictions to access apply please consult British Library staff

Please request the physical items you need using the online collection item request form.

Digitised items can be viewed online by clicking the thumbnail image or digitised content link.

Readers who have registered or renewed their pass since 21 March 2024 can request physical items prior to visiting the Library by completing
this request form.
Please enter the Reference (shelfmark) above on the request form.

If your Reader Pass was issued before this date, you will need to visit the Library in London or Yorkshire to renew it before you can request items online. All manuscripts and archives must be consulted at the Library in London.

This catalogue record may describe a collection of items which cannot all be requested together. Please use the hierarchy viewer to navigate to individual items. Some items may be in use or restricted for other reasons. If you would like to check the availability, contact our Reference Services team, quoting the Reference (shelfmark) above.

User Conditions:
Material Type:
Archives and Manuscripts
Legal Status:
Not Public Record(s)
TEI:

Hebrew Manuscripts Digitisation Project

Add MS 19250

'Kaifeng Torah Scroll'

Contents

The Pentateuch scroll, so-called 'Kaifeng Torah Scroll.'

Language(s): Hebrew

ff. 1r-9r
Title: Sefer Torah
Title: ספר תורה

The scroll may have been made between 1643 and 1663, and used in the Kaifeng synagogue until around 1800. In 1851 it was acquired in Kaifeng by missionaries, and in 1852 was presented to the British Museum.

The prescribed four blank lines between the end of a book and the beginning of another are wanting. Exodus and Numbers begin with an open section, and Leviticus and Deuteronomy with a closed section. Three blank lines are interposed between the end of Ḥaye Śarah and the beginning of Toledot Yitsḥaḳ (Genesis 25:19).

The Song of Moses, Exodus 15, arranged in 5 lines. Leviticus 10:16 the second דרש is not written at the beginning of the line.

Physical Description

Leather scroll of the 17th century.
Form: scroll
Material: leather
Support: Sheep-skin
Extent: 95 membranes, 239 columns.
Dimensions (leaf): 590 × 42540 mm.

Collation

95 membranes, with wooden roller (662mm long).

Condition

One liquid spill.

A few cuts/tears at edges.

Some erasures. Slight dirt.

Pleats and folds (not obscuring text).

Layout

Columns:239

Ruled lines: 49

Written lines: 49

Uniform layout.

Ruling by hard point.

239 columns in total, one to five columns per membrane.

No tagin.

No majuscular and minuscular letters, or special shapes of letters.

The "puncta extraordinaria" placed on a few words only.

Hand(s)

Oriental (close to Persian) square script of the 17th century.

Binding

BM in-house. Boxed.

History

Origin: 1643-1663 China (Kaifeng)

Provenance and Acquisition

1852-12-11

Presented to the British Museum by theSociety for Promoting Christianity among the Jews on 11 December 1852: inscribed on verso.

Record Sources

Manuscript description based on Margoliouth, G.: Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the British Museum, London 1965.

Availability

WARNING: Under current circumstances, not all items are available for consultation and orders can only be placed within Reading Rooms. Please contact Reading Room staff at the British Library for information on availability and for help with placing orders.

Surrogates

http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Add_MS_19250 (digital images currently unavailable)

Bibliography

    George Margoliouth, Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: British Museum, 1899-1935; vols I-III repr. 1965); IV, Introduction, Indexes, ed. by Jacob Leveen (London: British Museum, 1977), no. 6.
    Sacred Texts. Explore treasures of the world's great faiths: Kaifeng Torah. http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/sacredtexts/kaifengtorah.html (accessed 5 December 2016)

Funding of Cataloguing

BL