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Bible / Codex Hilleli

Origin
Spain
Time Period
13th Century
Language
Hebrew
Medium
Ink on Parchment
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The text of this Bible was copied from the legendary Codex Hilleli—an ancient, renowned, and now-lost model Bible for scribes. Already at the time of its completion, this Bible was celebrated as an exceptionally accurate model for Torah scrolls, and scholars today view this manuscript as a crucial piece of evidence for the ancient tradition of biblical vocalization. The folios on display here are open to the Song of the Sea (Exodus 15), and the text is written in a “brickwork” pattern. This special design is employed to denote songs in the Bible and replicates the way these same biblical verses of song are written in Torah scrolls. It is a masterwork of Iberian scribal culture and an important witness to the early Sephardi traditions of biblical transmission.