World Culture: Rare Bible manuscripts from Damascus go on display in Israel

Rare Bible manuscripts originating in the Jewish community of Damascus went on display for several hours at the National Library of Israel on October 5 2011. Because of security and conservation concerns, manuscripts go on display once in a blue moon, also for just a few hours, the last time - more than a decade ago.

The collection includes 11 volumes ranging from 700 to 1,000 years old and written in the Middle East and Europe. Parchment manuscripts, known as “Damascus Crowns”, were guarded in some of the 24 synagogues of Damascus for centuries, though none of them was written exactly in the capital of Syria. 

The oldest of the “crowns” was written in the late 10th century A.D. in what is now Israel. It was purchased by the rabbi David Solomon Sassoon, collector and teacher, and later in 1975 the manuscript was purchased by the library.

Jewish community of Damascus, whose history spanned over 2,000 years, ceased to exist in late 20th century. After that Bible manuscripts were secretly moved to Israel.