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masoretes

masoretes Latest

Feb 3 Blog

Errors in the Masoretes’ “Original” Hebrew Manuscripts of the Bible?

By: BAS Staff

The Hebrew Bible today differs from the Bible manuscripts of the first millennium B.C.E. How do we identify alterations? Learn why critical editions of the Bible are essential.

ashkar-gilson-manuscript

Sep 20 Blog

What Is the Oldest Hebrew Bible?

By: Jennifer Drummond

The oldest Hebrew Bible texts are the Dead Sea Scrolls (c. 250 B.C.E.–115 C.E.), but the most nearly complete copies of the Hebrew Bible are codices from a thousand years ago. What happened in the period between these two discoveries? The Ashkar-Gilson Manuscript fills the gap in our knowledge of this interim period.

aleppo-codex

Apr 27 Blog

The Aleppo Codex

By: Jennifer Drummond

The world’s oldest Hebrew Bible, the Aleppo Codex, is missing pages—and not just a couple leaves, but four of the Five Books of Moses! What happened to them?

the-aleppo-codex-online

Feb 2 Blog

The Aleppo Codex Online

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Throughout its long history, the Aleppo Codex has been carefully and jealously guarded. Today, however, the Aleppo Codex online project has placed the Aleppo Codex among the ranks of other ancient Biblical manuscripts that have been made available to all via the web.

Jan 14 Blog

First Person: A Little Jot on a Jerusalem Column

By: Robert Cargill

The Jerusalem Column is the first inscription from the Second Temple period where the full spelling of the Hebrew name of Jerusalem appears.

shelemyah-inscription

Jul 27 Blog

How Was the Bible Written During and After the Exile?

By: Megan Sauter

The Hebrew language has evolved over time. Even during the course of writing the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), Biblical Hebrew changed, which is apparent when […]

Oct 6 Blog

The Cities That Built the Bible

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Cynthia Shafer-Elliott reviews "The Cities That Built the Bible" by Robert R. Cargill.

temple-scroll

Sep 4 Blog

The Evolution of Biblical Hebrew

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Did the language of the Bible—Biblical Hebrew—evolve over time? Professor Avi Hurvitz argues there are three distinct forms of Biblical Hebrew, each one corresponding to certain parts of the Bible and other ancient texts.

Aug 17 Blog

A Jewel from the Crown

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

It was celebrated as the “Crown of Aleppo.” The Aleppo Codex, a thousand- year-old copy of the Hebrew Bible, was created in about 930 C.E. and edited by Aharon Ben Asher, who was one of the Jewish sages in Tiberias known as the Masoretes.* With Ben Asher’s additions of vowel and vocalization markings, it became the textus receptus, or authoritative version of the Hebrew Bible—relied on by no less than Maimonides, the 12th-century expert on Jewish law and author of the Mishneh Torah.

Travelogue of the Aleppo Codex

Jul 20 Blog

Travelogue of the Aleppo Codex

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

The Aleppo Codex, one of the most important ancient Biblical manuscripts, has a history that is almost as dramatic as the Biblical events that it recounts. This travelogue traces the journey of the Aleppo Codex throughout the Near East.

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