Image Details

Photo by Bruce and Kenneth Zuckerman, West Semitic Research/with the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center/courtesy Russian National Library

A stunning carpet page from the Leningrad Codex (1008 C.E.). It is inscribed “Samuel son of Jacob wrote …this manuscript for the honor of our blessed teacher the priest, ben Yosef the sage, ben Azdak, may the Living One bless him.” Surrounding the inscription is a Star of David framed with scripture from Deuteronomy and Psalms. The Leningrad Codex is the base text used by the new edition of Biblia Hebraica (BH) with which the authors of this article are associated.