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The Afghan Geniza

(AP) Aron Heller - A trove of ancient manuscripts in Hebrew characters rescued from caves in a Taliban stronghold in northern Afghanistan is providing the first physical evidence of a Jewish community that thrived there a thousand years ago. On Thursday Israel's National Library unveiled the cache of recently purchased documents that include biblical commentaries, personal letters and financial records. Researchers say the Afghan Geniza marks the greatest such archive found since the Cairo Geniza, a vast depository of medieval manuscripts, was discovered in an Egyptian synagogue more than 100 years ago. The Afghan collection gives an unprecedented look into the lives of Jews in ancient Persia in the 11th century. The paper manuscripts, preserved over the centuries in the dry caves, include writings in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Judeo-Persian, which were written in Hebrew letters.
2013-01-04 00:00:00
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