The oldest nearly complete Hebrew Bible which is more than 1,000 years old was sold in New York on May 17 for a staggering $38.1 million. For the first time in more than 30 years, the document was auctioned, with a pre-sale estimate of $30 million to $50 million.
According to Sotheby’s, the sale set a record for the most expensive manuscript ever to be sold at auction. The early to late ninth century is when the Codex Sassoon was created. Two bidders engaged in a four-minute bidding war before the hammer was reportedly lowered.
On behalf of the American Friends of ANU, Ambassador Alfred H. Moses of Washington, DC, and the Moses family made the purchase of the Codex Sassoon, which they later donated to the ANU Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, Israel.
The price of the auction eclipsed the $30.8 million realized in the 1994 sale of Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Leicester manuscript
According to Sotheby’s, the Bible is one of the “greatest treasures” in the world and has profound meaning for the three monotheistic religions and their billions of followers.
The price of the auction eclipsed the $30.8 million realized in the 1994 sale of Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Leicester manuscript, according to Sotheby’s, a global firm with headquarters in New York City. The price of one of the original prints of the US Constitution, which was sold in November 2021 for $43 million, remains the highest historical document to date.
According to Sotheby’s, the sacred texts of the bible have been pondered, examined, and researched for a very long time. The Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Writings are the three divisions of the twenty-four books that make up the Hebrew Bible. Christians refer to these writings as the Old Testament, and the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant religions all include them in their canons. Throughout the world, it has been copied, printed, and translated into numerous languages. ()
According to Reuters, the Codex Sassoon is called for its previous owner, David Solomon Sassoon, who acquired one of the most significant private collections of Judaica and Hebraica manuscripts during the twentieth century after purchasing the Bible in 1929. Sassoon, according to Sotheby’s, was a well-known academic and book lover.
The senior consultant of Judaica and Hebraica at Sotheby’s book and manuscript department told Reuters in an earlier interview that the Codex Sassoon, which was penned around the year 900, comprises all the books of the Hebrew Bible in a single format. We have an almost full manuscript of the Hebrew Bible for the first time ever.
