Overview

Lailashi, a remote village at the footstool of the Caucasian mountains holds one of the most tantalising and valuable discoveries in biblical scholarship and Jewish history. It is the home of the Lailashi Codex, an ancient Masoretic manuscript, which belongs to the exclusive group of the Hebrew biblical manuscripts known as Vavei Ha'Amudim (words beginning with the letter vav should be the first words on each leaf of the manuscript except for the six cases defined by the scribal tradition). The provenance of the Lailashi Codex and its journey throughout centuries is as mysterious as its authorship and ownership. The Lailashi Codex: Crown of Georgian Jewry explores the history and content of the most coveted Hebrew manuscript of modern biblical scholarship. It is the earliest surviving nearly complete medieval Hebrew manuscript of the Pentateuch with Masoretic vocalization adorned with intricate micrography. This most extraordinary object from Georgia enters the public domain for the first time. According to ancient tradition, this marvellous work of scribal art possesses supernatural powers. The volume takes a reader on a journey together with the Lailashi Codex during the last three centuries through turbulent times, repossessions, international controversies, and local rivalry before exploring its captivating content. The trajectory of the Lailashi Codex during the dangerous times of the Communist reign, and post-Soviet politics was volatile and unpredictable. Throughout the journey, the Lailashi Codex met and rescued the Georgian National Treasure Shota Rustaveli from disappearing into the abyss of history and won the support of Israeli President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi. Jewish ethnographer Joseph Judah Halevi Chorny instantly fell in love with the manuscript and was bitterly disappointed when he was refused access to it. The Lailashi Codex continued to fascinate Hebraists Giorgi Tsereteli and Gerard Weil. It even attracted the unwelcome attention of 'Thieves in Authorities'. The historical journey of the Lailashi Codex is nothing but a roller-coaster. It ends with the most surprising discovery since the Dead Sea Scrolls! For the first time, readers will glimpse amazingly well-preserved leaves adorned with beautiful micrographic designs which were considered to be lost. The second part of the volume contains important details from the composition and layout of the manuscript to vertical inscriptions and enigmatic mnemonic devices, missing folios, spelling variations, and micrographic shapes. It includes a full index of the biblical text and introduces the content of the genius scribe. The volume contains rich archival photos and Jewish historical documents. The reader will explore the treasures and secrets buried in the Lailashi Codex.

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9781838464141

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"""One hundred and fifty years after the first news on the manuscript, Thea Gomelauri's The Lailashi Codex presents the first and long-awaited study of one of the most ancient Hebrew Pentateuch, together with the Sassoon and Leningrad Codices. The Lailashi Codex is an invaluable treasure both as a textual witness of the Masoretic Tradition of the Hebrew Bible, and as an artefact for its breathtaking micrography. Nevertheless, it had been completely overlooked by scholars due to the difficulties in reaching the text in Georgia, and because of the lack of any study or edition. Gomelauri's work fills that void. In addition, and for the first time, the very significant missing leaves of the manuscript, hosted in Israel, are reintegrated into its original milieu. Waiting for a digital or commercial facsimile edition, Thea Gomelauri's book will become an indispensable tool for the study of the Hebrew Bible."" - Reverend Professor Ignacio Carbajosa, Professor of Old Testament, San Dámaso Ecclesiastical University, Madrid, Spain. ""This is an eye-opening work. The Masoretic Text, the text curated by the Masoretes for more or less a millennium, is the starting point for any study of the Hebrew Scriptures, and the Dead Sea Scrolls have confirmed that their text is a precious testimony to the care with which they copied the Scriptures over the centuries. The emergence into Western European awareness of such a careful copy of this text that looks as if it might be as old as the tenth or eleventh century and thus be at least as old as our standard versions is therefore an exciting moment. And the tale about it that Thea Gomelauri tells is a fascinating one."" - Reverend Professor John Goldingay DD, Senior Professor of Old Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA, USA."

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