HebrewPal - Hebrew Palaeography Album

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Oxford, Bodleian MS. Heb. f. 34.41

Details
Item Images (2)
Graphic Elements (36)
Specimens (1)
Related Items (0)

Details

Shelfmark

Oxford, Bodleian MS. Heb. f. 34.41

Collection

Bodleian Library (Oxford, United Kingdom)

Item Nature

Document Type

One leaf document

Writing

Writing Material

Paper

Ink

Black (carbon based)

Writing Instrument

Calamus

Ruling

Ruling Existence

No ruling can be seen

Number of Written Lines

20 (recto); 21 (verso)

Date

Date Century

11th Century CE

Place

Localities Mentioned in Document

al-Andalus, Jerusalem

Estimated Geographical Area

Orient
Sepharad

Language

Hebrew

Document Text

Letter

Document Text (Other)

Copy of a letter

Document Text Observations

Fragments from a copy of a letter. The writer is a person from Pumbedita (which belongs to a family of several Gaons) to a person in Spain, might be Hasdai b. Shaprut. The copy from the 11th century. Original letter from March/April 953. The letter contains important details about the connections with Spain, as well as about main figures in the Iraqi yeshiva. Mentions the exilarch – Shelomo b. Yishay.

Vowels and Signs

Hebrew Vocalisation

No vowels or accents

Other

Item History

Bought through the Rev. Prof. Sayce, 1896 (from the Genizah).

Ktiv Reference Number

990001647290205171

Ktiv Link

https://www.nli.org.il/en/discover/manuscripts/hebrew-manuscripts/itempage?vid=KTIV&scope=KTIV&docId=PNX_MANUSCRIPTS990001647290205171&SearchTxt=heb.%20f.%2034,AND (Date accessed: 2026-02-25)

Repository Library Link

https://genizah.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/catalog/volume_191 (Date accessed: 2026-02-25)

Further Bibliography

M. Gil, In the Kingdom of Ishmael‎ (in Hebrew) (Tel Aviv University, 1997), vol. 2.

Available online through the Princeton Geniza Project at https://geniza.princeton.edu/documents/5626/ (accessed February 25, 2026).

Created: 25 Feb 2026, 9:35 a.m. by Elena Lolli

Entry Authors: Elena Lolli

How to cite this page: Elena Lolli, 'Oxford, Bodleian MS. Heb. f. 34.41', in: Hebrew Palaeography Album, General Editors: Judith Olszowy-Schlanger. Consulted online at https://www.hebrewpalaeography.com/data/items/1346/ on 2026-02-25.

Item Images

Oxford, Bodleian MS. Heb. f. 34.41: 1r