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London, BL MS. Or. 5404: Main text scribe - Square; Non-square (Beinoni)

Details
Graphic Elements (35)

Details

Item

London, BL MS. Or. 5404

Collection

British Library (London, United Kingdom)

Name

London, BL MS. Or. 5404: Main text scribe - Square; Non-square (Beinoni)

Scribe

Benaiah b. Saadia b. Zechariah b. Benaiah (בניה בן סעדיה בן זכריה בן בניה) (Date active: 1478)

Scribe Identifications

Scribe named in the document

Scribe Roles

Main text scribe

Scribe Types of Naming in Document

Full name

Script Definition

Script Type

Yemenite

Script Mode

Square
Non-square (Beinoni)

Script Quality

Current

Script Function

Bookhand

Script Observations

The script features a square (or almost square) aleph while the rest of the letters are written in a non-square mode. Final mem consistently appears in two forms - more non-square triangular shaped and more square rectangular shaped.

Global Aspect of the Script

Position of Written Line

In the middle
Ascenders go above the headline
Descenders descend below the baseline

Text Density

Stable

Spaces Between Lines

Stable
Higher than the height of the line of writing

Spaces Between Words

Variable
Smaller than the width of an average he

Spaces Between Letters in a Word

Variable

Text Rapidity

Slow

Letters in a Word

Irregular spacing

Approximate Size of Average Letters

Proportions of Average Letters

Variable size
Elongated vertically

Proportions of Ascenders and Descenders

Ascenders are longer than the height of the average letter
Descenders are longer than the height of the average letter

Parallelism Between Strokes

Downstrokes are parallel
Horizontal strokes are parallel
Ascenders are not parallel to the downstrokes
Descenders are not parallel to the downstrokes
Ascenders are not parallel among them
Descenders are not parallel among them

Width of the Stroke

There is no shading

Created: 20 Mar 2026, 3:41 p.m. by Evgeniya Zarubina

How to cite this page: 'London, BL MS. Or. 5404: Main text scribe - Square; Non-square (Beinoni)', in: Hebrew Palaeography Album, General Editors: Judith Olszowy-Schlanger. Consulted online at https://www.hebrewpalaeography.com/data/specimens/1878/ on 2026-04-24.

Justification

London, BL MS. Or. 5404: Justification - #45291

Letter

London, BL MS. Or. 5404: Main text scribe - Square; Non-square (Beinoni)

Scribe

Script Definition

Global Aspect of the Script

Approximate Size of Average Letters

Justification

Letter

Aleph

Beth

Gimel

Daleth

He

Vav

Zayin

Ḥeth

Ṭeth

Yod

Kaph

Kaph: final

Lamed

Mem

Mem: final

Nun

Nun: final

Samekh

'Ayin

Pe

Pe: final

Ṣade

Ṣade: final

Qoph

Resh

Shin/Sin

Tav

Nexus