{{short description|13th-century Hebrew codex of the Bible}} '''Damascus Crown''' ({{langx|he|כתר דמשק}}), '''''Keter Damascus''''', is a complete Hebrew Bible manuscript containing 24 canonical books written in the 13th century CE, and brought by stealth to Israel from Damascus, Syria in 1993. Today, it is housed at the Hebrew University and National Library of Israel, in Jerusalem, under a public trust. The manuscript is not to be confused with the Damascus Pentateuch. alt=Page 4 of the Damascus Bible|thumb|Page 4 of the Damascus Bible
== History == According to its colophon, the Damascus Crown was written in 1260 by Menaḥem son of Rabbi Abraham, the son of Malek, in the city of Burgos in Castile (modern-day Spain).<ref name= "National Library of Israel, Overview" /><ref>The colophon on page 426b reads as follows (translated from the Hebrew): "I Menaḥem, the son of Abraham, the son of Malek, whose inheritance is in Eden, wrote these twenty-four [canonical books] for the esteemed and precious [...] Rabbi Yiṣ-ḥaq, the son of the honorable savant, Rabbi Abraham (may his Rock and Creator preserve him) Ḥadâd, and have concluded it on the second day [of the week], on the seventh day of the lunar month Adar, in the year 5020 anno mundi (1260 CE) in Burgos."</ref> The book was transferred to the Khush al-Bâsha al-Anâbi Synagogue in Damascus, Syria, hence the name of the Crown today. Historian and orientalist, Abraham Harkavy, examined the codex when visiting Damascus in 1886.<ref name= "National Library of Israel, Overview" /> He was followed by Avinoam Yellin in 1919, who also examined the codex.<ref name= "National Library of Israel, Overview" />
In 1940 the Crown was stolen from the synagogue, and was discovered again in 1962, and in 1993 was furtively taken out of Syria in an operation whose details remain largely undisclosed to the public,<ref name="Keter Damascus/2020" /> and purchased for the National Library of Israel. Altogether, between 1993 and 1995, nine leather-bound manuscripts containing microscopic calligraphy and decorated with gold leaves, written mostly in Spain and Italy in the 1300s or as early as the 10th-century CE, were secretly brought to Israel. For centuries they were kept inside synagogues in the Syrian capital, and were presented to the public only at special events.<ref name="Keter Dameseq/2014" /> The Jews of Damascus treated them with respect and appreciation and ascribed unto them special talisman powers.<ref name="Keter Dameseq/2014">{{cite news |last=Magenzi |first=Aviel|title=The Bible that the Mossad smuggled: The Battle of the Damascus Crown |language=he |publisher=YNet |date=9 December 2014 |url=https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4601030,00.html |access-date=19 August 2020 }}</ref>
One of the carpet pages of the Crown (containing an illustration) was sold at auction in June 1987, and purchased by the Jewish Museum in Toledo, Spain. In August 2020, the Jerusalem District Court ruled that the books were “treasures of the Jewish people” that had “historic, religious and national importance” and must be preserved. The best way to do so would be to keep them at the National Library under a public trust, it ruled.<ref name="Keter Damascus/2020">{{cite news |last=Ben Zion |first=Ilan |title=Israeli court: Damascus Bibles to stay in National Library |language=en |publisher=Associated Press |date=18 August 2020 |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/israeli-court-damascus-bibles-stay-191015213.html }}</ref> “The trust and its conditions are aimed at ensuring first and foremost the preservation of the Damascus Crowns and their care for the public, the Jewish people and future generations,” the court said.<ref name="Keter Damascus/2020" />
== Description of manuscript==
The Crown contains the complete 24 canonical books of the Hebrew Bible, is punctuated in the Tiberian tradition and contains trope symbols (cantillations) and orthographic notes on each page written in micrography, known as the ''Masora Magna'' (large ''Masora''),as well as the ''Masora Parva'' (small ''Masora''). The codex is written on parchment. It includes 428 pages measuring 350 x 270 mm. The writing is in square Spanish-Hebrew script, three columns per page, except for the books Proverbs, Job and Psalms, which are written in two columns per page.<ref name= "National Library of Israel, Overview">[https://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/hebrew/collections/treasures/shapell_manuscripts/mikra/damasc/pages/default.aspx The Damascus Crown - An Overview] (in Hebrew)</ref> Between each of the parts of the Bible there is a colorful illustration page. The weekly biblical lections (''Sedarim'') and pericopes are decorated in gold and other colors. alt=Page 5 of the Damascus Bible|thumb|Page 5 of the Damascus Bible
== See also == {{commonscat|Damascus Keter}} * Alba Bible * Cloisters Hebrew Bible * Golden Haggadah * Kennicott Bible * Lisbon Bible * List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts
== Further reading == *{{cite book |last=Bruno |first=Ido |title=Unrivaled Unrevealed: Select Treasures of the National Library|publisher=National Library of Israel|location=Jerusalem|year=2011|pages=18–19|language=he, en |oclc=760903663 |isbn=9789659158515 }} *{{cite journal |last=Ofer|first=Yosef |title=Kitrei Torah |journal=Leshoneinu Le-'am |publisher=The Academy of the Hebrew Language |location=Jerusalem|volume=40-41|pages=107–110|date=1989–1990|language=he }}
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == {{Commonscat|Damascus Keter}} * [https://www.nli.org.il/he/manuscripts/NNL_ALEPH000042438/NLI?_ga=2.99970206.1602637092.1541920600-1067578015.1509615958#$FL18951721 Damascus Crown (online digital images)], National Library of Israel * [https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-damascus-keter-hebrew-bible-with-vocalization-accents-masorah-magna-and-masorah-parva/swGEH8eBpTVQVA Illuminated pages from Damascus Crown] {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Damascus Crown}} Category:Biblical manuscripts Category:Hebrew Bible manuscripts Category:Judaism in Syria Category:Jewish medieval literature Category:Jewish illuminated manuscripts Category:Jewish prayer and ritual texts Category:Jewish Syrian history Category:History of Damascus Category:Jews and Judaism in Spain Category:Jews and Judaism in Damascus Category:Torah Category:Jewish Spanish history Category:13th-century books Category:Judaism in Spain Category:13th-century biblical manuscripts Category:History of Burgos Category:Manuscripts in the National Library of Israel