Go see this $50M Bible at SMU in Dallas before it goes to auction in New York in May
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Codex Sassoon, a rare 1,100-year-old Hebrew Bible, will be displayed April 18-20 at SMU’s Bridwell Library. It will be auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York this May for an estimated $30 to $50 million.
This will be the first public appearance of the Bible in the United States. It’s named after its 1929 purchaser, David Solomon Sassoon, who assembled the most significant private collection of Judaica and Hebraica manuscripts in the world.
“The reach, impact and transformative value of the Codex Sassoon makes it one of the most influential artifacts in world history to emerge over the last 1,000 years,” said Anthony Elia, director of SMU’s Bridwell Library and associate dean for special collections and academic publishing, in a press release. “As the only university to exhibit the Codex on its tour, SMU and Bridwell Library are honored to share this treasure with the public.”
Codex Sassoon, nearly 800 pages of Hebrew on parchment, was penned in the late ninth or early 10th century by a Masorite scribe who copied it from another text over one to two years. When the Bible reached a synagogue in Makisin, Syria, a second scholar added notes before the 13th century. After the synagogue was destroyed, it was given to a member of the Jewish congregation for safekeeping until the synagogue was rebuilt. But the synagogue was never rebuilt and the Codex Sassoon disappeared for 600 years until it appeared in 1929 and was purchased by David Sassoon.
The Codex Sassoon now stands as the earliest, most complete Hebrew Bible extant. It provides the basis of Biblical translations used today by Jews and Christians. The Bible is missing approximately eight parchment leaves of Biblical text. By comparison, the Aleppo Codex, the only other Hebrew Bible dating around the 10th century, is missing more than two-fifths of its pages, making the Codex Sassoon much more complete.
It includes 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, divided into the Torah, the Nevi’im and the Ketuvim. It’s different from previous forms of the Hebrew Bible because of its inclusion of critical and explanatory notes on the text. The Hebrew Bible is the basis for what Christians call the Old Testament.
“To unveil Codex Sassoon for the first time in America in North Texas is a tremendous privilege that speaks to the area’s incredibly rich cultural history and interfaith tradition,” said Charlie Adamski Caulkins, Sotheby’s head of office for Dallas, in the news release. “With its extensive theological holdings, SMU’s Bridwell Library is the ideal partner for presenting this important manuscript.”
The bible will be exhibited from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 18 and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, April 19, and Thursday, April 20. Bridwell Library, SMU’s theology and religious studies library, is located at 6005 Bishop Blvd. on the SMU campus.
Admission to the exhibition is free, but registration is required. Visit info.smu.edu/codex-sassoon/ to get your free tickets.
