The oldest Hebrew Bible will sell for up to $50 million at auction

A hebrew bible of over 1,000 years old will be sold at auction in NY for an estimated value of up to 50 million dollarsSotheby’s announced Wednesday.

The Codex Sassoon, dating from the late 9th to early 10th century, is the oldest and most complete Hebrew Bible ever discovered.

THE OLDEST HEBREW BIBLE IN THE WORLD

It will become the most expensive historical document or manuscript ever auctioned when Sotheby’s puts it up for auction in May.

“(It) is without a doubt one of the most important and unique texts in human history,” said Richard Austin, Sotheby’s global head of books and manuscripts.

The Codex Sassoon is one of only two codices, or manuscripts, containing all 24 books of the Hebrew Bible to have survived into the modern era.

It is substantially more complete than the Aleppo Codex and older than the Leningrad Codex, two other famous early Hebrew Bibles, Sotheby’s said.

The manuscript links the Dead Sea Scrolls, which date to the 3rd century BCE. C., and the modern accepted form of the Hebrew Bible.

It is named after the previous owner, David Solomon Sassoon (1880-1942), who assembled the world’s most important private collection of ancient Jewish texts.

The book was considered lost for more than 600 years after the destruction of a synagogue in northeast Syria where it was kept, until it resurfaced in 1929. It has been in private hands ever since and is currently owned by Swiss financier and collector Jacqui Safra. .

In November 2021, Sotheby’s sold an early copy of the United States Constitution for $43 million, a record price for a historical manuscript.

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