World’s oldest Hebrew Bible sold for $38 million

2023-05-18 01:13:25

A Hebrew Bible of more than 1,000 years old and described as “one of the most important and unique texts in the history of humanity” was sold this Wednesday for 38 million dollars (around 35 million euros in exchange). In this way it becomes the most valuable manuscript ever transferred at auction, as confirmed by the organizers themselves.

The so-called ‘Codex Sassoon’, which dates from the end of the 9th or beginning of the 10th century -experts do not agree on its exact dating-, specifically reached a final price of 38.1 million dollars at the headquarters of the prestigious firm Sotheby’s in New York. It is considered in different areas as the oldest and most complete Hebrew Bible.

In the upper image, detail of one of the pages of the ‘Codex Sassoon’; below, one of Sotheby’s employees shows the bible to potential buyers; finally, a view of the auction room in New York during the bidding.

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The last comparable manuscript to break sales records at auction was Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Leicester, reports Europa Press. In this case it was sold for 30.8 million dollars (28.4 million euros) in 1994.

Only for “the richest”

The Hebrew Bible is the basis for all three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Scholars had long known about the sold codex, which bears the name of renowned Judaica collector David Sassoon (1880-1942).

However, it had largely remained out of public view. The Sasson Codex includes 792 parchment pages and weighs around 12 kilos. Sotheby’s auction house defines it as a “luxurious production that only the richest could have afforded.”