What question did this study set out to answer?

The research aims to uncover the hidden layer of the Hebrew palimpsest beneath the Mishnah in manuscript T-S E2.51.

March 27, 20260 citationsOpen Access

A Hidden Layer of Sifra beneath the Mishnah: A Hebrew Palimpsest in the Cairo Genizah, T-S E2.51

Key Points

The research aims to uncover the hidden layer of the Hebrew palimpsest beneath the Mishnah in manuscript T-S E2.51.
Analyzed two pieces of parchment from Cambridge University and Bodleian Library.
Catalogued existing textual variants identified in the manuscripts.
Investigated the implications of the palimpsest feature.
Identified the manuscript T-S E2.51 as a Hebrew palimpsest.
Revealed the presence of an early Eastern version of the Mishnah.
Highlighted unnoticed textual variants significant for historical context.

Abstract

Cambridge University Library T-S E2.51 preserves an early Eastern version of the Mishnah, Tractate Pesaḥim. The upper part of the same parchment leaf, housed at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, Heb. C. 27/27, contains the conclusion of Tractate ʿEruvin. Both pieces have been catalogued and occasionally cited for textual variants.1 Yet one striking feature has gone unnoticed: this leaf is a Hebrew palimpsest.

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