Masoretica — Genesis 1:1 in the Penn CAJS Halper 35 (Song of Songs Genizah leaf with Masorah)

MasoreticaBiblical Manuscript Explorer

CompareExod. 31:2 1 Sam. 1:5 Num. 36:13 Job 14:9 Isa. 51:3 Nah. 1:1 Ps. 42:2 Ps. 149:9 Zeph. 3:14 Zech. 1:1 Song 7:1

ManuscriptPenn CAJS Halper 35 (Song of Songs Genizah leaf with Masorah)

Contents

One parchment leaf photographed recto and verso, preserving mapped locations in Song of Songs 3:6–4:12. Each side has two biblical columns of 17 lines. The Oriental square Hebrew text has Tiberian vowels and cantillation. Text breaks are marked after 3:8 and 3:11, but not after 4:7. Partial Masora parva appears beside and between the columns, and partial Masora magna in the lower margins; these notes count and cross-reference unusual forms to check the copying and reading. A writing exercise was added in the upper margin of the verso and is not part of the biblical text. Parchment loss along most of the exterior column edge removes letters and words; the leaf also has holes, tears, staining, and creases

More info

Mapped biblical scope18 mapped verse locations · 1 mapped span in canonical order

Song of Songs 3:6–4:12

Vocalization: The Song of Songs text is pointed with Tiberian vowel signs and cantillation accents on both sides. The signs remain generally clear where the exterior edge has not been lost or abraded.
Layout: The intended layout is two biblical columns of 17 written lines on each side. The columns read in normal sequence across the recto and then the verso; the writing exercise above the verso columns is later marginal material, not a third biblical column.
Masorah parva / magna: Separate visual checks of both complete master photographs and a separate review of the OPenn catalogue confirm partial Masora parva as short notes beside and between the biblical columns, and partial Masora magna as longer notes in the lower margins. These annotations count and cross-reference unusual textual forms so that the copied text and its traditional reading can be checked.
Script: Song of Songs is written in a formal Oriental square Hebrew book hand. “Oriental square” is the OPenn catalogue’s verified technical classification; in plain language, the upright letters were carefully formed for sustained reading.
Text divisions: The catalogue and the photographed leaf show text breaks after Song of Songs 3:8 and 3:11. No comparable break is marked after 4:7, so that transition remains continuous in the copied text.
Upper-margin writing exercise: A separate writing exercise appears above the biblical text on the verso. Its short repeated writing is later marginal material rather than Song of Songs or Masoretic annotation, and the catalogue does not supply a secure reading.
Preservation: Parchment is missing along most of the exterior column edge on both sides, removing letters and words from the outer column rather than changing the intended two-column layout. Holes, edge tears, staining, creases, abrasion, and reverse-side show-through cause additional local interruptions in the surviving biblical text.
Date and origin: OPenn dates the copy broadly to the 11th or 12th century (1000–1199) and identifies only the broad region “Orient,” not a more precise copying place.
Provenance: The leaf came from the Cairo Genizah, passed through Amram and the Dropsie College Library, and is now held by the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Advanced Judaic Studies Library.
Physical extent: One parchment leaf survives, measuring about 32.4 × 27.9 cm and photographed recto and verso. OPenn publishes two complete 6,600 × 7,661-pixel master frames in the true physical order 1r, 1v.
Mapped images: Full-surface BiblIA/Kraken recognition covers both complete OPenn master frames, each recognized at 4,738 × 5,500 pixels, and all 71 detected line regions. Both sides pass validation; 13 exact Hebrew anchors constrain all 18 mapped verse locations, with 13 direct highlights (72.2%) in 31 full-scan rectangles. Each side is constrained to its independently reviewed Song of Songs span so marginal Masorah, the writing exercise, and reverse-side show-through do not create false biblical anchors.

Review sources: Catalogue or project record · University of Pennsylvania OPenn manuscript record, TEI description, master images, and Public Domain Mark · University of Pennsylvania Franklin catalogue identifier · Kennicott critical-edition manuscript key (no exact Halper 35 card found)

Date

11th or 12th century (?) (1000–1199 CE)

Origin

Copying place not identified; the catalogue gives the broad region “Orient”; from the Cairo Genizah through Amram and the Dropsie College Library to Penn’s CAJS collection

Rights

Public Domain Mark 1.0

Catalogue record ↗

AvailabilityGenesis 1:1 is not included.Next available verseSong of Songs 3:6

Passage unavailable

Genesis 1:1 is not included in Penn CAJS Halper 35 (Song of Songs Genizah leaf with Masorah).

This manuscript includes: One parchment leaf photographed recto and verso, preserving mapped locations in Song of Songs 3:6–4:12. Each side has two biblical columns of 17 lines. The Oriental square Hebrew text has Tiberian vowels and cantillation. Text breaks are marked after 3:8 and 3:11, but not after 4:7. Partial Masora parva appears beside and between the columns, and partial Masora magna in the lower margins; these notes count and cross-reference unusual forms to check the copying and reading. A writing exercise was added in the upper margin of the verso and is not part of the biblical text. Parchment loss along most of the exterior column edge removes letters and words; the leaf also has holes, tears, staining, and creases.

Next available verseSong of Songs 3:6

About Masoretica

Sources & method.

Manuscript images and metadata come from the holding institutions and digitisation projects listed below. Text and versification data come from UXLC, MAM, BIMA / Corpus Masoreticum, the Codex Sinaiticus Project, the DT-UCPH Samaritan Pentateuch, lxx-morph, and STEPBible. The viewer identifies the source used for each manuscript.

Page mapping and text recognition combine repository indexes, OCR, and transcriptions with kraken, Party, BiblIA, and other specialised HTR models. OpenAI Codex is used in developing the site and in running and reviewing this workflow.

Full source, credit, and licence links appear below.

Sources and licences

UXLC Leningrad index Leningrad scan Leningrad photography credit Aleppo page index Aleppo facsimile Codex Sassoon 1053 page index Sassoon scan Sassoon catalogue Rylands Samaritan scan Rylands Samaritan MS 2 scan Rylands Samaritan MS 4 scan Gaster Samaritan MS 1133 scan Gaster Trilingual Samaritan MS 814 scan Gaster Samaritan MS Add 1 scan Gaster Samaritan MS 1858 scan Bodley Or. 699 Samaritan scan Bodley Or. 23 Isaiah scan Kennicott 1 scan Kennicott 2 scan Kennicott 3 scan Kennicott 4 scan Kennicott 5 scan Kennicott 6 scan Kennicott 7 scan Kennicott 8 scan kraken OCR and HTR toolkit Party multilingual HTR model used for Alexandrinus BiblIA medieval Hebrew model Samaritan kraken model Greek minuscule kraken model Sinaiticus line-segmentation model Miqra according to the Masorah text BIMA / Corpus Masoreticum manuscript transcriptions · CC BY-SA 4.0 Samaritan Pentateuch reference text Alexandrinus facsimile Rahlfs 82 catalogue Rahlfs 82 digitization Vaticanus facsimile Sinaiticus edition Sinaiticus electronic transcription Septuagint reference text Greek–Hebrew verse-number crosswalk Keter Aram Tsova typeface

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