[imagesource:sothebys.com]

Sotheby’s has announced that they will be auctioning off the oldest near-complete Hebrew Bible in May this year, and hope to get between R5oo million and R910 million, despite a few pages being missing.

Described as possibly the most valuable historical document ever on auction, the book dates back a thousand years, to around the 9th or 10th century. Named after British collector David Solomon Sassoon, The Codex Sassoon is one of only two copies known to have survived from that era. According to a Washington Post article, the other copy is called the Aleppo Codex, but this only dates back to 930AD and is missing about 40% of its pages.

“Codex Sassoon has long held a revered and fabled place in the pantheon of surviving historic documents and is undeniably one of the most important and singular texts in human history.”

The Codex Sassoon contains all 24 texts of the Hebrew Bible, and despite being millennia-old, it has only lost 15 pages as it travelled through time. According to Sotheby’s, it ‘gives a window into the history of the Levant in the Middle Ages, with inscriptions and markings that trace its ownership and travels through time’.

In the 13th century, the Codex Sassoon was dedicated to the synagogue in the city of Makisin, in northeast Syria, which is located near Syria’s modern-day border with Iraq. After Makisin was destroyed in the 13th or 14th century, the Codex was entrusted for safekeeping to Salama ibn Abi al-Fakhr, who was required to return it once the synagogue was rebuilt.

Unfortunately, the synagogue was never rebuilt and the Codex continued on its journey until being acquired by  Sassoon.

Although an incredibly pricey item, the Codex Sassoon is by no measure the most expensive item ever on sale at Sotheby’s  New York. In 2021 The Macklowe Collection was sold for a cool $922 million (R18 billion). For fine art sales such as this, Sotheby’s usually collect a seller’s commission of 10%. Not bad.

While religious scholars have known about the historical significance of the codex for over 60 years, the document “has remained largely out of public view for centuries,” last appearing in public 40 years ago.

The bible will be taking a final tour before being auctioned off, with exhibitions planned for London, Tel Aviv, Dallas, Los Angeles and New York.

[source:washingtonpost&sothebys.com]