Earliest Known Jewish Prayer Book Found

A rare Jewish prayer book has been discovered by researchers connected to The Green Collection and has been shown to pre-date the earliest known copy of the Torah.

The researchers say scholars dated the prayer book and Carbon-14 tests also showed the book to have been created around 840 A.D. The 50-page book was 4.3 inches tall and 4 inches wide. The researchers said the printing is in an “archaic” form of Hebrew.

“This Hebrew prayer book helps fill the gap between the Dead Sea Scrolls and other discoveries of Jewish texts from the ninth and 10th centuries,” Dr. Jerry Pattengale, Green Scholars Initiative executive director, said in a press release.

The book includes Jewish blessings and covers the Passover Seder, poems on Song of Songs and the end times and a section called “Salvation in Zion.”

Steve Green, president of Hobby Lobby who funds The Green Collection, said the book will be available to the public when their group opens a Bible museum in Washington, D.C. in spring 2017.

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