Paper and Papyrus

• L. Löw, Graphische Requisiten bei den Juden, Leipsic, 1870-71;
• L. Blau, Studien zum Althebräischen Buchwesen und zur Biblischen Litteratur- und Textgeschichte, Budapest and Strasburg, 1902 (where a full bibliography is given);
• idem, Ueber den Einfluss des Althebräischen Buchwesens, in Berliner Festschrift, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1903 (also printed separately).

It is now necessary to inquire how the Hebrew manuscripts collected in various public and private libraries were written, and in what form the material of which they consist was presented. The time over which the inquiry extends ranges, roughly speaking, from about the year 900 of the common era down to the present day, though in some instances, notably in the case of papyri, an earlier period is referred to. For inscriptions on stone, metal, and other hard substances see PALEOGRAPHY.

I. Materials Used to Receive Writing.—

Earliest Papyri.

Papyrus(Greek, πάπυρος, from the ancient Egyptian word "p-apa"; but in Herodotus always βύβλος, no doubt also from an Egyptian term; Hebrew, "neyar," apparently representing the Arabic "naur"): The number of Hebrew papyri hitherto discovered is quite insignificant as compared with the numerous classical papyri recently brought into Europe from Egypt. There is the small number of Egyptian-Aramaic papyri belonging to the late Ptolemaic or early Roman period, of which the British Museum papyrus No. *is a good representative specimen (see the first specimen of writing on Plate I.; also "Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch." , parts 4 and 5). Some pieces dating from the sixth to the ninth century have been described by Steinschneider, Chwolson, and others (for references see bibliography below). The Cambridge University Library possesses a mutilated liturgical codex assigned to the ninth century. The papyrus of the Decalogue in the same library, first described by S. A. Cook ("Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch." , part; see Jew. Encyc. 4:493, s. DECALOGUE), may be assigned to the sixth or seventh century (see Pl. III., No. 59). A few Oxford fragments, probably of the sixth century, have beendescribed by A. Cowley in "J. Q. R." Oct., 1903 (see Pl. I., No. 2).

Skins (Hebrew, "'or," known also as "gewil"; Greek, διφέρα, a term which in early times was transferred to papyrus, and was later on applied to vellum also): None of the skin was peeled off, but the hair was carefully rubbed away; for it was the hair side that was used for writing upon. The ancient rule of using only skins for Torah rolls has not, however, been universally followed in the period under consideration. The Yemenite rolls (Pentateuch, Esther, and

Parchment and Vellum (Hebrew, "ḳelaf" and "doksosṭos," for the exact meaning of which see above): For practical purposes, that is to say, so far as the manuscripts now under consideration are concerned, it is enough to remark that "ḳelaf," not unlike the term "parchment" in its more restricted sense, signifies the rougher article, while by "doksosṭos," as by the term "vellum," the finer variety is meant. The Jews were no doubt at all times adepts in the art of producing parchment and vellum, as they had so much need of the materials, and as a religious intention during the manufacture was considered important; but their art would naturally be conditioned, to a large extent at any rate, by the degree of perfection attained in it in the countries where they were domiciled. The finest kinds of vellum used for Hebrew manuscripts were of Spanish and Italian origin. As examples of the former may be mentioned Brit. Mus. MS. Or. 5866 (liturgy, middle of 15th cent.: thin vellum, delicately worked, smooth surface), and Brit. Mus. MSS. Or. 2626-2628 (Bible, 1482-1483: stout, crisp, and pretty smooth). A fine specimen of Italian vellum of about the middle of the same century is furnished by Brit. Mus. MSS. Add. 19,444-19,445 (Florentine liturgy: material very carefully prepared and slightly tinted). Rougher sorts of material were to be found by the side of the finer kind in both countries.

Examples of Old Vellum.

Among representative codices of earlier times, the British Museum Pentateuch dating from the ninth century (MS. Or. 4445, apparently of Babylonian origin) consists of strong, crisp, and very smooth vellum. Brit. Mus. MS. Harley 5720 (probably of early part of 12th cent.; also of Eastern origin) is hard and strong, with surface not very smooth. The British Museum copy of the Maḥzor Vitry (MSS. Add. 27,200-27,201: 12th cent.; French origin) is written on a very inferior sort of material. French as well as German vellum employed for Hebrew in the Middle Ages is, in fact, as a rule coarse as compared with the Spanish and Italian kinds; but Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 11, 639 (collection of works, 12th cent.), from the south of France, is an example of exceedingly fine, smooth vellum. The vellum used for Hebrew charters in England in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries (note especially the large collection belonging to Westminster Abbey) is fairly good, though fineness of manufacture can not be expected in material used for this particular purpose. Some of the early examples of vellum (11th and 12th cent.) found in the Cairo Genizah are stout and smooth; other specimens are of a rougher manufacture. No example of purple-stained vellum, of which there are fair numbers among Greek and Latin manuscripts, has so far come to light among Hebrew ones. On the comparative use of vellum and paper see below.

Paper (Greek, πάπυρος, name taken over from "papyrus"; called also "charta bombycina," "charta Damascena," etc.; Hebrew,

Karaite Manuscripts.

The Karaites, standing as they did in very close connection with the Arab world, and being also less tied by this kind of conservatism, appear to have used no other material than paper for their manuscripts in book form. Karaite collections of manuscripts are, therefore, an excellent means of studying the kinds of paper made in Palestine, Egypt, and Turkey during a practically uninterrupted period from the tenth century onward. Thus Brit. Mus. MS. Or. 2540 (Exodus: Hebrew text in Arabic characters; see the first two specimens on Pl. IV., col. 2) belongs to the tenth century. Among the dated Karaite manuscripts are found specimens belonging to 1004, 1024, 1027, 1211, 1331, 1564, 1614, 1700, 1744, and 1869. Like early Oriental paper generally, the older kind of Karaite paper (apparently made for the most part of fine linen rag) is stout, of a yellowish tint, and with a glossy surface. In later times the yellowish tint gradually disappears, the texture becomes rougher, and the surface less smooth. The early specimens of paper used by the Karaites are, moreover, much finer than the Khotan Hebræo-Persian document (probably Chinese paper) already referred to. An early dated example of a Rabbinite manuscript on paper is Brit. Mus. MS. Or. 73 (1192; Rashi's commentaryon Baba Meẓi'a, written in the East). A British Museum copy of the "Taḥkemoni" (MS. Add. 27,113; Spanish Oriental writing) is dated 1282. The last-named two manuscripts show the same kind of slight yellowish tint; but the paper of the second is thicker than that of the first. A specimen of Italian paper of 1363-64 is furnished by Cambridge University Library MSS. Dd. 11, 12; and Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 27,293 (also of about the middle of the 14th cent.) is a specimen of fairly early Spanish paper.

The European Jews were slow in allowing paper to displace vellum; for though several paper-factories are known to have existed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries (indeed, the earliest known mention of paper made in Europe occurs in the tract of Peter, Abbot of Cluny, 1122-50), there are comparatively few Hebrew paper manuscripts of the fourteenth century. There is a fair number of the following century; and the proportion kept on growing until the use of paper became quite common among the Jews from the seventeenth century onward.

Paper in Egypt.

Egypt as a center of Arab life would naturally abound in paper manuscripts fairly early; and the contents of the Cairo Genizah accordingly include specimens dated 832 (in the possession of E. N. Adler), 977, 1005, etc. (at the British Museum and elsewhere). In Yemen paper was used by the Jews pretty freely side by side with vellum from the fifteenth century and probably earlier. The older specimens of Yemenite paper often show an exaggerated kind of yellow tint. For the rest, the Jews of the different countries would naturally depend on the paper manufactured there; and the information contained, e.g., in Sir E. M. Thompson's "Greek and Latin Palæography," will, therefore, be found to apply to Hebrew manuscripts also in so far as vellum can be shown to have in some degree given place to paper.

II. Writing-Fluids, etc.:

Kinds of Ink.

The ink (Hebrew, "deyo"; Arabian variety, "ḥibr") used by the Jews during the period here considered would naturally be much the same as that used by their Gentile neighbors in different countries. On the manufacture of ink generally see Thompson, c. pp. 50, 51. The ink sanctioned by Maimonides, and no doubt used by him for writing his own scroll of the Law, was, according to a responsum discovered a few years ago, made of oil, pitch, resin, gum arabic, etc. By burning these substances a soot was formed which was mixed with gum and honey, and the thin slices formed of it were finally dissolved in an infusion of galls (see "J. Q. R." July and Oct., 1899). Vitriol (

With regard to the appearance of the ink actually used in the manuscripts now under observation, it should be noted that Torah rolls are all written with black ink (though early Samaritan scrolls are written with ink of a reddish hue). Brit. Mus. MS. Or. 4445 (9th cent.) and in fact many of the early manuscripts written in the East are in black or bluish black. Several of the finest Spanish codices show a yellow tint, while the finer sort of Italian manuscripts present a more or less violet one. German ink is generally black, though not very pronouncedly so. Early Cairo Genizah fragments often show a yellow tint; but Yemenite ink is usually black.

Red ink is sometimes, though but rarely, used alternately with the usual writing-fluid. Pigments of different kinds, though generally red, are sometimes used for initial words, etc. On the use of gold as a writing-fluid see p. 313 under "Illuminations."

Kinds of Pens.

With regard to writing-instruments, only the reed ("ḳulmos"; κάλαμος) and the quill pen need be considered here. It is difficult to say when the quill came into use, and for how long the reed was used alongside of it. Syrian scribes are known to have used the quill as far back as 509 (Wright, "Cat. Syriac MSS. in Brit. Mus." p. ); and the Ostrogoth Theodoric (c. 454-526) is reported to have used a quill for writing his name. The reed, on the other hand, continued in use to some extent through the Middle Ages, and appears to have survived in Italy into the fifteenth century (Thompson, c. p. 49). Several early Hebrew codices of Eastern origin appear to have been written with a reed; but the greater suitability of the more flexible quill pen could not have been overlooked by Jewish scribes even in comparatively early times.

III. Forms of Books:

Apart from contracts of small size ("geṭ," "sheṭarḥaliẓah," etc.), which would naturally be preserved flat, there call for consideration (1) the roll and (2) manuscripts in book form.

Size of Rolls.

The Roll (Hebrew, "megillah"; Latin, "volumen"; used only for the five scrolls, the Torah roll itself being always called "Sefer Torah"): This consists of a number of strips of leather or vellum sewed together to form a continuous whole. It is, at one end, fixed to a stick round which it is rolled; and it is usually provided with a flat, round border-piece at top and bottom to keep the roll even. The number of columns to a strip varies considerably; and there is also great diversity in the height of rolls. Brit. Mus. MS. Harley 7619, which is about 26¾ ins. high, is probably one of the largest extant. Esther rolls are sometimes of very diminutive dimensions. A very remarkable and perhaps unique specimen of a roll is Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 26,883 (containing cabalistic prayers written in Italy in the 15th cent.), which, though measuring about 125 ins. from end to end (the height being about 4½ ins.), is all of one piece instead of consisting of strips sewed together. The vellum of this roll is very fine; and the workmanship in straightening out so long a piece must have been exceedingly elaborate. Rolls of Ruth, Lamentations, the Song of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes are far less frequent than those of Esther. The Yemenite rolls of the

Size of Books.

Manuscripts in Book Form: Manuscripts in book form date from the whole period under consideration, and were doubtless in use for a number of centuries before. Most of the early codices that have been preserved are very large. Thus Brit. Mus. MS. Or. 4445 measures about 16½ ins. by 13 ins.; the St. Petersburg codex of 916, about 14¾ ins. by 12⅙ ins.; the Vatican codex of the Sifra, dating from 1073, about 12¾ ins. by 10 ins.; the British Museum copy of the Maḥzor Vitry, about 15½ ins. by 12 ins. Small sizes are, however, not wanting. German codices of the Bible and liturgy written in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries are generally very large. Among manuscripts written in Italy the quarto and octavo sizes are much more common than in Germany. Spanish Bible codices of the thirteenth to the fifteenth century are as a rule handsome quartos; but the comparatively few Spanish service-books extant are usually very small, probably on account of the proscription under which Jewish worship lay in Spain, and owing to the fact that small volumes could be more easily hidden away. North-African manuscripts of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries are more often octavos than quartos. Yemenite Bible codices are generally folios, and liturgies either folios or quartos. The Karaites had a great predilection for the octavo size.

In the arrangement of quires (generally 8 or 10 leaves to a gathering), etc., Hebrew manuscripts do not differ from contemporary Latin and Greek ones; and the student may, therefore, be referred to general works on paleography. When a Hebrew vellum manuscript is opened, "the two pages before the reader have the same appearance, either the yellow tinge of the hair side or the whiter surface of the flesh side" (Thompson, c. pp. 62-63). There is usually at the end of each quire a catchword indicating the first word of the next quire. Signatures in Hebrew letters—in the case of Hebrew-Arabic works, sometimes in either Arabic letters or numerals—were generally placed in the left-hand lower corner on the last page of a quire, but occasionally in the right-hand upper corner of the first page. In some cases both methods were adopted. In Karaite manuscripts the signatures are often in the left-hand upper corner of the first page.

Ruling of Manuscripts.

The ruling of Hebrew manuscripts is not different from that observable in contemporary classical ones. There are usually perpendicular lines to mark off the columns, besides the horizontal ruling. The prickings in the margin made to mark the distances between the horizontal lines have in many cases been cut away in the process of binding. The writing sometimes depends from the ruled line instead of standing on it; so, e.g., Brit. Mus. MS. Or. 4445 (9th cent.; comp. Blau, "Studien zum Althebräischen Buchwesen," p. 147).

The earlier codices of large size have usually either two (e.g., St. Petersburg codex of the year 916) or three columns (e.g., Brit. Mus. MS. Or. 4445) (see Blau, c. pp. 138-139). Manuscripts of small size generally exhibit but one column to a page. In later times the single column became much more frequent even in manuscripts of larger size.

IV. Styles of Writing:

Copying from Printed Forms.

The style of writing Hebrew has in each country been influenced more or less by causes similar to those which produced what may fairly be called national differences in calligraphy generally. So far as Europe is concerned, Hebrew penmanship most probably was brought first to the countries of the southern coast, more especially to Spain and Italy; and spread thence into France, Germany, and divers other countries, assuming various modifications in its course. The locality in which a manuscript was written is, however, not always a safe guide to the kind of calligraphy used, as it sometimes happened that a scribe belonging to one part of the world prosecuted his profession for a longer or shorter time in a different country. It should also be remarked that after the introduction of printing there arose a tendency to copy from printed forms; so that, in Europe at any rate, the square character has for several centuries past been almost everywhere conforming to one particular form of calligraphy. The earlier printed books were, it is true, set up in types that were cut differently in different countries (compare especially the early Spanish with the early Italian printed books); but the Spanish forms soon superseded all the others, and they have on account of their greater regularity ever since maintained their ground both in printing and in writing.

In the following observations the specimens of writing given in the accompanying four plates are referred to their sources and localities, and attention is occasionally directed to some peculiarities of penmanship. As a rule, however, the specimens are left to speak for themselves.

1. Square Writing: This series is, for the sake of completeness, preceded by two lines taken from the above-mentioned British Museum papyrus No. * (belonging to the late Ptolemaic or early Roman period), as the Hebrew-Aramaic writing then used exhibits a close affinity with the Palmyrene character, and thus forms an important link in the transition to the square character. Then follow specimens of:Plate I.