The world's oldest and the most complete Hebrew Bible was sold at a staggering price of $ 38.1 million on Wednesday, becoming the most expensive book or document to be sold at an auction. The holy book named codexassum has been brought by Alfred H Moses a former US ambassador and president of the American Jewish committee Moses will be donating the Bible to a museum of the Jewish people in Israel's Tel Aviv City.

Hebrew Bible sold at staggering $381 million

The oldest near-complete Hebrew Bible more than 1,000 years old was sold for a whopping $38.1 million in New York on Wednesday (May 17). With a pre-sale estimate of between $30 million and $50 million, the document was auctioned for the first time in more than 30 years.&nbsp;

Sotheby's said that the sale has set a record for the most valuable manuscript ever sold at auction. The Codex Sassoon dates to the late ninth to early 10th century. The hammer was reportedly dropped after a four-minute bidding war between two bidders.&nbsp;

Ambassador Alfred H. Moses of Washington, DC and the Moses family purchased the Codex Sassoon on behalf of the American Friends of ANU and donated it to the ANU Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, Israel.&nbsp;

On its website, Sotheby's stated that the Bible is one of the world's "greatest treasures" and holds powerful resonance for the three monotheistic religions and their billions of adherents.&nbsp;

Sotheby's, which is a multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City, noted that the price of the auction has surpassed the 1994 sale of Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Leicester manuscript, which achieved $30.8 million. So far, the most expensive historical document remains one of the first prints of the US Constitution, which was sold for $43 million in November 2021.&nbsp;

Sotheby's said that the sacred words of the bible have been studied, contemplated, and analysed for thousands of years. The Hebrew Bible is made up of twenty-four books that are separated into three sections: the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Writings. These texts are known as the Old Testament by Christians, and they are included in the canons of the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches. It has been copied, printed, and translated into scores of languages the world over.&nbsp;

<h2>Who was David Solomon Sassoon?&nbsp;</h2>

News agency Reuters reported that the Codex Sassoon is named for the previous owner, David Solomon Sassoon, who purchased the Bible in 1929 and amassed one of the twentieth century's most significant private collections of Judaica and Hebraica manuscripts. According to Sotheby's, Sassoon was a prominent scholar and bibliophile.&nbsp;

In an interview with Reuters earlier this year, Sotheby's book and manuscript department's senior consultant of Judaica and Hebraica said: "This manuscript, Codex Sassoon, written around the year 900, contains all the books of the Hebrew Bible in one single format. It is the earliest time that we have an almost complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible."&nbsp;

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The oldest near-complete Hebrew Bible more than 1,000 years old was sold for a whopping $38.1 million in New York on Wednesday (May 17). With a pre-sale estimate of between $30 million and $50 million, the document was auctioned for the first time in more than 30 years.

The oldest near-complete Hebrew Bible more than 1,000 years old was sold for a whopping $38.1 million in New York on Wednesday (May 17). With a pre-sale estimate of between $30 million and $50 million, the document was auctioned for the first time in more than 30 years. Sotheby's said that the sale has set a record for the most valuable manuscript ever sold at auction. The Codex Sassoon dates to the late ninth to early 10th century. The hammer was reportedly dropped after a four-minute bidding war between two bidders. Ambassador Alfred H. Moses of Washington, DC and the Moses family purchased the Codex Sassoon on behalf of the American Friends of ANU and donated it to the ANU Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, Israel. On its website, Sotheby's stated that the Bible is one of the world's "greatest treasures" and holds powerful resonance for the three monotheistic religions and their billions of adherents. Sotheby's, which is a multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City, noted that the price of the auction has surpassed the 1994 sale of Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Leicester manuscript, which achieved $30.8 million. So far, the most expensive historical document remains one of the first prints of the US Constitution, which was sold for $43 million in November 2021. Sotheby's said that the sacred words of the bible have been studied, contemplated, and analysed for thousands of years. The Hebrew Bible is made up of twenty-four books that are separated into three sections: the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Writings. These texts are known as the Old Testament by Christians, and they are included in the canons of the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches. It has been copied, printed, and translated into scores of languages the world over. Who was David Solomon Sassoon? News agency Reuters reported that the Codex Sassoon is named for the previous owner, David Solomon Sassoon, who purchased the Bible in 1929 and amassed one of the twentieth century's most significant private collections of Judaica and Hebraica manuscripts. According to Sotheby's, Sassoon was a prominent scholar and bibliophile. In an interview with Reuters earlier this year, Sotheby's book and manuscript department's senior consultant of Judaica and Hebraica said: "This manuscript, Codex Sassoon, written around the year 900, contains all the books of the Hebrew Bible in one single format. It is the earliest time that we have an almost complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible." WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

World's oldest near-complete Hebrew Bible sells for $38.1 million

The oldest known near-complete Hebrew Bible was presented in Israel's Tel Aviv city on Wednesday (March 22), where it will be displayed for a week before being sold at an auction.

The oldest known near-complete Hebrew Bible was presented in Israel's Tel Aviv city on Wednesday (March 22), where it will be displayed for a week before being sold at an auction. The Codex Sassoon, which is estimated to be 1,100 years old, is one of the only two codices, or manuscripts, containing all 24 books of the Hebrew Bible. According to a report by the news agency AFP on Wednesday, Sharon Mintz, a specialist in Jewish texts at Sotheby's, the auction house selling the codex in May, said that carbon dating and other forms of the analysis showed the Codex Sassoon was written around the year 900 either in Israel or Syria. As per Sotheby, the codex is significantly more complete than the Aleppo Codex, dated to the same era. Its pre-sales estimates put the manuscript's value at between $30 million and $50 million. Mintz said a deed showed that the book was sold in 1000 AD, adding the codex was then held in a synagogue in what is now northeastern Syria until around 1400. "The manuscript then disappears for about 500 years, and re-emerges in 1929 when it was offered for sale to David Solomon Sassoon, one of the greatest collectors of Hebrew manuscripts," she said. "What you see here is an accurate, stabilised standard text of the Hebrew Bible, written over 1,000 years ago, as accurate as it is today," the Sotheby specialist told the news agency. The Hebrew Bible will be displayed at the ANU Museum of the Jewish People. Speaking to the news agency, the museum's curator Orit Shaham Gover said the ANU expected to draw the museum's full capacity of 10,000 visitors for the week. The manuscript bridges the Dead Sea Scrolls -- which date back as early as the third century BC -- and today's standard texts of the Hebrew Bible. Gover said that the Codex Sassoon bears a cultural significance beyond its linguistic and historic value. "The Bible plays a central role for any person with even a fleeting connection to Western culture, and this is the first Bible that survived history," Gover added. "The Bible wandered in all kinds of places throughout history, and was displayed only once to the public in 1982 at the British Library, and since then was always in private hands," the curator further said. Gover also pointed out that it is very important that Israelis will get to see his highly important Bible. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Israel: Oldest known near-complete Hebrew Bible displayed in Tel Aviv before sale

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Hebrew Bible sold at staggering $381 million

World's oldest near-complete Hebrew Bible sells for $38.1 million

Israel: Oldest known near-complete Hebrew Bible displayed in Tel Aviv before sale