Masoretica — Genesis 1:1 in the Penn CAJS Halper 30 (Psalms 135

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 30 (Psalms 135–136 Genizah leaf)

Contents

One parchment leaf preserving Psalms 135:6–136:17. The recto contains Psalms 135:6–136:4 and the verso Psalm 136:5–17. The pointed and accented Tiberian text is arranged in two columns of 17 lines. Neither Masora parva in the side margins nor Masora magna in the upper and lower margins is visible on the two published surfaces. The ink is severely faded, and the lower portion is split into horizontal strips; holes, creases, and edge loss remove letters and parts of words

More info

Mapped biblical scope33 mapped verse locations · 1 mapped span in canonical order

Psalms 135:6–136:17

Vocalization: The Psalm text is pointed with Tiberian vowel signs and cantillation accents on both sides. Severe fading and physical losses obscure many signs in the lower part of the leaf, but the surviving upper and middle lines show the system clearly.
Layout: The intended layout is two biblical columns of 17 written lines on each side of the leaf. The horizontal strips now visible across the lower portion result from tears and separation of the parchment, not from a different scribal layout.
Masorah parva / magna: Separate visual checks of both complete master photographs and a separate review of the OPenn catalogue found no visible Masorah parva beside or between the two Psalm columns and no visible Masorah magna in the upper or lower margins. Extensive lower-edge losses mean the fragment cannot establish what the complete parent leaf originally contained beyond the surviving margins.
Script: The Psalms are written in a careful Oriental semi-square Hebrew book hand. “Oriental semi-square” is the OPenn catalogue’s verified technical classification; in plain language, the letters combine the regular upright structure of a book hand with somewhat less formal, rounded execution.
Psalm transition: The recto continues Psalm 135 from verse 6, reaches its conclusion, and begins Psalm 136 through verse 4. The verso resumes at Psalm 136:5 and continues through verse 17; biblical lookup therefore crosses the physical turn of the single leaf, while previous and next remain recto then verso.
Preservation: The brown-red ink is severely faded across both sides. The lower third of the parchment is split into several horizontal strips, with additional holes, creases, abrasion, and irregular edge losses; these physical breaks remove letters and parts of words, especially from the lower Psalm lines.
Date and origin: OPenn dates the copy broadly to the 11th–13th century (1000–1299) and identifies only the broad region “Orient,” not a more precise copying place.
Provenance: The leaf came from the Cairo Genizah, passed through Adler’s collection 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 16 × 14.9 cm. OPenn publishes two complete 3,780 × 3,967-pixel master photographs, one for the recto and one for the verso.
Mapped images: Full-surface BiblIA/Kraken recognition covers both complete OPenn master scans and all 49 detected line regions. Both sides pass validation; eight exact Hebrew anchors map all 33 verse locations, with eight representative direct highlights (24.2%) in eight full-scan rectangles. Recognition uses an inverted saturation channel to emphasize the faint brown-red ink while retaining the source dimensions and coordinate frame.

Review sources: Catalogue or project record · University of Pennsylvania OPenn Halper 30 record, images, and Public Domain Mark · OPenn Halper 30 TEI manuscript description · Penn Libraries Franklin catalogue record · Kennicott critical-edition manuscript key (checked; no exact Halper 30 card found)

Date

11th–13th century (?) (1000–1299 CE)

Origin

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

Rights

Public Domain Mark 1.0

Catalogue record ↗

AvailabilityGenesis 1:1 is not included.

The next indexed verse is Psalms 135:6.

Passage unavailable

Genesis 1:1 is not included in Penn CAJS Halper 30 (Psalms Genizah leaf).

This manuscript includes: One parchment leaf preserving Psalms 135:6–136:17. The recto contains Psalms 135:6–136:4 and the verso Psalm 136:5–17. The pointed and accented Tiberian text is arranged in two columns of 17 lines. Neither Masora parva in the side margins nor Masora magna in the upper and lower margins is visible on the two published surfaces. The ink is severely faded, and the lower portion is split into horizontal strips; holes, creases, and edge loss remove letters and parts of words.

The next indexed verse is Psalms 135:6.

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

For scholarly use

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Preferred citation

Dershowitz, Idan. “Masoretica: Manuscript Explorer.” Accessed 16 August 2026. https://www.masoretica.org/.

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