Damascus Crown
Damascus Crown is a complete Hebrew Bible manuscript from the 13th century, containing all 24 books. It was brought secretly from Damascus to Israel in 1993 and is now kept at the Hebrew University and the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem under a public trust. It should not be confused with the Damascus Pentateuch.
According to its colophon, it was written in 1260 by Menaḥem, son of Rabbi Abraham, son of Malek, in Burgos, Castile (modern-day Spain). It later moved to the Khush al-Bâsha al-Anâbi Synagogue in Damascus, which is why it is called the Damascus Crown.
Historians Abraham Harkavy and Avinoam Yellin examined the codex in 1886 and 1919, respectively. In 1940 the Crown was stolen from the synagogue; it was rediscovered in 1962. In 1993 it was secretly taken out of Syria in a covert operation and purchased for the National Library of Israel.
Between 1993 and 1995, nine other leather-bound manuscripts with microscopic calligraphy and gold decorations, mostly from Spain and Italy, were secretly brought to Israel. They had been kept in Damascus synagogues for centuries and were shown only at special events.
A carpet page from the Crown was sold at auction in 1987 and bought by the Jewish Museum in Toledo, Spain.
In August 2020, a Jerusalem court ruled that these books are treasures of the Jewish people with historic, religious, and national importance and must be preserved. The court said they should be kept at the National Library under a public trust to protect them for the public and for future generations.
About the book itself: It contains all 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, punctuated in the Tiberian system and with Masora markings in very small writing. It is on parchment with 428 pages measuring about 350 by 270 millimeters. The text is in square Spanish-Hebrew script, three columns per page for most books, while Proverbs, Job, and Psalms have two columns per page. Between the sections are colorful illustration pages, and the weekly readings (Sedarim) and pericopes are decorated in gold and other colors.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 07:24 (CET).