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First Gaster Bible

9th–10th century
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
This fragment is one of the oldest extant Hebrew illuminated texts. Featuring gold embellishments and ornate calligraphy, it recalls the Kufic writing in contemporaneous Arabic manuscripts and an early edition of the Tiberian Masorah, the critical apparatus to the Jewish biblical text developed during the early Islamic period.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: First Gaster Bible
  • Date: 9th–10th century
  • Geography: Made in Egypt or Palestine
  • Medium: Ink and pigments on parchment with gold leaf ornamentation; 40 folios
  • Dimensions: 13 x 9 1/2 in. (33 x 24.2 cm)
  • Classification: Manuscripts
  • Credit Line: The British Library, London (Or.9879)
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters