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Nearly One Hundred 1,000-Year-Old Mysterious Manuscripts Discovered in Afghanistan

Nearly One Hundred 1,000-Year-Old Mysterious Manuscripts Discovered in Afghanistan

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A mysterious collection of nearly 100 manuscripts have been discovered in an Afghan Cave. An analysis of the texts revealed that they were owned by a Jewish family that lived along the ancient Silk Road about 1,000 years ago. The manuscripts had been written in a plethora of languages, including Aramaic, Hebrew, Persian, Judeo-Arabic, and Judeo Persian.

The family that owned the manuscripts was headed by Abu Ben Daniel from the northern Afghan city of Bamyan. For many centuries, this area was famous for the giant Buddha statues, built in the 6 th century, and tragically destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.

Bamyan Valley, Afghanistan

Bamyan Valley, Afghanistan (public domain)

According to Russia Today, the collection was purchased by Israeli antiquities dealer Lenny Wolfe, who lives and trades in Jerusalem. He came across the collection a few years ago, and in 2013 he purchased 29 of the documents. They appeared to him as a part of the ''Afghan Genizah'', a reference to the collection of 300,000 Jewish manuscript fragments discovered in a synagogue storeroom in Egypt. The ''Cairo Genizah'' was found in the 19 th century and, next to the Dead Sea Scrolls, is one of the most precious collections of ancient manuscripts. Wolfe then purchased other manuscripts in the collection six months ago. When he brought them to Israel, he gave permission to the National Library to study them.

A genizah is a storage area in a Jewish synagogue or cemetery designated for the temporary storage of worn-out Hebrew-language books and papers on religious topics prior to proper cemetery burial. The above image is a possible geniza at Masada, eastern Israel

A genizah is a storage area in a Jewish synagogue or cemetery designated for the temporary storage of worn-out Hebrew-language books and papers on religious topics prior to proper cemetery burial. The above image is a possible geniza at Masada, eastern Israel (public domain)

According to experts who analyzed the documents, the manuscripts were originally buried in a cave around a 1,000 years ago by the owners. They contain only text and no illustrations, and had been hidden in a cache consisting a mixture of legal and commercial manuscripts and sacred and personal letters. Some poems had been recovered too.

The researcher from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ofir Haim, believes that the documents contain fascinating information, which allow the exploration of the lives of the Jewish community in Afghanistan of the time, such as how they lived, worked, and functioned as a family. According to Haaretz, one such letter translated by him shows how a man named Yair explained to family head Abua Nassar about why he wasn’t returning to see his family in Bamyan.

“If I could have made a living in Bamyan, it is true that I would have fulfilled your wishes. You know that in my occupation, if I am missing from the store for a day, on that day I will lose everything.”

In another letter, the same man states:

''Eggplants were not yet in abundance and so I did not send any. They were very small. I will send [some] next week.''

One of the most important pieces of the collection seems to be a notebook which Abu Nassar used to keep track of all those who owed him money over several decades, with some not only owing money but also quantities of wheat or barley.

A sample from the Afghan Genizah, dating back to the 11th century.

A sample from the Afghan Genizah, dating back to the 11th century. Credit: Matthew Morgenstern

In October 3, 2013, April Holloway from Ancient Origins, reported another discovery by collector. ''A rare Hebrew text containing an archaic form of Hebrew and dating back to the 9th century has been revealed by a collector of rare biblical artefacts - and it is believed to be the world's oldest Jewish prayer book.

It has 50 pages of Jewish blessings and is still in its original binding which shows Babylonian vowel markings. Experts have dated the text to around 840 AD, which makes it 400 years older than the earliest Torah scrolls every found.  This could make it an important link between the time of the Dead Sea Scrolls and medieval Judaism.

The inside of the book is divided into six sections that discuss topics including the End Times and the Passover Seder. The first of these sections features a set of 100 Jewish blessings.''

Top image: Main: Bamyan Valley, Afghanistan (public domain). Inset: Fragment from the manuscript. Credit: National Library of Israel / Wikipedia

By Natalia Klimzcak

 

Comments

Wow NADJA. What dingle berry talk. You may nit see yourself as being a racist, but you surely harbour a lot of hatred and anger.

Such language to make a 'point'. Seems your the only one to know the truth. All the rest of use are scumbags, thieves, liars, been brianwashed- cuz we are all just so stupid and ignorant.

What a sad sad state of mind and being you are in.

The lieing scumbag ''Israelis'' (European origins) stole the culture, knowledge and even religion of the black ppl(original ppl) the true Israelites! And no matter where one is, the deeper one digs the blacker it gets. If one does a quick research to ancient findings in the Americas/Africa/Asia you see faces with broad noses(mostly destroyed or modified) to hide the truth, also in Afghanistan. And this might be Hebrew but it were the true Jews/Israelites not the fake Jew-ish ppl with their origins in Europe.

The Africans(original ppl)) have already discovered everything we know about technology aka reversed technology. They come up with fairytale stories/distractions like the poor intelligent Tesla(playing on your emotions and I too used to fall for this crap) who was deceit by Edison that keeps the focus away from ancient technology. And all other socalled scientists who did nothing but copy and paste ancient African technology. All they could come up with is psychology the science of brainwashing and '' modern '' medicine which its main aim to keep the ppl of the world sick so that big pharma can make bilions. Before I go off-topic, Tesla himself was in fact a first class Jesuit just like his friend Edison was. It's all a big show, like pretty much everything wehave been taught so far. Cuz the ones who do all the killings write the historybooks and the newspapers. However, the offspring of the slave traders and todays colonists and imperialists doesn't want anyone to know we owe pretty much everything to Africans meaning BLACK FOLKS! Also almost any ancient sculpture found in South America/Africa/Asia had all big broad noses but the noses are always destroyed and/or modified. They want to brainwash us into believing differently through cultural programming, like this article and fb page about history in pictures
https://www.facebook.com/HistoryInPictures/posts/1735966189999349?commen...
http://allday.com/post/9607-thanks-to-technology-we-now-know-what-these-...
or the hundreds of films that are made in the past 100 years aka whitewashery of notorious ancient African Kings and Queens. The only role black folks are allowed to play is that of a junkie/criminal/single mom/gangster or slave(aka psychological warfare). We live in the post middle ages, not the modern time for we already have passed modern times. They still don't know how certain enormous monuments in the Americas/Africa/Asia are built with all the ''technological advancement ''. There is so much out there that is unknown and the deeper one digs the blacker it gets. That is why there is a war on ''terrorism '' to gain more ancient knowledge and ancient findings/historical facts by creating division among ppl of Africa, espcially North Africa(aka ''the middle east '' which is part of North Africa, an imaginary concept brought to life by the colonists to create division '') so that they can easily plunder for more resources and ancient knowledge undisturbed. Idem dito for Afghanistan! Louis Dupree, the University of Pennsylvania, the Smithsonian Institution and others suggest that humans were living in Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago, and that farming communities of the region were among the earliest in the world. Afghanistan is at the centre - the crossroads - of ancient civilizations and urbanized culture:
Indus valley civilization 2200–1800 BC
Oxus civilization 2100–1800 BC
Aryans 1700–700 BC
Median Empire 728–550 BC
Achaemenid Empire 550–330 BC
Seleucid Empire 330–150 BC
Maurya Empire 305–180 BC
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom 256–125 BC
Parthian Empire 247 BC–224 AD
Indo-Greek Kingdom 180–130 BC
Indo-Scythian Kingdom 155–80? BC
Kushan Empire 135 BC – 248 AD
Indo-Parthian Kingdom 20 BC – 50? AD
Sasanian Empire 230–651
Kidarite Kingdom 320–465
Hephthalite Empire 410–557

Those poor countries are being attacked not for democracy or religious bullshit (there is a difference between religion and spirituality- not the new age crap indoctrination) but for their overly rich resources including extreme valuable ancient knowledge. Do not take my word for granted but research for yourself. For your tears (umbrella).

Before the special kinds of stupid ppl start label me as racist. I am NOT racist. I do not wish these sick ppl death or whatever. They can control anything they want but they will never ever control time. And I will never ever stop spreading truth no matter what one labels me for their convenience. In fact racism is invented by the colonists/imperialists in east and west for this very reason, so save me the bullshit k?!
When anyone no matter their color or race spreads truth and want everybody to research everything they are taught they are labeled as racist or lunatic. Or black folks that want to educate their children and stand up for their fukn rights are also labeled as racist. Go and brainwash someone else with your hocus pocus crap. In every race and/or country, there are good and bad ppl. Again you must be some special kind of stupid to generalize an entire population/group of ppl. There are white folks who are aware especially when it comes to history and historical facts. And some are ignorant as fuck but have the most wonderful hearts and intentions when it comes to humanity. Others are just born fuckups inherited by their fuckup racist grandgrandgrandgrand parents, it's in their genes.

As soon as it stated an Israeli dealer hag them, alarm bells rang for me, the Israelis are not averse to fakery and forgery and fraudulent archaeological finds. Look it upon the net, they are well known for tampering etc or planting finds??????

Ancient civilisations, texts, maps; archaeology are some of my interests; anything to do with ancient earth,
thanks.

Fascinating!

Natalia

Natalia Klimczak is an historian, journalist and writer and is currently a Ph.D. Candidate at the Faculty of Languages, University of Gdansk. Natalia does research in Narratology, Historiography, History of Galicia (Spain) and Ancient History of Egypt, Rome and Celts. She... Read More

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