The oldest Jewish Bible in the world has been sold for 38 million dollars.

Recently, a rare signed ancient Jewish Bible, bound in leather and estimated to be around 1100 years old, was sold at a Sotheby's auction in New York. Its price was an impressive38.1 million US dollars(or35.1 million eurosThis price exceeded the amount of30.8 million dollarsthe amount paid in 1994 for the manuscript "Codex Leicester" by Leonardo da Vinci. However, it still remains below the world record for43.2 million dollars, paid in 2021 for the first copy of the U.S. Constitution. As stated by Sotheby's Judaica specialist Sharon Lieberman Mintz, "this price reflects the impressive significance and influence of the Jewish Bible, which is a foundational element of human civilization."

Sharon Mintz expressed her immense joy regarding this historic outcome and suggested that the Sassoon Codex will soon return to Israel, where it can be seen by all who wish to. The codex was acquired by Alfred H. Moses, a former U.S.

Before the auction, which, according to Sotheby's, lasted only four minutes and took place between two buyers, this manuscript was presented at the ANU Museum in March as part of a world tour. The history of the Sassoon Codex is intriguing: it was named after its previous owner, David Solomon Sassoon, and is estimated to have been written between880 and 960 yearsSassoon, who gathered a unique collection of ancient Jewish texts, acquired it inin 1929After his death, Sassun's property was divided, and inin 1978Sotheby's sold the codex to the British Railways Pension Fund for about320,000 dollarswhat is equivalent to1.4 million dollarsin today's money.in 1989the pension fund sold it to the bank and art collector Jack Safra for3.19 million dollarsApproximately7.7 million dollarsat today's exchange rate).

According to information from Sotheby's, Jacky Safra recently conducted carbon dating on the manuscript to confirm that it is older than both the Aleppo Codex and the Leningrad Codex, two other significant early Jewish Bibles. This event has attracted the attention of experts and collectors worldwide, highlighting the value and historical significance of the Jewish Bible and its influence on culture and civilization as a whole.