Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit
The Taylor-Schechter Genizah
Collection is a window on the medieval world of the
Mediterranean area. Its 140,000 manuscripts
fragments, mainly in Hebrew and Arabic, shed light
on the mundane as well as the religious and
cultural activities of that world.The documents were rescued from the The Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo and the active programme of conservation and research being conducted at Cambridge University Library, where they are housed, is leading to all manner of exciting discoveries about Jewish religious, communal and personal life, Hebrew culture, settlement in the land of Israel and relations with Muslims and Christians from as early as the ninth and tenth centuries. Only by the attraction of additional external support can the completion of the current projects be assured.
Information about the Unit includes a description of the Unit's staff and their work, including recordings of interviews with some of the staff; and our newsletter, Genizah Fragments: 1-22, 28-54, describing the activities of the Unit and research on the Collection.
Resources provided by the Unit include a brief bibliography of published work relating to the Collection; GOLD: the Genizah On-Line Database, containing searchable catalogue databases and over 1200 annotated manuscript images; History in Fragments: A Genizah Centenary Exhibition, containing descriptions and images of manuscripts; the Maimonides Exhibition, containing images, descriptions, and translations of Maimonides autograph manuscripts, and related contemporary manuscripts; and news about the Unit.