Dr Benjamin Outhwaite

Head of Genizah Research Unit

Directorate: Research Collections

Department: Genizah Research Unit

Email: bmo10@cam.ac.uk

Genizah Research Unit, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire. 3,426 likes · 6 talking about this. The Genizah Research Unit (GRU) manages Cairo Genizah manuscripts at the Cambridge University Library. The Cairo...

Ben has 25 years of experience working with medieval Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic manuscripts, and teaching at under- and post-grad level. He has been Head of the Genizah Research Unit in Cambridge University Library since 2006, with the enviable responsibility of running a research team dedicated to the world's largest and most important single collection of medieval Jewish manuscripts, the Taylor-Schechter Cairo Genizah Collection.

Ben's Ph.D. thesis, on the grammatical description of Hebrew letters in the Cairo Genizah (principally geonic letters of the 10th–11th centuries), was completed in 1999 under the supervision of Professor Geoffrey Khan.

Ben's research interests revolve around the intersection of language and history, especially the use and transmission of Hebrew in the Middle Ages, and I specialise in the documentary and biblical manuscripts preserved in the Cairo Genizah and other similar collections.

Ben has been PI of numerous research projects, and have received funding from the AHRC, the Wellcome Trust, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Rothschild Foundation, the British Academy, the ERC Horizon 2020, and others.

Ben iu series editor for Brill’s ‘Cambridge Genizah Studies’ series.

Publications:

Interviews:

• https://youtu.be/3VkiYSVl48c
• https://youtu.be/jIDjCO9AUkQ

Various online and popular publications:

• ‘Pirates of the Genizaaaar!’, Genizah Fragments Blog (September 2021): https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/genizah-fragments/posts/pirates-genizaaaar#
• ‘Call the (medieval) Cheesemonger’, Genizah Fragments Blog (June 2021): https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/genizah-fragments/posts/call-medieval-cheesemonger
• Genizah Research Unit’s Fragment of the Month ‘The letter of “The Convert”: T-S 16.100’ (July 2020): https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/taylor-schechter-genizah-research-unit/fragment-month/fotm-2020/fragment-6
• Genizah Research Unit’s Fragment of the Month ‘The letter for a man from somewhere: T-S 10J10.9’ (December 2019): https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/taylor-schechter-genizah-research-unit/fragment-month/fotm-2019/fragment-10
• Genizah Research Unit’s Fragment of the Month ‘The uncommon Bible: T-S AS 44.35’ (January 2019): http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/taylor-schechter-genizah-research-unit/fragment-month/fotm-2019/fragment
• Genizah Research Unit’s Fragment of the Month ‘The first owners of the Leningrad Codex: T-S 10J30.7’ (November 2017): http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/taylor-schechter-genizah-research-unit/fragment-month/fragment-month-17
• Genizah Research Unit’s Fragment of the Month ‘T-S 18J3.9 the Ramla Earthquake: for this relief much thanks’ (August 2017): https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/taylor-schechter-genizah-research-unit/fragment-month/fotm-2017/fragment-2
• Genizah Research Unit’s Fragment of the Month ‘Samuel ben Jacob: the Leningrad Codex B19a and T-S 10J5.15’ (January 2016): http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/taylor-schechter-genizah-research-unit/fragment-month/fragment-month-janua-0
• Genizah Research Unit’s Fragment of the Month ‘T-S NS 3.21: The oldest Hebrew fragment in the Collection?’ (November 2010): https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/taylor-schechter-genizah-research-unit/fragment-month/fragment-month-13-4
• Genizah Research Unit’s Fragment of the Month ‘St Augustine in the Cairo Genizah’ (May 2007): https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/taylor-schechter-genizah-research-unit/fragment-month/fragment-month-11-5
• Genizah Research Unit’s Fragment of the Month ‘Two new responsa of Moses Maimonides’ (April 2007): https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/taylor-schechter-genizah-research-unit/fragment-month/fragment-month-11-4

Other work

I wrote the Jewish Palestinian Aramaic dialogue for Jesus to say in the opening scene of the BBC's 'Holy Flying Circus' (https://youtu.be/Yn3-JXdTb5E), which might be my finest hour.

Affiliated organisations

• Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (affiliated Lecturer)

Professional memberships

• Member of the British Association of Jewish Studies
• The Jewish Historical Society of England
• The Society for Judaeo-Arabic Studies
• The European Association of Jewish Studies
• Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society
• Member of the AHRC Peer Review College