Middle Karaim

Language: North-Western Karaim
Detailed Content: Genesis, 1r–86v
Exodus, 87r–157v
Leviticus, 158r–207v
Numbers, 208r–278v
Deuteronomy, 279r–343r
Book of Ruth, 344r–349v
Book of Lamentations, 350r–360r
Ecclesiastes, 360v–374v
Book of Esther, 375r–388v
Notes: The oldest known North-Western Karaim translation of Biblical texts. The Torah was critically edited by Németh (2021), the Book of Ruth was critically edited by Németh (2015).
Country, Settlement: Warsaw, Poland
Repository: Private archive
Shelfmark: ADub.III.73
Keywords: Bible--Versions, Karaim

Object Type: Codex
Support: Handmade cream-coloured paper
Medium: Ink: light brown, dark brown, black
Support Dimensions (mm): 175 × 140
Text-block Dimensions (mm): 155 × 120
Foliation: —
Folios: 002+388+003
Layout: Written in one column with 21 to 22 lines per page
Catchwords: Catchwords on each folio verso
Watermarks: —
Binding: Rebound in 2015
State of Preservation: Very good, the text is clearly legible, the margins of folios 1–17 are damaged, which resulted in the loss of text, the item underwent a complex restoration treatment in 2015, see Pronobis-Gajdzis (2015).

Date of Copying: mid-19th century, folios 1r–2v
5480 A.M. / 1720 A.D., folios 3r–387v
turn of the 20th century, folio 388r–388v
Copyist: Jeshua Josef Mordkowicz, folios 1r–2v
Simcha ben Chananel, folios 3r–387v
Unknown (early 20th century), folio 388r–388v
Translator: Jeshua Josef Mordkowicz, folios 1r–2v
Simcha ben Chananel, folios 3r–387v
Unknown, folio 388r–388v
Place of Copying: Kukizów or Halych, folios 1r–2v
Kukizów, folios 3r–387v
Unknown, folio 388r-388v
Script: Hebrew (Tiberian vocalisation)
Script Type: Karaim semi-cursive
Text Language: South-Western Karaim , folios 1r-2v
North-Western Karaim , folios 3r-387v
Hebrew , colophon, incipits

Creation: The main text of the Torah was created by Simcha ben Chananel either in Kukizów
or in Halych in the beginning of the 18th century between 25 March and 31 May 1720, see the colophon on folios 342v – 343r. The text of the Haftarah must have been created not much later. In the colophons that close the translation of Exodus, Leviticus, Number and Deuteronomy — see folios 157v (line 14), 207v (line 5), 278v (line 2), 342v (line 5), respectively — the copyist states that the text of the Pentateuch he copied is his own translation (peshat).
Ownership: Simcha ben Chananel (1720–1723)
Josef ben Jehuda (?–1768)
Zecharia ben Shalom (1768–1771?)
Mordechai ben Zecharia (?)
Shalom ben Zecharia (?)
Jeshua Josef Mordkowicz (?–1884?)
Aleksander Dubiński (?–2002)
Adam Józef Dubiński (2002–)

Németh, Michał. 2015. An early North-Western Karaim Bible translation from 1720. Part 2. The Book of Ruth. Karaite Archives 3: 49–102.
Németh, Michał. 2021. The Western Karaim Torah. A critical edition of a manuscript from 1720. Leiden and Boston: Brill (Languages of Asia series).
Pronobis-Gajdzis, Małgorzata. 2015. Zachować dla przyszłości. Sprawozdanie z prac konserwatorsko-restauratorskich prowadzonych przy drukach i rękopisach karaimskich w roku 2015 [To Preserve for the Future. Report on the Conservation-Restoration Treatment of Karaim Prints and Manuscripts in 2015]. Almanach Karaimski 4: 283–287.

Manuscript description by Michał Németh
Digital edition by Michał Németh

Citation: Németh, Michał 2020. ‘A digital edition of the Karaim biblical manuscript ADub.III.73’, in László Károly and Michał Németh (eds) A database of Middle Turkic documents. Uppsala: Department of linguistics and philology. Accessed 4 Apr 2025. https://middleturkic.lingfil.uu.se/manuscripts/middle-karaim/ADub.III.73
Licensing: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

Manuscripts