Scholars transcribe hundreds of thousands of Cairo Geniza fragments, some never read before

Major Grant Boosts Cairo Geniza Research

The MiDRASH project has received an $11.5 million grant aimed at advancing the study of medieval Jewish literature. This initiative brings together scholars who are transcribing and analyzing hundreds of thousands of fragments from the Cairo Geniza, many of which have never been studied before.

The Cairo Geniza and Its Legacy

The Cairo Geniza is one of the most significant archival collections in Jewish history. It contains roughly 400,000 manuscript fragments discovered in the storeroom of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat (Old Cairo). These documents, written mainly in Hebrew, Aramaic, Judeo-Arabic, and other languages, provide a detailed insight into the religious, social, and commercial life of Jewish communities across the Mediterranean and the Middle East from the 10th to the 13th centuries.

The MiDRASH Project’s Mission

Through this large-scale digital humanities project, researchers are digitizing, transcribing, and cataloging Geniza manuscripts to make them accessible worldwide. The goal is to create a comprehensive and searchable digital database that allows scholars to connect scattered pieces of text and better understand the evolution of Jewish thought, daily life, and community networks during the medieval period.

“This funding allows us to bring together technological innovation and deep philological expertise to illuminate texts that have remained unread for centuries,” said one of the project’s principal investigators.

International Collaboration

The MiDRASH project involves collaboration between experts from universities in Israel, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The interdisciplinary approach combines linguistics, computer science, cultural studies, and religious history. Machine learning tools are being developed to assist in reading and reconstructing faded, fragmented manuscripts, significantly accelerating the transcription process.

Future Goals

Once completed, the digitized Geniza collection will serve as a major resource for scholars and educators around the world. It promises to reshape the understanding of Jewish intellectual and cultural history by providing unprecedented access to primary documents that reflect everyday life, commerce, and spirituality.

“For the first time, we can trace connections between far-flung communities through the very letters they exchanged nearly a thousand years ago,” one researcher observed.

Author’s Summary: The MiDRASH project’s $11.5 million grant fuels a transformative effort to digitally preserve and transcribe Cairo Geniza manuscripts, unlocking new insights into medieval Jewish life and literature.

more

The Times of Israel The Times of Israel — 2025-11-26

More News