Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-08-29
A RARE DISCOVERY.
DIR. HABKAvrS CONCLUSIONS
The Newis-found Hebrew Mauper,,,,-
hcoks OF the Old Testament-po,r,. md
Features OF the Writings. Etc.

| writing nom st. Petersburg. s,vs. n. .
liarkavy, OF the Imperial Library Of 81 Pc
icrshurg, has now completed his examina
ton OF The newlv-iound Hebrew msnn
scripts OF several books Of the olI [ Tns,a
mcni, and at the request OF the Imner,.
Russian ACADEMY Of Sciences ne has com.
mun'cated TO that body the results ~ hi.
labors IN report in Germqn. ientjtIoJ
" Bcricht an de haiserliche Academic der
WlssCnschaften zu 81. Petersbnr@ y 4,
wiz be remembered that the discovery n,
these valuable documents was FIRST made
Known IN Aprll lest. since that time DIR
HaikaNy has been asslduously engaged in ex.
amining and dcclphering their pqrtly-ob.
liberated contents. with the Shapiro frau |
>li,l fresh IN memory, and his own eyno, I.
onco in detecting the spurious character oy
the FiFkowitch Jewish antiquities from the
Crimea in 1871. lac was naturally very sce,,.
tical as to the commences oi these scroll.
and is fully prepared TO meet with disbelief
Ia Others. His object. as he Remark. in ,ho
preface to the present report. has been f.
treat the subject with all due imp,rtialItv
10 submit The question Of the authenticity
OF these writings 10 the sciencifc world
and afford experts the necessary data for
forming their own opinions in the matter
1 number Of competent persons, some Of
whom had seen the Shapiro parchments.
have inspected the Harkavy rolls. and II !.
IN great measure owing TO their advice
that The learned professor has determined
20 make public the present report nd.
dressed 10 the Imperial Academy OF Sci.
CncCS.
The proof-shcctS Of this work, which
have been kindly furnished TO me. contain
numerous licbraic quotations and refer.
enccs. and are illustrated by five photo
graphic Plates, showing the best-preSeryed
and the mosi-defaced portions of the parcb-
mcniS. The first chapter explains how the
discovery was made. in September last
year Or. llarkayy received several frlg-
uentS OF these parchment rolls from mem.
Ter Of Jewish society iu South Russia.
whose acquaintance ne had made during
a visit to Tillis two wears earlier. A let.
ter accompanying them stated that they
belonged 10 two icllow-tOwnsmen OF
The sender, and that one OF the owners
had also sent another fragment 10
the editor Of a Jewish newspaper in 81.
Petersburg. The names Of this CORE.
>rondont and Of his friends, the owners.
n well aS their place Of residence. ALTHOUGH
withheld from the public for the present,
are well known 10 members Of the academy
and Others. Upon Or. Ilarkayy under
taking TO examine the manuscripts the
Jewish editor referred to was requested 10
hand over 10 hun the other fragment: but
owing 10 the absence Of the editor abroad
sCme little delay cnsued. In the mean
time Or. Harkayy found the examination
of the four fragments sent 10 him direct
extremely difficult. They yresembled leather
rather than parchment. and the contents
were excessively difficult 10 dccipher.
portions being entirely illcgible. The
characters were very faint, and many
Of them quite unknown TO him.
These unknown letters, the comparative
freshness OF the Vollum of those portions
ihat were nearly, or quite, ilegiblc and
W hat then seemed TO him to be the Dur-
pOseiy rcughoued surface Of the written
side, as well as the peculiar ink that had
evidently been Cmployed-all tiis. coupled
" ith The strange details OF the discovery.
contributed to rouse his suspicious. These
,uspicions. however, were gradually Re.
moved. He received the other fragment
rom the Jewish editor. which contained
he second half OF the Lamentations OF
jeremiah. with the writing much more dis
irct; and subsequently many more frac-
ncnlS in various handwritings and differ
rom the South. DR.. Harkayy then set
bout collecting all the information be
oud obtain concerning
TIE ORIGIN OF THR MANUSCRIPTS
nd their acquisition by the present owners.
The following is the account from one OF
be owners, written TO pr. Harkayy in He |
rev: IN tie month OF MAY. 1888, tho
,wner L entered wiue-celar or res /
aurant in bis native town, South Russian |
eaport. and there fell in with a sailor who |
poke to him in Hebrew. The sailor who |
cemed anxious 10 convince him that he /
vas a jew, invited L on board his ves- !
e., and there showed him some fragments |
4 the manuscripts in question. These |
Id scrolls seemed TO be regarded |
y the seaman az possessing some |
ucLy charm. but after some harganins, h. /
vas induced 10 part with couple of frag.
nents in exchange for an oil painting. 1
The sailor soon left for another port in the
Slack sea. and L, who was eager 10
cGuire the whole collection OF parchmcnts.
O'lowcd him up, and succeeded in obtain
ne nine more fragments. tltlmately, on
be tClegraphic advice Of DR.. Harkavy,
- again sought out the man on his
cturn TO the poIl, and purchased the re-
naming thirty rolls. There are altogether
fty-one pieces of these parchments in the
.nds OF Dr. Harkayy. With regard to the
history OF these manuscripts. the sailor
ta,ed that about thirty years ago the rolls
we're found by hi father at Rhodes, in the
.land Of that name, at,or destructive fire
, hich occurred there. This tire may very
,robahly have boCn the result OF the great
lowder explosion in the JohaniterSclilOssc,
n lSJG. The sailor knew very little more
the origin of The documents.
Ie was unable 10 say whether they had be-
ongCd 10 q synagogue or 10 a private per-
On. whether those ~ his possession formed |
lie whole collection, or whether they had
u been discovered on the same spot. His
ather was dead. and at the time the parch-
1cuts were found he was only ten years OF
&C.
The second chapter Of the treatise is de-
otCd 20 q description Of the condition OF
he Gftv-onc rolls. Some OF them are we'll
nd others badly-prepared skins OF parch-
lont or leather, written on one side only.
he characters are written with some pc
ulisr fluid, which has now turned faint
olor with reddish or bTOwnish tint.
iany Of the fragments are badly damaged.
lille others arc in a good safe OF pre-
fINAllOU a |
ppearance. The writing, however, whe-
lcr frcn damp antiquity or the peculilrity
I the wIiting-fluid used. has suffered Sc
erely. The writing on some OF tn
klns is only perceptible when they
re held up 10 the light, and on
theirs ii Is obscured by kind Of mil
ew. Some Of the skins are creased
trough. 30 as to considerably binder their
It's very possible that the employ
lent OF strong reagents would render legi-
he much OF the text which 81 present cannot
e deciphered, but the professor has
eirained from having recourse 10
nv OF these means, such, for ex-
mplc, as ammoniac hydrosulphate, re-
commended 10 him by a friend IN
.ngland, through fear OF Iniuring the
archments. DR.. HarkaYy thinks the date
nd origin Of the manuscripts may perhaps
c determined by their condition and the
,riting-1uid employed. Thi, question,
oweyer, he leaves 10 experts to decide. A
w Of the skins have punctured edges,
lowing that they were bound together.
As 10 the photographed characteristics,
r peculiar forms OF Hebrew letters, Dr.
IaTkayay refers to letters OF a similar for
lai,on i'm the Egyptian. phgnician. Etriis-
IN, old Grecian, and other ancient alpha
cts, and suggests comparisons in order
lst experts may perhaps arrive at the
rigin OF the obsolete lettering In these
manuscripts. Some Of the letters are un-
Oubtedly Of very ancient form, while
ihers are Of form which DIR. Harkavy
outsiders 10 be wholly unknown.
The old shape Of some OF the letters, and
he original forms OF others, points 10 the
onclusion that the alphabet Of the manu-
.rif,fs muSi have sDr1iug from the primitive |