A Torah scroll in Italy’s Bologna University, until now thought to date to the seventeenth century, has been revealed to be the oldest complete Torah scroll in the world.  It was misdated by a librarian who studied it in 1889, in a note that was followed by a question mark, indicating even he was not certain of its age.  It was left untouched until recently, when Hebrew Professor Mauro Perani questioned the original dating.

The Torah scroll contains all five books of the Torah and is 118 feet long, 25 inches wide.  It is written in Hebrew on lamb-skin parchment, in the Babylonian tradition.  It contains letters and symbols which were no longer in use during the seventeenth century, which caught Perani’s attention.  “I realized that the style of the writing was older than the 17th century so I consulted with other experts,” he said.  Two subsequent, separate carbon dating tests confirmed that the scroll dates between 1150 and 1225.  This is markedly earlier than the previous oldest known scroll, which dates to the late thirteenth century.

Prior to its arrival at the world’s oldest university, about 100 years ago, it may have been in the possession of the Dominican monks in the city.  The city has had a strong history of cooperation between Christian and Jewish scholars, so it is not unusual for the monks to be in possession of Jewish artefacts.

Intact Torah scrolls are rare because they are usually buried when they become too worn out for ritual use.  As well, many were destroyed by both the Nazis and the Fascists in the last century.

This scroll will be displayed at Bologna University and digital images will be made available on the library’s website.