2025.01.02 | Thea Gomelauri (with a contribution by Joseph Ginsberg). The Lailashi Codex: The Crown of Georgian Jewry (Oxford, UK: Taylor Institution Library, 2023).
Review by Teófilo Correa, Adventist International Institute of Advance Studies (AIIAS)
The Lailashi Codex is an ancient Hebrew manuscript, considered the earliest nearly complete surviving medieval version of the Pentateuch (Ori Z. Soltes’ foreword). In light of its historical significance, Gomelauri offers a pioneering scholarly examination of the Lailashi Codex’s complex historical trajectory. The research chronicles the manuscript’s journey from a Jewish settlement in Svaneti, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains, followed by its relocation to Lailashi village, and subsequent custodianship within the local Jewish community. The study further documents the codex’s requisition during the Soviet era and its ultimate repository at the National Centre of Manuscripts.
In her analysis, Gomelauri elucidates the Lailashi Codex’s multifaceted importance, demonstrating its value beyond its liturgical function as a testament to the historical interconnection of Georgian and Jewish cultural traditions. The publication also reveals a notable finding in manuscript studies: identifying formerly missing folios of the Lailashi Codex by Joseph Ginsberg, currently preserved in the National Library of Israel collections.
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Biblical and Early Christian Studies 