Leningrad Codex Keychain

This image is the cover page of the Leningrad Codex showing a Star of David in a square while the square is in a circle. There are Hebrew verses from the Tanakh around the star and the square, and in the centre of the Star there's a dedication by Shmuell ben Ya'akov, the writer, to his teacher. The Leningrad Codex, so-called as it is a hand-written book as opposed to a scroll, is the oldest complete manuscript of the Tanakh in Hebrew, using the masoretic text and Tiberian vocalization. It was written written in Cairo in 1008 CE. The Aleppo Codex, against which the Leningrad Codex was corrected, is several decades older, but parts of it have been missing since 1947 CE, making the Leningrad Codex the oldest complete codex of the Tiberian mesorah that has survived intact to this day. As an original work by Tiberian masoretes, the Leningrad Codex was older by several centuries than the other Hebrew manuscripts which had been used for all previous editions of printed Hebrew bibles until Biblia Hebraica. It serves scholars as a primary source for the recovery of details in the missing parts of the Aleppo Codex. The biblical text as found in the codex contains the Hebrew letter-text along with Tiberian vowels and cantillation signs. In addition, there are masoretic notes in the margins. There are also various technical supplements dealing with textual and linguistic details, many of which are painted in geometrical forms. The codex is written on parchment and bound in leather. The Leningrad Codex, in extraordinarily pristine condition after a millennium, also provides an example of medieval Jewish art. Sixteen of the pages contain decorative geometric patterns that illuminate passages from the text. The Carpet Page shows a star with the names of the scribes on the edges and a blessing written in the middle. The order of the books in the Leningrad Codex follows the Tiberian textual tradition, which is also that of the later tradition of Sephardic biblical manuscripts. This order for the books differs markedly from that of most printed Hebrew bibles for the books of the Ketuvim. In the Leningrad Codex, the order of the Ketuvim is: Chronicles, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah. The Leningrad Codex is a large book, meant for public use. It is ornamented, with thick white parchment pages. The codex is housedin the National Library of Russia. Its former owner, the Crimean Karaite collector Abraham Firkovich, left no indication in his writings where he had acquired the codex, which was taken to Odessa in 1838 and later transferred to the Imperial Library in St Petersburg.