Papers by Matthew Hamilton
Samaritan Update, 2024
In the late nineteenth century most Hebrew and Samaritan manuscripts acquired by the British Muse... more In the late nineteenth century most Hebrew and Samaritan manuscripts acquired by the British Museum were, within a few years after acquisition, bound and annotated with the name of the seller or donor and the date of acquisition. As the result of an ongoing study of the manuscripts sold to the British Museum by Moses Wilhelm Shapira, it was found the annotation of Shapira’s name on a Samaritan Targum, BL Or. 1442, was in error, with the seller of the manuscript not Shapira but Jacob esh-Shelaby.
In 1870 a remnant of a scroll of Jeremiah was viewed by Anton Scholz in the Jerusalem shop of Mos... more In 1870 a remnant of a scroll of Jeremiah was viewed by Anton Scholz in the Jerusalem shop of Moses Wilhelm Shapira. After a few brief mentions in publications in the following years the scroll of Jeremiah was largely forgotten about due to two reasons: scholarly and popular focus on other items associated with Shapira, and the disappearance of the scroll of Jeremiah into a private collection. This article seeks to revive scholarly interest in the scroll of Jeremiah for two reasons: to better understand Shapira as a manuscript dealer, and to enlist a wider search for the currently untraced and largely forgotten scroll of Jeremiah. Background A multi-year search of books, journal and newspaper articles, films, radio broadcasts, film strips, podcasts, and blogs for any mention of Moses Wilhelm Shapira has resulted in several thousand mentions, a number that continues to grow by several hundred new items each year. With few exceptions each of these mentions fit into less than a page of text, usually into not more than a single paragraph, wherein are mentioned the Moabitica and a collection of strips of leather with a form of the text related to Deuteronomy (henceforth: Shapira Scroll).2 Largely overlooked is a mention of Shapira as the dealer of hundreds of genuine manuscripts that have enriched collections including but not limited to the British Library, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin,
A review of Klawans' article in two parts. Part I: The first part evaluates Klawans' attempt to s... more A review of Klawans' article in two parts. Part I: The first part evaluates Klawans' attempt to survey and categorise "problematic arguments that recur in academic authentication of suspicious objects" in order to "contribute to the understanding of the ""syntax of forgery"". Due to too small a sample size, unexplained sample selection, and other issues, Klawans' five "patterns" of "problematic arguments" are of dubious value as Klawans fails to explain why not all "patterns" are found with all "suspicious" objects and why they may be found with genuine objects. Possibly rather than a "syntax of forgery" there is only a syntax of objects. Part II: The second part evaluates Klawans's article with respect to Idan Dershowitz's book on the Deuteronomy manuscripts of Moses Wilhelm Shapira. Despite Klawans' focus on Dershowitz and Shapira's Deuteronomy manuscripts it was found Klawans presented little of substance while demonstrating a limited understanding of current issues surrounding the manuscripts.
Ongoing research to identify all known parchment Samaritan Pentateuch scrolls in Western collecti... more Ongoing research to identify all known parchment Samaritan Pentateuch scrolls in Western collections and their provenance so far identified over fifty scrolls. This brief note provides a preliminary report on one of these scrolls, Hebrew Union College Klau Library Sam Ms. 61, whose provenance may now be traced back to the collection of Lord Amherst of Hackney.
The Samaritan Update, 2020
Abstract: Nineteenth century literature includes mention of three parchment Samaritan Pentateuch ... more Abstract: Nineteenth century literature includes mention of three parchment Samaritan Pentateuch scroll fragments acquired in Nablus and Haifa that are not listed in August von Gall’s Der Hebräische Pentateuch der Samaritaner and have not been traced to any known collection. This paper is a first step in tracing them to known collections.
Anyone with a general knowledge of Moses Wilhelm Shapira may find the article by Press impressive... more Anyone with a general knowledge of Moses Wilhelm Shapira may find the article by Press impressive: he covers aspects of Shapira's professional life, it would appear, in greater detail than found in any previous publication and he appends an extensive bibliography containing obscure references that few non-specialists would be aware of. However, to anyone with a specialist knowledge of Shapira it soon becomes apparent that while Press has, in part, done an adequate job in covering the topic, he has also perpetuated many common errors, created new errors, failed to cover many aspects of Shapira's professional life, and failed to make full use of the available sources. More significantly, by not equally applying focus on both the good and bad parts of Shapira's career the end result is a distorted caricature.
Anyone with a general knowledge of Moses Wilhelm Shapira may find the article by Press impressive... more Anyone with a general knowledge of Moses Wilhelm Shapira may find the article by Press impressive-aspects of Shapira's professional life covered it would appear in greater detail than found in any previous publication and backed up by an extensive bibliography containing obscure references that few non-specialists would be aware of. However, to anyone with a specialist knowledge of Shapira it soon becomes apparent that while Press has, in part, done an adequate job in covering the topic, he has also perpetuated many of the common errors, created new errors, failed to cover many aspects of Shapira's professional life, and failed to make full use of the available sources. More significantly, by not equally applying focus on both the good and bad parts of Shapira's career the end result is a distorted caricature.
Tyndale Bulletin
The plates include both the Chester Beatty and Michigan fragments. High resolution images of the ... more The plates include both the Chester Beatty and Michigan fragments. High resolution images of the Michigan fragments have subsequently been
Expanding on a preliminary blog post at Biblical History Daily Klawans’ review essay of Idan Ders... more Expanding on a preliminary blog post at Biblical History Daily Klawans’ review essay of Idan Dershowitz’s The Valediction of Moses: A Proto-Biblical Book ostensibly “engages Dershowitz’s recent attempt to rehabilitate the Deuteronomy fragments Moses Wilhelm Shapira offered for sale in 1883.” However, from multiple readings of Klawans’ review essay it is apparent the engagement is shaped around the ideas presented in his blog post rather than the ideas in Dershowitz’s book, his literature research has been inadequate, he has made use of other people’s ideas without critical evaluation, and he has made numerous errors.
Tyndale Bulletin, 2016
Partial identification of an overlooked 2nd century Greek papyrus fragment with text from Deutero... more Partial identification of an overlooked 2nd century Greek papyrus fragment with text from Deuteronomy chapter 32
Drafts by Matthew Hamilton
Hendel and Richelle have made a significant contribution to the study of the Shapira Scrolls. How... more Hendel and Richelle have made a significant contribution to the study of the Shapira Scrolls. However, after reading the article three times the present reader has identified a number of concerns. These concerns are presented in these reading notes, notes that are neither systematic nor comprehensive.
The to and fro between two eminent scholars covers a number of issues, just one of which is discu... more The to and fro between two eminent scholars covers a number of issues, just one of which is discussed here: What role if any should Abraham Yahuda's 1944 article play in any discussion of the Shapira Manuscripts?
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Papers by Matthew Hamilton
Drafts by Matthew Hamilton