Ancient manuscripts indicate Jewish community once thrived in Afghanistan

This undated Handout photo made available by The National Library of Israel shows an ancient manuscript discovered inside caves in a Taliban stronghold in northern Afghanistan - the first physical evidence of a vibrant Jewish community that thrived in that region a thousand years ago. / AP Photo/The National Library of Israel, HO

JERUSALEMA trove of ancient manuscripts in Hebrew characters rescued from caves in a Taliban stronghold in northern Afghanistan is providing the first physical evidence of a Jewish community that thrived there a thousand years ago.

On Thursday Israel's National Library unveiled the cache of recently purchased documents that run the gamut of life experiences, including biblical commentaries, personal letters and financial records.

Researchers say the "Afghan Genizah" marks the greatest such archive found since the "Cairo Genizah" was discovered in an Egyptian synagogue more than 100 years ago, a vast depository of medieval manuscripts considered to be among the most valuable collections of historical documents ever found.

Genizah, a Hebrew term that loosely translates as "storage," refers to a storeroom adjacent to a synagogue or Jewish cemetery where Hebrew-language books and papers are kept. Under Jewish law, it is forbidden to throw away writings containing the formal names of God, so they are either buried or stashed away.

The Afghan collection gives an unprecedented look into the lives of Jews in ancient Persia in the 11th century. The paper manuscripts, preserved over the centuries by the dry, shady conditions of the caves, include writings in Hebrew, Aramaic, Judea-Arabic and the unique Judeo-Persian language from that era, which was written in Hebrew letters.

"It was the Yiddish of Persian Jews," said Haggai Ben-Shammai, the library's academic director.

Holding the documents, protected by a laminated sheath, Ben-Shammai said they included mentions of distinctly Jewish names and evidence of their commercial activities along the "Silk road" connecting Europe and the East. The obscure Judeo-Persian language, along with carbon dating technology, helped verify the authenticity of the collection, he said.

"We've had many historical sources on Jewish settlements in that area," he said. "This is the first time that we have a large collection of manuscripts that represents the culture of the Jews that lived there. Until today we had nothing of this."

CBS News' Jere van Dyk reports it will most probably show, if the dates are true, that Jews and Muslims once lived together in harmony in Afghanistan, as they did at one point in the modern era. If the manuscripts can be shown to be older than 1,000 years or make references to previous centuries, then this will change many perspectives; Islam has only existed for 1,500 years.

There is a famous Pakistani Pashtun quote: "I am a Pakistani for 50 years, a Muslim for 1,500 years and a Pashtun for 5,000 years."

There is a fascinating amount of writing out there on the theory that the Pashtuns are descended from a lost tribe of Israel. Kabul is mentioned in the Old Testament.

This discovery will put pressure on the Taliban who, while not anti-Jewish, are political and thus, like their mothers and fathers in the Mujahideen, are pro-Palestinian. They have adopted some of the anti-Israeli sentiment that comes from the Arabs who have been there, and are now in Pakistan, since the 1980s.

The documents are believed to have come from caves in the northeast region of modern-day Afghanistan, once at the outer reaches of the Persian empire. In recent years, the same caves have served as hideouts for Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.

It remains unclear how the ancient manuscripts emerged. Ben-Shammai said the library was contacted by various antiquities dealers who got their hands on them.

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[GradLifeSigns]

This article, as I posted earlier, is confusing and very sparse on the details. A recent NY Times article is much more comprehensive, and would go a long way to answering most of the questions people are raising: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/15/world/middleeast/documents-illuminate-jewish-life-in-ancient-muslim-empire.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0

[zafarforever]

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, has already come 100 years ago and he already discussed this his book (Jesus in India) where he gave a detail account on how Jews lived in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India (Kashmir) and further to the east. Read his book here: http://www.alislam.org/library/books/jesus-in-india/index.html

There is also religious as well as historical records that point to existence of Jews in the East and Jesus travelling to the East to look for the lost tribes of Israel; who lived among Buddists and Hindus for years.

The actual tomb of Jesus lies in Khanyar, Srinagar, Kashmir (India). The truth will come out one way or another and it can be quicken if the authorities are brave enough to challenge the extremists in that area who are preventing foreigners from doing their research (such as DNA sample).

More on this:
http://www.alislam.org/library/books/Tomb-of-Jesus.pdf

[highTechDhimmi]

the latest independent estimate of Jews in Iran is less than 8000, the Iranian regime claims 25,000 but the Jewish community testifies to far less (off the record)

[Yehuda_Franco]

History must be respected and personal biases should not distract from real facts. To confuse the issues by twisting time to "prove a point" not only is childish and laughable but it shows ignorance. The fact of the matter in this article deals with the reality that there was a Jewish presence in ancient Persia, today Afganistan. Such presence not only is authenticated by documentary evidence but confirmation of writings where such presence is narrated. Jewish people have been present in most lands of the ancient Near East way before the rise of the Islam and trough different historical periods. For sure there were contacts and intermarriage etc. and in this sea of diversity the interchanges enriched human culture. To learn and to improve ourselves is necesary to be civilized and receptive to knowledge, not to blinded by unfounded hate and prejudice as some hideous comments show. Thank you for the article regardless of some small distracting comments.

[RaimoKangasniemi]

The claims that this could somehow show Jews and Muslims living together peacefully etc would be a nice idea if we didn't have that kind of evidence already. So these claims mean terrible ignorance in themselves.

There were Jews in Afghanistan until the civil war; a one individual apparently remains. They, like other now almost gone minority religious groups, shared the good and bad straits of Afghan society and didn't stand out.

Jews had a long presence in Central Asia; a couple of short texts from Dunhuang's cache are in Hebrew. During the Mongol Empire Judaism reached China and like Nestorian Christianity, Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism it probably had already reached it before the Tang purge against Buddhism and foreign religions overall in 840s (and the later anti-Buddhist purges up to Later Zhou in 950s) devastated these religions and Judaism, if it indeed had reached China.

[A_Franco]

It is sad that some people are blinded by hate and try to keep darkness instead of enlightnment. If the Jews "destroy" anything they touch as some retrogad informs us it only is tru respect illness and bacteriam as it is evidence in the anals of medicine as for instance Poliomelitis. We do not need to take the matter out of context. History is clear regardless of "politics" The Jewish presence all over the near East is factual and it preceeds the Muslim expansion. Documents confirm this historical fact. The term "Palestine" within the right historical bacground was given by the Romans trying to supress the Jewish revolts, Palestine never existed as a nation and as a matter of fact it was "adopted" by the Arabs in the 1960's as a ploy to try to create "History" If anyone has any doubts there is plenty of evidence to confirm this. Have a wonderful day

[GradLifeSigns]

An interesting article! This is really a very important find, if they're already comparing it to the Cairo Ginezah. Some clarifications might be helpful for some readers, however.

Use of the term "ancient": if these texts are from the 11th century, or are between 1,000 - 1,500 years old, then they are rightly "medieval," not ancient. Use of the term ancient is confusing and puts in mind actual biblical "tribes," or the Jewish diaspora of the Babylonian exile, rather than the Jewish diaspora post 79 CE.

"If the manuscripts can be shown to be older than 1,000 years or make references to previous centuries, then this will change many perspectives..."

The manuscripts are a product of a Jewish community in "Persian" territory. The difficulty is that communities of Jews lived in "Persian" areas from anytime between the late 6th century BCE and the present era. Studies of the documents may shed light on how old this particular community was - if this community existed in pre-Muslim Persian times, say under the Achaemenids, Seleucids, Parthians, Sassanids or earlier, or if this community is only as old as the emergence of Islam into the region in the mid-late 7th century.

We really have to wait for an intensive study of the documents to see if they can point to the age of this community. Altogether, the presence of Jews along the "Silk Road" is as unsurprising as the presence of Nestorian Christians in the same area. The finding of the texts is the remarkable part of this story, not the Jewish presence in Persia.

So in the end, what this article really needs is a good, comparative timeline.

[A_Franco]

I totally agree with your comment, but we must accept the fact that journalists usually are not Historians or well versed on the matters they write about as second hand sources. I understand also how some readers could easily make mistakes on time and historical space as well as Geography, mistakes which the writers share.

[KazuMasu]

Joshua 19:27 Speaks about kabul but this Kabul is within the Ancient territory of Israel and not in Afganisthan. Where did your reporters study?
Check: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabul,_Israel

[DovBenMen]

QED, Kazumasu. Kudos.

[A_Franco]

Slow_news "good name", it seems that somebody does not get the fact that The Bible is a Historical Document and that many facts are corroborated by Archeologists. History can't be held hostage to bias and anti-Semitism does not have any authority to such effect. If we want a serious discussion about History we must do it with a wide open mind, otherwise we are doom to obscurantism and ignorance.

[omies]

they go any length to prove their existence in any country they are just hideous

[signseeker1717]

"They" aren't going to "any length" to "prove" ANYTHING. These 11th century documents "prove" their OWN value, worth and insights into the human history of a region; the connection to an existing culture makes them all that more compelling. It's unfortunate some resent and despise a current NATION so much that they are unable to view an exciting historical discovery save through the lens of their own 21st century hatred.

[fdawei100]

I don't understand why readers such as OMIES, pseudonym, I know, are loath to use their real names when posting comments that deride a nation and its people. Racist and degrading comments have no place in postings. Those who post such demeaning and loathe comments are themselves, hideous.

It's exciting to know that despite the oppression of the Jewish people for more than 5,500 years, a sliver of light shines on them in a far-flung place such as Afghanistan.

Their nation is the most resilient of any in human kind.

[Scimajor]

"Taliban who, while not anti-Jewish..."

Are you kidding? The Taliban are anti-everyone (except themselves).