Edition and Material Investigation of the 'Cambridge Codex' T-S 10 K 22

• Applicant: Dr. Jan Hon
• Subject Area: German Medieval Studies (Medieval German Literature)
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 560181159

The two main aims of the project planned within the DFG’s Middle East Collaboration program are a new (printed and digital) edition and a complex material examination of the 'Cambridge Codex' T-S 10 K 22, a late medieval manuscript from the Middle East containing the oldest complete texts written in the medieval vernacular of Ashkenazi Jews. The two goals are closely intertwined and result from the assessment that none of the existing editions makes for a suitable reference edition - or a basis for one - and that the work on such an edition necessitates a new examination of the codex as a material artifact. This is primarily due to the poor condition of the codex, which has led to a large number of disputed and often demonstrably incorrect readings in the existing editions, and the availability of new, thus far not utilized technologies, such as multispectral imaging and X-ray fluorescence. These technologies, which the project can use thanks to an arranged collaboration with the Cambridge University Library, promise a much better reconstruction of the many damaged passages than has been possible to date. Their use, in turn, makes the work on the edition inevitably such a profound examination of the materiality of the manuscript that it should not serve merely as an auxiliary means for the edition itself, but rather as an opportunity to explore new approaches to the codex as a unique historical artifact. The research results will be published in several forms each with different functions and target audiences, including: - A critical edition that will represent the future reference edition of all texts in the manuscript and present the codex as a whole. The edition will include transcriptions into Hebrew as well as Latin script (the latter based on the 'Trier System') and include English translations of all the texts. - A digital online edition on the platform BIMA 2, which enables to embed texts in Hebrew script directly into the digital image(s) of a given manuscript and provide it with links to other online sources. This will facilitate scholarly examination of paleographical, codicological and other material aspects of the codex. - A monograph that will present the results of the project work in a series of relevant studies in two thematic parts, one dedicated to the Hebrew and Aramaic sources of the texts and the connections with medieval German literature, one to the materiality of the codex and its historical contexts.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Israel
• International Co-Applicant: Dr. Uri Zvi Shachar