Please post: Scribes of the Cairo Genizah
Dear Ha-safran readers, The University of Pennsylvania Libraries, the Princeton Genizah Project, the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Cambridge University Library and Zooniverse are partnering to bring the Cairo Genizah to The Zooniverse community of Citizen Scientists. As most of you know, the Cairo Genizah is a corpus of sacred and everyday texts--including everyday documents like personal letters and legal contracts-which were preserved in the attic storage chamber of the Ben Ezra synagogue in Fustat (old Cairo) over the course of a thousand years. Its contents date mostly from the 10th-13th centuries CE and is widely recognized as the most important documentary source for reconstructing the social, economic, political and religious lives of Jews and other inhabitants of the premodern Mediterranean basin. The project is taking place in two phases. The first phase, launched on August 8, 2017, involves sorting tens of thousands of Cairo Genizah fragments in order to prepare them for transcription in phase II. The public is invited to help sort fragments into different categories based on their script types, whether they are written in Hebrew or Arabic scripts, whether they are written in formal or informal scripts, and whether they contain specific visual characteristics. Students and the general public have the opportunity to benefit from encountering these fragments online and from learning how to sort and eventually transcribe them. This project provides a way for people with shared interests and different skill levels from around the world to meet in a common endeavor and unlock this storage chamber of ancient fragments. To participate, go to: https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/judaicadh/scribes-of-the-cairo-geniza Thanks, Arthur -- Arthur Kiron, Ph.D. Schottenstein-Jesselson Curator of Judaica Collections Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts University of Pennsylvania Libraries 3420 Walnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19104-6206 T. (215) 573-7431 F. (215) 898-0559 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday http://www.library.upenn.edu/collections/judaica/ Library at the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies 420 Walnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19106 T. (215) 238-1290 ext 202 F. (215) 238-1540 Wednesday and Friday http://www.library.upenn.edu/cajs/
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