A Further Analysis of the ‘Byzantine (Italian - Levantine) Triad’ of Features in Common Torah Codices

This study analyses the distinctive features of a group of eleven Torah fragments from the Taylor-Schechter collection of Cairo Genizah manuscripts, which appear to come from related regions and use the signs dagesh and shewa in three related ways to reinforce a standard of pronunciation of the biblical text. The three uses of these signs have, individually, been associated with Palestino-Tiberian vocalisation, or labelled as ‘Extended Tiberian’. I contribute a fresh analysis by contextualising the signs with each other, showing how they work together to preserve a standard form of pronunciation of the biblical text through reinforcing the syllabification when the text is read aloud. I also examine the codicological features of each of these fragments, which appear very similar to each other. I conclude that they constitute a

group, and I infer what their physical and linguistic features reveal about their practical function in the reading and study of the Hebrew Bible in the medieval period.