Nash Papyrus (MS Or.233) Nash Papyrus (MS Or.233)

The Nash Papyrus is a second-century BCE manuscript containing the text of the Ten Commandments followed by the principal Jewish prayer, the Šemaʿ. Prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls it was the oldest known manuscript containing a text from the Hebrew Bible. Thought originally to be a fragment used for liturgical reading (due to the juxtaposition of the Ten Commandments and the Šemaʿ) , it has more recently been suggested that it could be from a phylactery (tefillin, the small boxes worn by observant Jews in daily prayer). Purchased from an Egyptian dealer in antiquities in 1902 by Dr Walter Llewellyn Nash and presented to the Library in 1903, the fragment was said to have come from the Fayyum, but its exact origins are unknown.

The Nash Papyrus is a second-century BCE manuscript containing the text of the Ten Commandments followed by the principal Jewish prayer, the Šemaʿ. Prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls it was the oldest known manuscript containing a text from the Hebrew Bible. Thought originally to be a fragment used for liturgical reading (due to the juxtaposition of the Ten Commandments and the Šemaʿ) , it has more recently been suggested that it could be from a phylactery (tefillin, the small boxes worn by observant Jews in daily prayer). Purchased from an Egyptian dealer in antiquities in 1902 by Dr Walter Llewellyn Nash and presented to the Library in 1903, the fragment was said to have come from the Fayyum, but its exact origins are unknown.