An Afghan "Genizah"
Israel's National Library has come into possession of a cache of thousand-year-old manuscripts from Afghanistan. See info here . Here are some snippets of the press report: A 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. These materials reportedly include biblical commentaries, financial records, and personal letters. 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. ..... The documents are believed to have come from caves in the northeast region of modern-day Afghanistan, once at the...