Hebrew Manuscripts and Hebrew studies in St. Petersburg

Over the past 150 years, two components have been essential for the development of Hebrew studies in St. Petersburg. These are Hebrew manuscripts, preserved in abundance in public libraries, and the scholars, proficient in multiple ancient languages and dialects. The project aims to study these two components both components separately and in conjunction, resulting in two comprehensive monographs.

The first monograph will focus on Hebrew texts, primarily medieval manuscripts from the Near and Middle East, housed in the renowned collections of St. Petersburg. The second will trace the evolution of methods and scholarly reflections on these manuscripts by local researchers over generations, from the moment the collections were acquired to the present day.

Rather than producing a biographical dictionary of scholars, the project connects individual Hebraists to the specific manuscripts or collections they studied. Its central aim is to demonstrate how the study of medieval Hebrew manuscripts has developed from the late 19th century, through the Soviet period, and into the present. In this narrative, the manuscripts serve as the protagonists of the study, while the Hebraists act as “conductors” who have guided their scholarly journey to the present stage.

The project leader is Dr. Ekaterina Belkina — PhD in History, Junior Research Fellow at the Department of Manuscripts and Documents of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the RAS; Assistant Professor at the Department of Semitic and Hebraic Studies at the Faculty of Oriental Studies of St. Petersburg State University.

The project is carried out with the financial support of Alexander Klyachin.

Image: Hebrew books collection, St. Petersburg. Contributed by the author.