Periodic Reporting for period 4 - KaraimBible ((Re)constructing a Bible. A new approach to unedited Biblical manuscripts as sources for the early history of the Karaim language)
Reporting period: 2023-08-01 to 2025-01-31
1. General information
KaraimBIBLE is a European Research Council (ERC) funded research project based on digital editions of Karaite biblical manuscripts.
Eastern European Karaims are the only representatives of Karaite Judaism in Europe. Their mother tongue is a highly endangered Turkic language, but only a fraction of their surviving written heritage has been made available to scholars prior to the launch of this project. In particular, the Karaim translations of the Hebrew Bible - the oldest written records of the language - had yet to be studied. As a result, the Karaim data could not be used effectively in historical-comparative studies. There was also no edition of the Bible that the Karaims could use for religious practice, as the translations were handwritten in Hebrew script - a script that the Karaims can no longer read.
The project and its aims were shaped by two key factors. Firstly, the archaic nature of Karaim means that it plays a key role in comparative Turkic linguistics. Second, and of great importance, is the fact that the essence of the religion of this fascinating ethno-linguistic-religious minority lies in its recognition of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) alone as the supreme authority of religious law and theology, in contrast to mainstream rabbinic Judaism. In this project, therefore, the Karaite Bible translations are seen not only as the earliest written record of a language, but also as a central component of a culture.
The project is based at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow (Poland, est. 1364) and is carried out in collaboration with the University of Uppsala (Sweden, est. 1477).
KaraimBIBLE is a European Research Council (ERC) funded research project based on digital editions of Karaite biblical manuscripts.
Eastern European Karaims are the only representatives of Karaite Judaism in Europe. Their mother tongue is a highly endangered Turkic language, but only a fraction of their surviving written heritage has been made available to scholars prior to the launch of this project. In particular, the Karaim translations of the Hebrew Bible - the oldest written records of the language - had yet to be studied. As a result, the Karaim data could not be used effectively in historical-comparative studies. There was also no edition of the Bible that the Karaims could use for religious practice, as the translations were handwritten in Hebrew script - a script that the Karaims can no longer read.
The project and its aims were shaped by two key factors. Firstly, the archaic nature of Karaim means that it plays a key role in comparative Turkic linguistics. Second, and of great importance, is the fact that the essence of the religion of this fascinating ethno-linguistic-religious minority lies in its recognition of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) alone as the supreme authority of religious law and theology, in contrast to mainstream rabbinic Judaism. In this project, therefore, the Karaite Bible translations are seen not only as the earliest written record of a language, but also as a central component of a culture.
The project is based at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow (Poland, est. 1364) and is carried out in collaboration with the University of Uppsala (Sweden, est. 1477).
Work performed
For the manuscripts, a uniform transcription has been developed that is suitable for the linguistic description of all Middle Turkic languages that have been attested in the past using different scripts, including Arabic, Armenian, Uighur, Hebrew, Latin and Cyrillic. This was motivated by the fact that the project database - Database of Middle Turkic (https://middleturkic.lingfil.uu.se/(opens in new window)) - is being developed in such a way as to allow comparative research between Middle Turkic languages. At present, two Khwarezmian Turkic texts have been entered into the database in addition to the Karaim texts in order to test its functionalities.
The linguistic treatment of numerous Karaim biblical manuscripts - mss. ADub.III.73 (356 folios), ADub.III.83 (245 folios), ADub.III.84 (224 folios), F305-01 (252 folios), F305-07 (96 folios), F305-90 (430 folios), JSul.I.04 (126 folios), JSul.III.01 (296 folios), JSul.III.02 (74 folios), JSul.III.65 (22 folios), TKow.02 (216 folios), including their transcription, linguistic analysis, preparation of the critical apparatus (philological and linguistic commentaries). The transcription of the entire Torah of the linguistically very demanding Eupatorian print of 1841 has also been completed (based on item no. JSul.IV.02A 194 folios). The largest manuscript, ms. ADub.III.73 also received an English translation. The sources were subjected to a stemmatological analysis. In addition, it is examined whether the biblical manuscripts and the Karaite semi-cursive scripts belong to one or more scribal traditions, in order to better understand the way in which these translations were made. In addition, the Karaite language of the last native speakers has been recorded.
To date, 43 presentations have been made at conferences, seminars and workshops, 32 articles and 3 monographs have been published, and few another articles and digital editions are at various stages of the publication process. A scientific conference has been organised, and a workshop has been held for members of the Karaite communities of Trakai and Vilnius (hybrid seminars, broadcast online) to raise awareness of the value of the manuscripts privately owned by them. A panel entitled "West and East Karaim translations of the Bible and beyond" (with five papers) has been organized at the 4th European Convention on Turkic, Ottoman and Turkish Studies (16-18 September 2023, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria).
For the manuscripts, a uniform transcription has been developed that is suitable for the linguistic description of all Middle Turkic languages that have been attested in the past using different scripts, including Arabic, Armenian, Uighur, Hebrew, Latin and Cyrillic. This was motivated by the fact that the project database - Database of Middle Turkic (https://middleturkic.lingfil.uu.se/(opens in new window)) - is being developed in such a way as to allow comparative research between Middle Turkic languages. At present, two Khwarezmian Turkic texts have been entered into the database in addition to the Karaim texts in order to test its functionalities.
The linguistic treatment of numerous Karaim biblical manuscripts - mss. ADub.III.73 (356 folios), ADub.III.83 (245 folios), ADub.III.84 (224 folios), F305-01 (252 folios), F305-07 (96 folios), F305-90 (430 folios), JSul.I.04 (126 folios), JSul.III.01 (296 folios), JSul.III.02 (74 folios), JSul.III.65 (22 folios), TKow.02 (216 folios), including their transcription, linguistic analysis, preparation of the critical apparatus (philological and linguistic commentaries). The transcription of the entire Torah of the linguistically very demanding Eupatorian print of 1841 has also been completed (based on item no. JSul.IV.02A 194 folios). The largest manuscript, ms. ADub.III.73 also received an English translation. The sources were subjected to a stemmatological analysis. In addition, it is examined whether the biblical manuscripts and the Karaite semi-cursive scripts belong to one or more scribal traditions, in order to better understand the way in which these translations were made. In addition, the Karaite language of the last native speakers has been recorded.
To date, 43 presentations have been made at conferences, seminars and workshops, 32 articles and 3 monographs have been published, and few another articles and digital editions are at various stages of the publication process. A scientific conference has been organised, and a workshop has been held for members of the Karaite communities of Trakai and Vilnius (hybrid seminars, broadcast online) to raise awareness of the value of the manuscripts privately owned by them. A panel entitled "West and East Karaim translations of the Bible and beyond" (with five papers) has been organized at the 4th European Convention on Turkic, Ottoman and Turkish Studies (16-18 September 2023, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria).
Progress beyond the state of the art
One of the findings of the project is that the textual and stylistic similarities between biblical manuscripts produced separately in distant Karaite communities in the regions of Crimea, Lithuania, Volhynia and Galicia highlight the close affinities between these manuscripts and show that there must have been a common tradition of Bible translation among the Karaites. Moreover, the textual complexity and the use of sophisticated translation techniques and literary methods in the oldest known texts suggest that they may have been based on older texts or on a well-established oral translation tradition.
The language of the manuscripts has been described in a series of articles discussing their phonological, morphological and lexical features. Special attention is given to Hebrew and Slavic influences. In addition, separate papers have been published on those morphological categories that no longer exist in Modern West Karaim. These historical-comparative papers show how the phonology, morphology and lexicon of Karaim evolved over time. The linguistic, textual and exegetic analysis of ms. Evr. I Bibl. 143 from the 15th century has shown that it is not written in Karaim, but rather in Middle Kipchak Turkic. Interestingly, however, there are clear textual and cultural links between this text and the earliest Karaim translations of the Bible.
Several archival visits were made to Lithuania and Poland. As a result, new, very valuable manuscripts were discovered in Polish and Lithuanian private archives and in the Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. Before the project began, there was still a risk that some chapters of the Hebrew Bible had never been translated into Karaim, or that no surviving manuscript contained them. As a result of our findings, we have now achieved complete coverage of the Hebrew Bible in Karaim translation. In addition, the PI has recruited a person with extensive experience in linguistic fieldwork, who has made a preliminary assessment of the current situation of linguistic assimilation of Karaim and has recorded the voices of all the last native speakers.
Due to the alarming condition of some of the manuscripts found, a legal and financial framework was created to initiate a professional restoration and conservation process for the most valuable items. Following an open competition, a professional paper conservation laboratory was selected to carry out the rescue. Five extremely valuable items (including a 1722 manuscript, the second oldest Northwest Karaite Bible translation) were saved from destruction (TKow.01 TKow.02 TKow.03 TKow.04 TKow.08).
The complete edition of the Torah in Modern Northwest Karaim (in contemporary orthography) was created by the PI in order to fulfil another objective of the project, namely to create the first edition of the Tanakh accessible to the present-day Karaims of Lithuania and Poland. This was a result of a fruitful and continuous cooperation with a native speaker of Karaim (from Lithuania). The edition was published in 2024 and was very well received by the Karaim communities in Trakai and Vilnius.
One of the findings of the project is that the textual and stylistic similarities between biblical manuscripts produced separately in distant Karaite communities in the regions of Crimea, Lithuania, Volhynia and Galicia highlight the close affinities between these manuscripts and show that there must have been a common tradition of Bible translation among the Karaites. Moreover, the textual complexity and the use of sophisticated translation techniques and literary methods in the oldest known texts suggest that they may have been based on older texts or on a well-established oral translation tradition.
The language of the manuscripts has been described in a series of articles discussing their phonological, morphological and lexical features. Special attention is given to Hebrew and Slavic influences. In addition, separate papers have been published on those morphological categories that no longer exist in Modern West Karaim. These historical-comparative papers show how the phonology, morphology and lexicon of Karaim evolved over time. The linguistic, textual and exegetic analysis of ms. Evr. I Bibl. 143 from the 15th century has shown that it is not written in Karaim, but rather in Middle Kipchak Turkic. Interestingly, however, there are clear textual and cultural links between this text and the earliest Karaim translations of the Bible.
Several archival visits were made to Lithuania and Poland. As a result, new, very valuable manuscripts were discovered in Polish and Lithuanian private archives and in the Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. Before the project began, there was still a risk that some chapters of the Hebrew Bible had never been translated into Karaim, or that no surviving manuscript contained them. As a result of our findings, we have now achieved complete coverage of the Hebrew Bible in Karaim translation. In addition, the PI has recruited a person with extensive experience in linguistic fieldwork, who has made a preliminary assessment of the current situation of linguistic assimilation of Karaim and has recorded the voices of all the last native speakers.
Due to the alarming condition of some of the manuscripts found, a legal and financial framework was created to initiate a professional restoration and conservation process for the most valuable items. Following an open competition, a professional paper conservation laboratory was selected to carry out the rescue. Five extremely valuable items (including a 1722 manuscript, the second oldest Northwest Karaite Bible translation) were saved from destruction (TKow.01 TKow.02 TKow.03 TKow.04 TKow.08).
The complete edition of the Torah in Modern Northwest Karaim (in contemporary orthography) was created by the PI in order to fulfil another objective of the project, namely to create the first edition of the Tanakh accessible to the present-day Karaims of Lithuania and Poland. This was a result of a fruitful and continuous cooperation with a native speaker of Karaim (from Lithuania). The edition was published in 2024 and was very well received by the Karaim communities in Trakai and Vilnius.