New Information on the 'Forgotten Jews' of the Silk Road

An Israeli antiquities dealer states that through travels to eight countries, he has managed to bring historical manuscripts belonging to Jews residing along the Silk Road cities to Israel, which can shed new light on the life of the community known as the 'Forgotten Jews', from Iran to China. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Friday, June 11, that this antiquities dealer named Lenny Wolf brought these valuable manuscripts, some of which date back a thousand years, to Israel six months ago. Lenny Wolf says he heard about the possible existence of such manuscripts from Western China to Eastern Iraq and the Muslim republics of Central Asia, as well as around Pakistan, through a television program, and embarked on an adventurous journey in search of them. According to Haaretz, this collection of manuscripts, which has created a stir among Jewish researchers, is referred to as the 'Afghan Treasure'. Over the past five years, other parts of these important manuscripts have surfaced among antiquities dealers in the Middle East and Europe. The lives of Jews who were forgotten along the Silk Road in the 11th century, such as the family of Abunaser Ben Daniel, who likely resided in northern Bamiyan in present-day Afghanistan, are described in these writings. These manuscripts had likely been hidden in rock crevices for about a thousand years and were obtained after the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Among the historical manuscripts, there are various languages; Persian, Aramaic, Hebrew, Jewish Arabic, and Jewish Persian ('Persian-Hebrew', Persian written in Hebrew script). Some historical documents have legal value; they include identity documents and property records of individuals, some contain biblical texts and sacred matters, while others are personal letters. The daily lives, sources of income, and family structures of Jews are present in the manuscripts; Ofir Haim, a researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem specializing in ancient languages, has managed to translate some of the manuscripts available to the National Library of Israel into modern Hebrew. Mr. Haim stated that, for example, one of the letters is written by a Jew named Yair to Abunaser Ben Daniel, stating that he is unwilling to return to Bamiyan to live with his family because he has no work there, and explains that his life in another city, despite the hardship of being away from family, has provided him with a source of income that makes him accept this difficulty. The same Yair describes the daily situation in the city where he has found work: 'Eggplants are still not readily available; that's why I haven't sent any to you. The ones I found were very small. I will send you good eggplants at the first opportunity.' A 27-page notebook of debts and credits spanning several years has also been found from a Jew who is likely the same Abunaser Ben Daniel, listing his creditors and debts; many Islamic names as well as names specific to Iranians and Jews are seen in this notebook. The texts mention a coin called 'Shiyani' as a unit of currency and list many places as sources from which purchases such as wheat and barley were made. Professor Morgenshtern has also studied some of the documents related to writings about Judaism, including the 'Mishna', to understand the intellectual world and discussions among Jews of that time. Professor Shaul Shaked has also taken on the task of examining part of this treasure. He notes that, for example, in some of these writings, David is referred to as 'David the Prophet' rather than 'David the King', which he says reflects the Muslim tradition of referring to David as 'Nabi David' or 'David the Prophet', and this indicates, according to Professor Shaked, a 'remarkable convergence between Jews and the Muslim world'. According to Haaretz, research on these manuscripts is still in its early stages. Regarding the acquisition of the manuscripts, Professor Shaul Shaked, an expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem specializing in Iranian Jews and the region, only had images of these manuscripts that had come from southern Russia, which he showed to Lenny Wolf. According to the report, Lenny Wolf traveled to eight countries, three of which were not accessible with an Israeli passport, but he did not mention the names of these countries. In part of the travels to Central Asia, Professor Matthew Morgenshtern, head of the Hebrew language department at Tel Aviv University, accompanied Lenny Wolf. According to Haaretz, all of Lenny Wolf's adventures ended with 'great success', and the manuscripts he brought to Israel are now in the hands of historians who can 'celebrate and understand the unclear aspects regarding the forgotten Jews'. Meanwhile, Lenny Wolf told Haaretz that a week after seeing photos with Professor Shaked in Jerusalem, he heard from a visitor in a café in Europe that a Pakistani antiquities dealer had a treasure of ancient writings belonging to the inhabitants of the Silk Road that might relate to Jews. Some of the manuscripts are in the language of Iranian Jews from the 11th century; it took three years to purchase 29 manuscripts and bring them to Israel, where they were made available to the National Library of Israel for researchers to examine. A few years later, another hundred manuscripts from this collection were also acquired and transferred to Israel in late autumn last year. Haaretz reported that Lenny Wolf's actions were authorized by official Israeli organizations and according to the wishes of the Israeli Cultural Heritage Organization, and he made these purchases 'on behalf of the State of Israel'. According to Haaretz, interviewing Lenny Wolf was not easy, and like many other antiquities dealers, he provided minimal responses to avoid revealing any additional information.