Maya Codex and Torah Brought Together in a Dresden Exhibition

Exhibition in the Year of Jewish Culture in Saxony

SLUB Director General Katrin Stump highlighted Hebrew manuscripts from the 13th to the 18th centuries and Jewish prints in the library’s collection, some of which come from the Electoral Library. To mark the “Year of Jewish Culture” in Saxony, significant original pieces are now on display once again.

According to the organizers, the exhibition uses documents such as the Torah, Machzor, and Haftarah to convey Jewish culture and religious practice in the past and present. In addition to a historic Torah from the 18th century, sections of the newly created scroll are also on display. Scribe Joshua Dias will be present in person at the opening.

The Dresden Maya Codex is considered the best-preserved of the four known Maya manuscripts worldwide. It was created between approximately 1300 and 1521 on the Yucatán Peninsula and consists of 39 sheets of bark, originally folded as a leporello, which are displayed in two strips with a total length of 3.56 meters between glass panels in the treasure chamber of the SLUB’s Book Museum.

Among other things, the codex contains ritual and divination calendars, astronomical tables, and depictions of deities.

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