The oldest Torah scrolls

The Torah scroll, or Sefer Torah, is a sacred manuscript containing the text of the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch. The term is sometimes extended to include all the books of the Tanakh (Old Testament).

The Torah is considered a historical and religious treasure, and its discovery and study are areas of major interest to scholars and specialists. A number of ancient manuscripts have been discovered and are still being studied by specialists: the Great Isaiah Scroll, the Bologna Scroll, the Sefer Thora of Slavita and, more recently, the Sassoon codex, to name but a few.

Written entirely in Hebrew, a Sefer Torah contains 187 chapters, 5,845 verses, 79,976 words and 304,805 letters. Each letter must be scrupulously reproduced by the sofer (accomplished scribe) with a writing instrument made of plant or animal material (reed, quill) dipped in a specially prepared black iron gall ink, made from skin glue - the process can take 18 months and use sixty skins from a ritually pure species of animal. The slightest error in the inscription, whether qualitative or quantitative, renders the entire Sefer Torah invalid.