This project is a result of Cambridge University Library being
presented with a unique opportunity of rescuing from a bank
vault in Paris a collection of precious medieval Hebrew and
Arabic documents from the Cairo Genizah. The aging family who
owns it is anxious to make institutional arrangements in the
near future and if this does not prove possible will simply sell
it off (or give it away) as individual items to collectors
without any concern for accessibility. In the past hundred
years, the documents found in the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo,
Egypt, have revolutionised the study of most aspects of medieval
Jewish culture in the Mediterranean area. Some 200,000 items
(comprising almost a million leaves), held in various libraries
around the world, have not only made possible the reconstruction
of many of the best-known Hebrew, Aramaic and Judeo-Arabic works
of the 10-13th centuries but have also brought to light the
existence of numerous, previously unknown, literary items. In
addition, the Genizah material