GENIZAH. - Hebrew term from gānaz, of Persian origin, meaning "(deposit of the) treasure," "storeroom." The sacred scrolls of the Pentateuch, individual pages of the Bible and of prayer books, and out-of-use sacred furnishings were deposited there — objects that in time were buried in cemeteries.
Originally g. denoted the act of burying the aforementioned objects and likewise the writings of heretics. According to Talmudic reports, the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Ezekiel ran the risk of passing into the g. A worn-out scroll of the Tōrāh was sometimes buried in a terracotta jar together with the body of a scholar.
The g. of al-Fusṭāṭ near Cairo attained notable importance because of the well-preserved historical material. Among other precious documents, the Hebrew text of Sirach (v. ECCLESIASTICO) was found there, as were those concerning the Damascus sect.
Bibliography3 worksE. N. Adler, s. v. in Jew. Enc., V, p. 612 ff.; S. L. Skoss, s. v. in Enc. Ind., VII, pp. 250-55; I. Elbogen, s. v. in Jüdisches Lexikon, II
BIBL.: E. N. Adler, s. v. in Jew. Enc., V, p. 612 ff.; S. L. Skoss, s. v. in Enc. Ind., VII, pp. 250-55; I. Elbogen, s. v. in Jüdisches Lexikon, II, pp. 1014-15.
Zolli, Eugenio. “GénizĀH.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VI, col. 7. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951. https://azioneromana.com/article/genizah.
MLA
Zolli, Eugenio. “GénizĀH.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VI, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951, col. 7. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/genizah.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec6_genizah,
author = {Zolli, Eugenio},
title = {GénizĀH},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {VI},
pages = {7},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1951},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/genizah}
}
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