Fragment of the Month

As noted by Paleojudaica, the Taylor Schechter Genizah Unit in Cambridge has launched a new feature, focusing on a different fragment every month. This month, they highlight a watermark they discovered in a fragment of the Book of Tobit. I'm a little confused, though, because my impression was that Oriental watermarks have barely been catalogued, so the possibility of finding a mark that matches this one is very low.

Last month, they showcased a palimpsest, where the newer text is Masoretic, and the lower text is a Latin sermon by Augustine. They note that "Christian texts do find their way into the Collection, however, often as the undertext of palimpsests". For a fascinating study of Christian texts that found their way into the Genizah without being recycled, having been written in Hebrew characters, see the recent article by Kristina Szilagyi, 'Christian Books in Jewish Libraries: Fragments of Christian Arabic Writings from the Cairo Genizah', Ginzei Qedem 2 (2006), 107-162.

The first fragment shown was the tail end of a responsum by Maimonides, later re-used by someone who scribbled some prayers around it. Not the attitude you would expect towards an autograph of the Rambam.