The Aleppo Codex Audiobook By Matti Friedman cover art

The Aleppo Codex

A True Story of Obsession, Faith, and the Pursuit of an Ancient Bible

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The Aleppo Codex

By: Matti Friedman
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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A true-life thriller about the journey of one of the world's most precious manuscripts - the 10th-century annotated Hebrew Bible known as the Aleppo Codex - from its hiding place in an ancient Syrian synagogue to the newly founded Israel. Using his research, including documents that have been secret for 50 years and interviews with key players, AP correspondent Friedman tells a story of political upheaval, international intrigue, charged courtroom battles, obsession, and subterfuge.

©2012 Matti Friedman. (P)2012 2012 HighBridge Company Israel & Palestine Judaism Middle East Africa

Critic reviews

“A masterful account of a major religious document.... Friedman delivers an atmospheric, tense story.” ( Publishers Weekly)
“ The Aleppo Codex could be read as a thriller. It could also be read as a history of the Jewish people, or as a meditation on history and myth. This great book comes closer to containing everything than any book I’ve read in a long, long time.” (Jonathan Safran Foer)

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Compelling Mystery • Meticulous Research • Incredible Narrative Skill • Riveting Detective Story • Creative Storytelling
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Okay story. I think the research yielded less than the author had hoped. Good performance.

Hard to write a story

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Fascinating investigation into hidden chapters of Jewish and Arab history and Israeli nation-founding events. The author's writing is outstanding -- a creative blend of historical research, storytelling and investigative journalism. The real-life characters, interviews and events are deeply thought-provoking. Highly recommend this. Simon Vance, as usual is outstanding. His pronunciation of Hebrew and Arabic was sub-par, but he far makes up for that with his incredible narrative skill.

Excellent Book -- Incredible insights

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I just love the opportunities to learn the little bits I can. Thank you for your time and dedication.

Detailed and kept my attention

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As someone whose academic background was spent in great measure working with ancient manuscripts and as one who has a great interest in cultural history The Aleppo Codex was not what I had anticipated. The Aleppo Codex considers little about the manuscript as manuscript. One of the few compelling notations is that the massive codex is the work of one hand. For the most part Friedman's narrative seems to view the Aleppo Codex as an image for Zionism wherein the image of the return of a burned, scattered and ancient pages to Jerusalem is rather evident. While Friedman's direction is certainly valid it is not what I had expected. Perhaps I should have been more attentive to the subtitle.

Not What I Expected

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This story touches on the mishandling of antiquities that will likely never be (fully) available to serious Bible students, researchers, literary critics, seminarians, pastors, and rabbis due to the unfortunate greed, opportunism, and superstitions of both intermediaries and trusted superintendents. Interesting, but infuriating. Perhaps check with your doctor before reading if tales of incompetence and greed make your blood boil.

A story to anger every serious Bible student

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Like a good detective story, the author weaves a compelling mystery as he interviews countless players in the drama surrounding this ancient Hebrew Bible. Who is responsible for the missing pages?

Fascinating Investigation into an Ancient Mystery

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such a page turning exciting epic story brilliantly written with excellent story telling and detail. a must read

incredible

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I loved the story. The reader did a wonderful job. His English and Hebrew reading were superb.

Exciting story

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Good, though disturbing story. Matti Friedman did a great piece of research leaving me even more interested in the history of the Aleppo Codex, but the choice of narrator was unfortunate. But when a narrator, even a solid one like Simon Vance, encounters an unfamiliar foreign name or term, e.g., the frequently recurring name, "Ben-Zvi", s/he should ask someone rather than simply wing it with a plausible guess.

It sounds like a minor complaint, but I think every knowledgeable listener will wince as I did at every occurrence of "Ben-Zvi". Unfortunately, it tends to break the spell.

This is the first Audible selection out of many, many, many, that I wish I had read rather than heard. The last one I recall like this is "People of the Book", by Geraldine Brooks???an otherwise terrific book that was even more seriously undermined to my ear by uninformed---but otherwise fine---narration.

don't quess at pronunciation of foreign words

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If you are interest in biblical scholarship or 20th century Jewish history, you need to read this book today. If you aren't but but you like good mysteries, you too should read it today. This is an incredibly compelling piece of investigative journalism that is very well researched and very well written. It tells a complex story concisely and uncovers a number of important details that even people familiar with the codex's history will nto have encountered before. Hopefully Mr. Friedman's efforts here will ultimately lead to the recovery of the missing parts.

thrilling story and very well-written

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