A rare Hebrew edition of the Tanakh, printed in Frankfurt in 1677, has recently been acquired by the University of Haifa, donated by the family of the late Israeli filmmaker Micha Shagrir. Laura Geggel writes:
David Clodil (1644-1684), a renowned German Lutheran [scholar], wrote a commentary for the book, and produced and edited it for his academic audience. Clodil included Hebrew numbers, as well as Arabic numerals, to help his readers navigate the text. . . .
The story [of the book’s recovery] began in 1977, a month after then-Egyptian president Anwar Sadat visited Israel. Shagrir said that he and a group of Israelis made a secret trip to Egypt, and happened to visit an antique bookstore in Cairo during their stay. The owner of the store wasn’t Egyptian, but Armenian. He recognized Shagrir, and told the filmmaker he admired a film Shagrir had produced about the Armenian genocide.
To show his thanks, the shopkeeper gave Shagrir a wrapped book, and asked him not to open it until he had returned to Israel. Shagrir agreed, and was shocked to find the antique Tanakh when he opened the package.
Read more on LiveScience: http://www.livescience.com/50177-tanakh-old-testament-book.html