The Fragment INC 675: New Evidence of Non-Classical Tiberian Masorah in Western Europe

In his work Masoreten des Westens, Paul Khale had distinguished a group of manuscripts and fragments that he had been called the ‘Ben Naftali Manuscripts’. Even if this idea is no more acceptable because these sources are considered nowadays to deal with the ‘expanded Tiberian vocalization’ (Yeivin, The Biblical Masorah, 2011, 119), these ‘non classical Tiberian’ sources remain interesting and could be reassessed according to the study of C. Pilocane (2004) dedicated to the earliest Italian fragments of the Bible from the 11th-12th centuries. In this frame, my paper aims to present and define the variants of text, vocalization and Masoretic notes of the Hebrew fragment INC 675 found recently in Avignon (Italy, estimated 12th century), and additionally, to question the paleographic features of these group of sources in order to understand the dissemination of Non Classical Tiberian traditions in Western Europe, especially via Italy.