The Codex Vaticanus is the oldest complete manuscript of the Christian Bible. It was written in Greek in Israel around the year 350 CE. In 2005, Ardon Bar-Hama spent three days in the vault of the Vatican digitally photographing each of the 759 leaves of the codex. The project also included the photography of four Hebrew illuminated manuscripts that the Vatican lent to the Israel Museum by the Vatican and ranging from the 12th to the 15th centuries.
Bronze Doors of Old St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican, Rome
Additionally, Ardon Bar-Hama photographed the famous bronze doors of St. Peter's Basilica (1445), of which no complete photographs existed prior to Ardon's work.
The Dead Sea Scrolls – Israel Museum
This prestigious Israeli institution is home to a precious collection of Dead Sea Scrolls, the 2000-year old writings found in caves at Qumran. Invited into the museum’s vault, Ardon Bar-Hama digitally photographed the Great Isaiah Scroll, the Temple Scroll, The War Scroll, The Community Scroll, and many other Dead Sea Scroll fragments.
The Aleppo Codex
The Aleppo Codex is the oldest existing manuscript of the Hebrew Bible, written in 920 AD in Israel. It is known as the actual bible that Maimonides utilized in creating his most famous work - The Mishne Torah which he completed on the year 1180 in Egypt. Subsequently, his descendants transferred the Codex to Aleppo, Syria where it remained until 1948, when it was smuggled out of Syria in a washing machine. Today it is displayed at the Shrine of the Books at the Israel Museum.
New York Philharmonic Archives
The New York Philharmonic Archives consists of more than eight million items. In 2009, The Leon Levy Foundation funded a $2.4 million 3-year effort to digitize 1.3 million items relating to the life of Leonard Bernstein. Of particular interest is Mahler's 9th symphony music score with conductors’ notes from Toscanini and Leonard Bernstein.
The Bodleian Libray, Oxford University
Amongst the vast holdings of the Bodleian Library, founded in 1602, are four original copies of the Magna Carta. In 1692, the library acquired Maimonides autographed final copy of his greatest work - the Mishne Torah. The manuscript is signed by Maimonides as follows: "It has been corrected from my own book. I am Moses son of Rabbi Maimon of blessed memory." In 2010, Ardon Bar-Hama digitized this manuscript as well as the 25,000 fragments from the Cairo Genizah. Both projects were funded by George Blumenthal.
Juilliard School of Music – Manuscript Collection
One of the finest private collections of music scores to be amassed in the last century was gifted by Bruce Kovner to the Juilliard Library. Among the 140 priceless works of the collection, are Mozart's handwritten notes for the Marriage de Figaro and Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Ardon Bar-Hama digitized the entire collection and created the website to view them all online at full resolution.
The National Library of Israel, Jerusalem Ardon Bar Hama digitally photographed a selection of The National Library’s treasures. Among these is the oldest known Talmudic fragment in existence, dating back to the 9th century. Other items include Cairo Genizah fragments and a collection of German aerial photographs of the Holy Land from 1917. In 2011 the NLI commissioned Ardon Bar-Hama to initiate a large-scale project to replace their Micro-Film images with digital photography images of rare Hebrew manuscripts held in repositories around the world.
Nelson Mandela & Desmond Tutu , South Africa
In 2011, Google initiated a project to digitize the journals and archival documents of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. The project helps to preserve thousands of documents, photographs, and audio-visual materials chronicling the life and times of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. Recommended by Google, the two institutions commissioned Ardon Bar-Hama to undertake the digitization.
The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Archives
The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Archives houses the entire, extensive collection of scientific and personal materials of CSHL leader, Nobel Laureate James D. Watson , who is known as one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA in 1953 along with Francis Crick. Pursuant to a 2-year grant from the Wellcome Trust, Ardon Bar-Hama was commissioned to digitize the entire 350,000 items of the archive.
Sir John Soan's Museum, London
The museum holds vast collection of architectural drawings dating back to the Renaissance. Among them are 8,000 drawings by Robert Adam, the famous Scottish architect of the 18th century. In 2010, Ardon Bar-Hama digitally photographed the Adam collection with funding provided by the Leon Levy Foundation.
The Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana, University of Amsterdam
The Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana is one of the foremost Special Collections of the University of Amsterdam and is considered
one of the major Jewish libraries on the European continent. Ardon Bar-Hama has digitized a choice selection of
Amsterdam printed books and manuscripts from the Rosenthaliana’s collections, as well as its medieval manuscripts.
In cooperation with the National Library of Israel a large number of Hebrew manuscripts are now in the process of being
digitized by Ardon Bar-Hama.
New York Public Library, New York Over a five year period, Ardon Bar-Hama has had several assignments to digitize items at the New York Public Library including an illuminated Josephus from 1492, a Samaritan Bible from the 14th century, and a very elaborate Scroll of Esther from the 16th century.
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Music Division
In 2007, Ardon Bar-Hama digitized the Set and Costume Design Collection of about 3,500 items, mostly dating from around 1930 to
1982. The collection was drawn together from a number of archival collections as well as individual items that were acquired by the Music Division. It
consists chiefly of two dimensional set and costume designs in a variety of mediums, among them watercolors, blueprints,
tempera, ink, pastels,and pencil. Some designs include fabric swatches. Designers represented are Lewis Brown, H. A. Condell,
Ladislas Czettel, Frederick Kiesler, Donald Oenslager, Wolfgang Roth, Richard Rychtarik, and Rouben Ter-Arutunian, among others.
The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles The Getty Research Institute at the Getty Center houses special collections of original documents and objects from the Renaissance to the present. Ardon Bar-Hama digitally photographed the institute’s nine volumes of 18th century engravings by Picard. The project, which produced 4500 images in two days, was sponsored by the Library Without Walls.
The Morgan Library, New-York
Ardon Bar-Hama has digitized the holdings of the autographed copy of Gustav Mahler's 2nd Symphony, owned by Mr. Gilbert Kaplan, and Jules Fisher's collection of the 17th century drawings of the Bibiena family.
The Helen Keller Archives, New-York
The Helen Keller Archives are housed at the American Foundation for the Blind in New York City. The archives comprise Helen Keller's personal papers, manuscripts, photographs and artifacts. Ardon Bar-Hama photographed all the three dimensional objects of the archive.
Mathematisches Institut, Göttingen University , Germany
Late in 2006, Libraries Without Walls received a grant from the Clay Mathematics Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts to digitize the scientific notebooks ("protokols") maintained by mathematician Fritz Klein from 1872-1912, while Klein was doing advanced mathematical research at the Mathematisches Institut in Göttingen, Germany. The notebooks reveal the astonishing mind of one of the foremost researchers of the contemporary era. The entire collection of 29 volumes was digitized by Ardon Bar-Hama in a marathon effort that took only four days and produced 8000 images.
Terra Sancta Monastery, Jerusalem The archives at this Franciscan monastery include the official seal of every Pope beginning from the 13th century. Also housed there are 8,000 letters in Arabic sent between the Vatican and Islamic rulers of the Holy Land since the year 1290. Digitized by Ardon Bar-Hama, the letters illuminate seven centuries of the complex relationship between Christian and Muslim leaders. The Vatican has initiated a research project to translate and archive the documents.
Chicago Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago At the Chicago Oriental Institute, Ardon Bar-Hama photographed a collection of archaeological objects dating back to biblical times and found at Megiddo, Israel, in the 1920s . The excavation was funded by John D. Rockefeller and yielded some very important finds. Bar-Hama digitized their Sennacherib Prism, an extra-biblical source describing the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem.
Jewish Theological Seminary, New York In 2006, The Friedberg Genizah Project commissioned Ardon Bar-Hama to digitized JTS’s 45,000 Cairo Genizah fragments for archival and research purposes. With Ardon’s revolutionized methods and photographic techniques, the project was completed in only 3 months and laid the ground work for a world-wide effort to digitize all the Genizah fragments ever found. He also digitally photographed a selection of very important Hebrew illuminated manuscripts, including The Prato Hagaddah from Spain (circa 1300) , The Rothschild Mahzor from Italy, 1455 and a Prayer book from Germany, 1290. With their documents a website displaying their treasures was created as well as a website dedicated to the celebration of Passover which included manuscripts dating back to the Middle Ages.
The Jewish Museum , New-York
Ardon Bar-Hama digitized a portion of the museum’s permanent archaeology exhibit and their beautiful Ketubbah collection for display on their website. In addition, Bar-Hama digitally recreated a special interactive sculpture by renowned artist Tobi Kahn (Saphyr, 2002). In 2009 the museum curated the exhibition: “Reclaimed: Paintings from the Collection of Jacques Goudstikker”. Ardon Bar-Hama created an interactive presentation displayed on a large touch screen, which enabled the visitors to flip through the pages of the exhibition’s highlight – The Black Notebook.
American Jewish Committee Archives, New York
Sponsored by the Center for Online Judaic Studies, Ardon Bar-Hama digitized many of AJC’s rare documents, trained AJC staff to digitize more, and created AJC’s interactive timeline. The AJC archives include Henry Ford’s Dearborn Independent newspaper and other items that document anti-Semitism and race relations in the US.
Central Zionist Archives, Jerusalem
The Central Zionist Archives in Jerusalem has a spectacular collection of over 4000 posters related to Zionism and the formation of the State of Israel, forty of which are on display at the departure ramp at Ben-Gurion airport in Israel. Themes depicted include culture, politics and Zionist thought. Ardon Bar-Hama digitally photographed these posters as well as the 18 volumes of handwritten journals of Theodore Herzl (1895).
Columbia University - Rare Book & Manuscript Library
Columbia's Judaica manuscript collection is one of the largest of its
kind in North America, and is the largest such collection in a secular research institution in the USA. The collection has over 1500 manuscripts. In 2011, Ardon Bar-Hama started digitizing the highlights of the collection which will be available online in the near future.
Yeshiva University Gottesman Library, New York
Ardon Bar-Hama photographed the beautiful Prague Bible at Yeshiva University’s Mendel Gottesman Library in NY. The Prague Bible is an illuminated manuscript from 1489 in three volumes: Torah, Neviim and Ketuvim (Pentateuch, Prophets and Hagiographa). The Bible was at one time in the hands of Moses Mendelssohn . The library’s site allows the user to view the entire Bible, page by page.
Yeshiva University Museum, New York
In 2005, Yeshiva University Museum presented an exhibit entitled, “Printing the Talmud: From Bomberg to Schottenstein.” The display provided a complete cultural history of the Talmud, from its origins through the present day. Ardon Bar-Hama created a digital record of the exhibit and presented it online. The site includes essays, manuscripts and videos from the exhibit and its accompanying volume: Printing the Talmud: From Bomberg to Schottenstein.
Tower of David Museum, Jerusalem Ardon Bar-Hama digitally photographed the galleries of this extraordinary museum located in a restored citadel in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem. The museum’s collection includes objects related to the history of Jerusalem from the Canaanite period all the way through the creation of the State of Israel and the modern period. A selection of the images is displayed on the museum’s website. The project was funded by George Blumenthal.
HUC – The Klau Library, Cincinnati Ardon Bar Hama digitized 180 rare manuscripts, including the oldest known complete commentary written by Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaqi (known as Rashi) on The Five Books of Moses. The manuscripts were penned one hundred years after his death in 1105.
Westminster College, Cambridge Westminster College, a theological college of the United Reformed Church, holds a unique collection of Cairo Genizah fragments. Discovered in Cairo’s Ben Ezra Synagogue in 1896 by the College’s benefactors, the documents were brought back to England and preserved by the College. Dating from 870 to 1880, the Genizah fragments are essential in understanding social and economic Jewish history. The collection was digitally photographed by Ardon in 2005.
Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York At the Museum of Jewish Heritage, Ardon Bar-Hama digitized a selection of the museum’s prize holdings. The items included a forty-foot Sukkah cover and a letter from Ferdinand and Isabella written days after their expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492.
City of David Foundation, Jerusalem Ardon Bar-Hama filmed high-definition footage of the City of David excavations in Jerusalem, narrated by Doron Spielman, and directed by actor and philanthropist George Blumenthal.
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York
The Peace Library at Givat Haviva – Early Palestinian Newspaper Collection
The library holds a collection of Palestinian newspapers consisting of rare and fragile newspapers from the early 20th century. It is among the largest archive of its kind in the world. Funded by UNESCO with additional support from George Blumenthal, Ardon Bar-Hama digitally photographed thousands of these newspapers.
Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw, Poland
The museum holds the original Schindler’s list document. In 2007 Ardon Bar-Hama digitized the list and trained their staff to continue digitizing the museum’s vast collection of documents from the time of the Holocaust.
Additional Institutions
Biblioteca Palatina, Parma, Italy
Palestine Exploration Fund, London
Archivio Capitolare, Modena, Italy
Archivio de la Curia Vescovile, Cesena, Italy
Archivio di Stato, Bologna, Italy
Archivio di Stato, Modena, Italy
Archivio Storico Comunale, Bazzano, Italy
Archivio Storico Comunale, Imola, Italy
Archivio Storico Comunale, Modena, Italy
Estense Universitaria, Modena, Italy