The Letter of the Karaite elders of Ascalon (c. 1100) was a communication written by six elders of the Karaite Jewish community of Ascalon, Israel and sent to their coreligionists in Alexandria, Egypt after the fall of Jerusalem in 1099. It is important to the study of the first crusade because it dates only 9 months after the siege, making it one of the earliest primary sources on the subject (most European accounts date...

The 1663 inscription is engraved on the front and back of a single limestone stele. Here are the scans for both sides. Again, I had to use my scanning wand to do these, so some may appear slightly warped.

FRONT



Chinese Characters

* http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/4946/ptdc0102.jpg...

I have to apologize for how some of the scans came out warped. I had to use my scanning wand because my printer scanner is on the fritz. They are not too bad, though.

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I have decided to start archiving information about the three stone inscriptions that were erected by the Kaifeng Jews in 1489, 1512, and 1663 (sides A and B). I am doing this because the book that they appear in, Chinese Jews: A Complication of Matters Relating to the Jews of K'ai-Feng Fu (2nd ed., 1966), is hard to find, and when you do find it, it is extremely expensive. I’m sure there are plenty of people who would benefit from...

I corresponded with a scholar who specializes in the Kaifeng Jews back in 2010. What follows is a selection from one of the letters I sent them. It explains my own thoughts on the community's early life in China:

[Recipient's name]

[...]

I am sure there has to be more mentions of Jews in China in other records. Perhaps these allusions have been confused with Muslims or other religious groups. S.D. Goitein said there has

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