( JTA ) — In a new exhibit opening Tuesday, the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., has unveiled what it says is the oldest Jewish book ever discovered.
According to the museum’s dramatic claim, the tiny book is a relic of an 8th-century civilization on the ancient trading route known as the Silk Road, created by Jews living as a minority among Buddhists who ruled the Bamiyan Valley in modern-day Afghanistan.
Measuring five inches by five inches, the book combines a variety of texts written by different hands, including prayers, poems, and what the museum says is the oldest known version of the Haggadah, the central text of the Passover seder…