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RIO DE JANEIRO – The National Museum of Brazil said Wednesday that centuries-old scrolls of the Torah, considered the oldest documents of Judaism, had been moved before a huge fire ravaged the place.
Since the Sunday evening fire at the museum, which was the home of the Brazilian royal family, questions about the fate of the manuscripts have been swirling. During an ongoing investigation and unable to access much of the now-destroyed museum, officials were reluctant to explain how specific artifacts survived the fire or to disclose information on other documents.
"The Torah is kept in a safe place," according to a statement from the museum sent to the Associated Press on Wednesday, adding that it had been removed almost two years ago. The statement did not indicate where she had been transferred.
A spokesman for the Israeli embassy in the capital, Brasilia, said he had no more information about the Torah, the sacred book of Judaism.
Brazilian scholars have said that the scrolls came from Yemen and may have been dated back to the 13th century.
The museum's website indicates that the nine manuscripts, written in Hebrew, were acquired in the early nineteenth century by the country's last monarch, Dom Pedro II. The website, which apparently has not been updated, also indicates that the scrolls are not part of an exhibition, but are kept in a safe in the director's office.
This combination of two undated photos provided by the National Museum of Brazil shows the skull of Luzia Woman, on the left, and a reconstruction of Luzia, on the right, at the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. Discovered during an excavation in 1975 outside the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte, the fossilized remains of Luzia were stored for two decades. In the mid-1990s, tests conducted by scientists showed that it was the oldest fossil of the Americas. It was given the name of "Luzia", a tribute to "Lucy", the famous remnant of 3.2 million years found in Africa. (Museu Nacional Brasil via AP) (Associated Press)
Avraham Beuthner, of the Beit Lubavitch Jewish organization in Rio de Janeiro, told the AP that university officials had told him that the Torah was in a university library near the museum. The museum is part of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Beuthner said he had sent calls from Jews to Israel and several Latin American countries since the fire.
"Thank God, that's for sure," he said, adding that university officials promised soon to allow Jewish leaders to see where the Torah was.
The good news came as museum officials expressed concern that 90 percent of the largest collection of Latin American treasures had been destroyed by fire. Aerial photos of the main building showed only piles of rubble and ashes in the parts of the building where the roof collapsed.
On Tuesday, firefighters "found bone fragments in a room where the museum kept many items, including skulls," said Cristiana Serejo, deputy director of the museum. "We still have to collect them and take them to the lab to find out exactly what they are."
In his collection of about 20 million objects, one of the most valuable possessions is a skull called Luzia, which is among the oldest fossils ever found in the Americas.
As the cause of the fire is still under investigation, the disaster provoked a series of recriminations, while accusations that successive governments did not adequately fund the museum were raised and concerns were expressed about the risk of the fire. other institutions. The authorities stated that it was well known that the building was vulnerable to fire and required extensive repairs.
Maria Edileuza Fontele Reis, the organization's ambassador to Brazil, is expected to arrive in Brazil with a group of specialists in UNESCO's reconstruction and reconstruction.
The group "has been working with elements of national heritage in war zones like Iraq and in areas affected by a fire," Fontele Reis told AP during a phone interview.
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