Simchat Torah is not mentioned in the Hebrew Bible or Talmud. The yearly cycle of Torah readings was developed in the 5th or 6th centuries ce among Babylonian Jews, and the cycle ended on the second day of Shemini Atzeret. By the 11th century Simchat Torah developed as a festival to celebrate the completion of the Torah reading cycle, and by the 12th century in Europe it became customary to begin the cycle anew on the holiday.
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