Jews have been praying since Temple times, memorizing prayers or repeating them after a prayer leader. Prayers were not written until the early Middle Ages. The first prayer book was made by Rav Amram Gaon in Babylonia, around 850 CE. Around 50 years later another siddur was written by Rav Saadia Gaon, also of Babylonia. Rashi’s student Simcha ben Samuel created the Machzor Vitry early in the 12th century CE. Maimonides (the Rambam) elucidated the laws of prayer in his Mishneh Torah (1170-1180 CE). After this time, all siddurim have the same basic structure.

Siddurim were handwritten until the invention of printing. This means that they were not commonly used by most people. The first printed siddur is Minhag Romo of Soncino (1486). Printed prayer books were used by Jews, probably more than by other religions, because of the high literacy of Jews.

A multitude of different versions of the siddurim exist, based on the varied minhagim (customs) of Jews. These include large divisions like Ashkenaz and Sephard as well as variations among different communities and languages. Over the years, careless printers introduced errors into their siddurim. It wasn’t until the late 17th and 18th centuries that several publishers introduced edited and corrected versions. Modern prayer books are based on these. The first English translation of the siddur was published in London in 1738 by Gamaliel ben Pedahzur.