Jewish networks in the Caïro Genizah
1897: Solomon Schechter studying Genizah fragments in the Cambridge University Library
In 1896 the Jewish-Romanian scholar Solomon Schechter brought thousands of old textual fragments from an old synagogue in old-Caïro (Fustat) to Cambridge. The fragments belonged to a collection of 300.000 fragments which were discovered in the old depositroom - the 'genizah' - of the synagogue. The piles of paper were dated all the way between the eighth century up to the nineteenth century, while most fragments were dated between c. 900 - 1200: the era of the Fatamid rulers in Egypt. The fragments contain various types of texts, varying from religious literature to business contracts and personal letters, written in both hebrew and arabic. These documents survived because the name of God was written on it, making it impossible to destroy for the Jews in medieval Egypt.
Over the last century scholars have studied the fragments and have constructed the medieval Mediterranean society which is represented in the Caïro Genizah. It has been shown that the Jews of the medieval Mediterranean between c. 900-1200 CE belonged to a highly mobile, cosmopolitic and interconnected Mediterraenean society. Traders, scholars, travellers and brides were crossing the Mediterranean sea from Egypt to Spain and from Morocco tot modern Iraq. While scholars have categorized both economic, academic-religious and social relations in this society, they have not yet treat these categories as networks extensively, especially not the social relations.
In my research I have focused on constructing the networks of these categories and have concluded that the Jewish Mediterranean society between c. 900-1200 CE was both continually intensified and kept together by complex economic, academic-religious and social networks between Jews due to their collective ethnic solidarity, religion and language.
In my research I have focused on constructing the networks of these categories and have concluded that the Jewish Mediterranean society between c. 900-1200 CE was both continually intensified and kept together by complex economic, academic-religious and social networks between Jews due to their collective ethnic solidarity, religion and language.
This map visualizes a part of the network in the Caïro Genizah.As you can see the city's of Fustat, Constantinopel and Tunis functioned as important hubs which were linked to various other major cities. Since it would be visually chaotic to show all the various links of trade, I have decided to only name the cities between which the trade was being carried out.
In order to better understand this map, the red link between Tunis and Grenada for example represents a Tunesian bride who was given in marriage to a man in Grenada. The blue link between Fez and Baghdad represents a scholar sending a letter on a religious matter to a Jewish academy in Baghdad.
In order to better understand this map, the red link between Tunis and Grenada for example represents a Tunesian bride who was given in marriage to a man in Grenada. The blue link between Fez and Baghdad represents a scholar sending a letter on a religious matter to a Jewish academy in Baghdad.
Sources:
Abulafia, D., The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean, Penguin Books (Londen 2011).
Bashkin, J.R., ‘Mobility and marriage in two medieval societies’, Jewish history, vol. 22, afl. 1, 2008, 223-243.
Bareket, E., Fustat on the Nile: the Jewish elite in medieval Egypt, in ‘The medieval meditteranean’, Brill (Leiden 1999).
Constable, O.R., Trade and traders in muslm spain: the commercial realignment of the Iberian Peninsula 900-1500, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge 1994).
Goitein, S.D.
- Letters of Medieval Jewish Traders, Princeton University Press (Princeton 1973).
- A Mediterranean society : the Jewish communities of the Arab world as portrayed in the documents of the Cairo Geniza, University of California Press (Berkeley 1967-1993), Electronic reproduction: University of Michigan, Scholarly Publishing Office (Ann Arbor 2002), Volume 1.
Holo, J.
- ‘Correspondence from the Cairo Genizah, Evidently Concerning the Byzantine Reconquest of Crete’, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 59, 2000, 1-13.
- Byzantine Jewry in the Mediterranean economy, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge 2009).
Sources of images on this page:
- Image Solomon Schechter: found on http://history.emory.edu/home/graduate/faculty-focus-areas/jewish.html (Public domain)
- Image fragment 1: found on http://blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/theconveyor/2010/05/25/bodleians-winter-exhibition-crossing-borders (Public domain)
- Image fragment 2: found on http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/books/68433/pieced-together, from the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit, Cambridge University Library (Public domain)
- Image fragment 3: found on http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geniza_del_Cairo#mediaviewer/File:Cairo_Genizah_Fragment.jpg (Public domain)
- Map: by author of this page
Abulafia, D., The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean, Penguin Books (Londen 2011).
Bashkin, J.R., ‘Mobility and marriage in two medieval societies’, Jewish history, vol. 22, afl. 1, 2008, 223-243.
Bareket, E., Fustat on the Nile: the Jewish elite in medieval Egypt, in ‘The medieval meditteranean’, Brill (Leiden 1999).
Constable, O.R., Trade and traders in muslm spain: the commercial realignment of the Iberian Peninsula 900-1500, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge 1994).
Goitein, S.D.
- Letters of Medieval Jewish Traders, Princeton University Press (Princeton 1973).
- A Mediterranean society : the Jewish communities of the Arab world as portrayed in the documents of the Cairo Geniza, University of California Press (Berkeley 1967-1993), Electronic reproduction: University of Michigan, Scholarly Publishing Office (Ann Arbor 2002), Volume 1.
Holo, J.
- ‘Correspondence from the Cairo Genizah, Evidently Concerning the Byzantine Reconquest of Crete’, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 59, 2000, 1-13.
- Byzantine Jewry in the Mediterranean economy, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge 2009).
Sources of images on this page:
- Image Solomon Schechter: found on http://history.emory.edu/home/graduate/faculty-focus-areas/jewish.html (Public domain)
- Image fragment 1: found on http://blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/theconveyor/2010/05/25/bodleians-winter-exhibition-crossing-borders (Public domain)
- Image fragment 2: found on http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/books/68433/pieced-together, from the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit, Cambridge University Library (Public domain)
- Image fragment 3: found on http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geniza_del_Cairo#mediaviewer/File:Cairo_Genizah_Fragment.jpg (Public domain)
- Map: by author of this page
Y.H.P.