A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza, Vol. V: The IndividualThis six-volume "portrait of a Mediterranean personality" is a composite portrait of the individuals who wrote the personal letters, contracts, and all other manuscript fragments that found their way into the Cairo Geniza. Most of the fragments from the Geniza, a storeroom for discarded writings that could not be thrown away because they might contain the name of God, had been removed to Cambridge University Library and other libraries around the world. Professor Goitein devoted the last thirty years of his long and productive life to their study, deciphering the language of the documents and organizing what he called a "marvelous treasure trove of manuscripts" into a coherent, fascinating picture of the society that created them. It is a rich, panoramic view of how people lived, traveled, worshiped, and conducted their economic and social affairs. The first and second volumes describe the economic foundations of the society and the institutions and social and political structures that characterized the community. The remaining material, intended for a single volume describing the particulars of the way people lived, blossomed into three volumes, devoted respectively to the family, daily life, and the individual. The divisions are arbitrary but helpful because of the wealth of information. The author refers throughout to other passages in his monumental work that amplify what is discussed in any particular section. The result is an incomparably clear and immediate impression of how it was in the Mediterranean world of the tenth through the thirteenth century. Volume V, subtitled The Individual, draws a portrait of the individual—a social person who mingled within the community; addressed the challenges of poverty, illness, aging, and death; possessed friends, enemies, and lovers; prayed and responded within a religious community; learned, created, thought and taught. |
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A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World as ... S. D. Goitein Limited preview - 1967 |
Common terms and phrases
Abraham Maimonides Abū addressed Alexandria ancient Arabic arrived asked Baghdad Bible biblical blessed brother Cairo Cairo Geniza caliph cantor century Christian congregation court daughter death described dinars dirhems document Egypt elder Abu expressed father Fatimid friendship Fustat Geniza correspondence Geniza letters Geniza person Geniza society God's Goitein greetings ha-Kohen Halfōn Hebrew holidays Holy honor husband India Isaiah Islam Israel Jerusalem Jewish community Jews Joseph Judah ha-Levi Judaism judge Karaite Kohen learned living lord matters medieval Mediterranean mentioned merchant mercy Moses Maimonides mother Muslim Nagid Nethanel Nissīm one's Palestine phrases physician pious poem poet possessed praise prayer probably Psalms qadi Rabbanites recipient regarded religion religious reported Saadya Gaon Sabbath Samuel scholar sent Siddur social Solomon soul Spain spiritual synagogue Talmud tion Torah town translated Tunisia wife wish woman words writing written yeshiva