Overview

Jews lived in Egypt for centuries, since biblical times; nevertheless, Jewish life in medieval Islamic Egypt was for many years an obscure and understudied theme. This book offers the reader a wide-ranging picture of Jewish life in medieval Egypt as depicted by the most recent scholarship. Starting from the last phases of the Byzantine era and ending with the Mamluk period, the book presents a scholarly yet vivid description of Jewish communal organization, judiciary, economic frameworks, family life, and lingual practices, as well as religious and literary activities of the medieval Jews of Egypt.

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9781618117465

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Reviews

“The Jews in Medieval Egypt, edited by Miriam Frenkel, fills [a] void, providing a fresh and satisfyingly multidisciplinary overview of Jewish life in the land of the Nile over the course of the entire medieval period. … The chapters provide clear, up-to-date surveys that will be useful to specialists and to general audiences alike. And as broad, self-contained studies they can be read profitably both on their own and in concert. … The eleven chapters that make up the volume succeed admirably at covering… terrain, offering readers a comprehensive, nuanced and highly readable overview of the history of the Jews in medieval Egypt.”  — Arnold E. Franklin, Journal of the American Oriental Society “Frenkel… has compiled an excellent survey of Jews in Islamic Egypt from their renewal during the Byzantine period until the Ottoman conquest in 1517… Recommended.” — S. Bowman, emeritus, University of Cincinnati, CHOICE “This is a very well-conceived and very welcome volume. It offers a clear, sophisticated, and up-to-date synthesis of an unusually broad range of aspects of medieval Jewish Egyptian history, written by leading specialists in the field. An indispensable resource for students and scholars alike.” — Eve Krakowski, Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Studies and the Program in Judaic Studies, Princeton University “This is the first collection of studies entirely devoted to the history of Jews in medieval Egypt, from the seventh to the fifteenth century. A team of researchers, specialists in different fields of Jewish studies, investigates a wide range of topics pertaining to the communal self-government, the legal arena, economic life, family life, language and culture. The volume is unique in its broad approach to Jewish life in medieval Egypt and explores diverse topics such as converts and renegades as well as poetry and manifestations of pietism. The volume begins with the world of Late Antiquity and ends with the discussion of the Jews during the Mamluk period (1250-1517), offering a panoramic view Jewish history intertwined with the Islamic history of medieval Egypt. The chapters are written in the highest academic standards but are also accessible to the wider readership.” —Yaacov Lev, Professor Emeritus in Middle Eastern Studies, Bar-Ilan University

Author Information

Miriam Frenkel is Professor of Medieval Jewish History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is the Menahem Ben-Sasson Chair in Judaism & Islam Through the Ages and head of the School of History.

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