Ottoman-Era documents from the Cairo Genizah / Jane Hathaway ; with the assistance of Alan Elbaum and Christopher Whitehead.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hathaway, Jane, 1962- author.

Elbaum, Allan, author.

Whitehead, Christopher, 1972- author.

Series:

Cambridge Semitic languages and cultures

Semitic languages and culture ; 43 2632-6914

Language:

Arabic

English

Turkish, Ottoman

Subjects (All):

Manuscripts--Middle East--History.

Manuscripts.

Mamelukes.

Jews--Egypt--Cairo--History.

Jews.

Cairo Genizah.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, UK : Open Book Publishers, [2026]

Language Note:

In English with translations from Arabic and Ottoman Turkish. Includes text in Arabic and Ottoman Turkish.

Summary:

"This groundbreaking volume marks a rare and transformative contribution to studies of the Cairo Genizah, a vast trove of documents generated by Egypt’s Jewish community between the 10th and 19th centuries. While the Cairo Genizah has long yielded extraordinary insights into Jewish history in the greater Mediterranean region, attention has focused overwhelmingly on documents from the ‘classical’ period (11th–13th centuries). Documents from the later period, when Egypt was ruled by the Mamluk Sultanate and the Ottoman Empire, remain woefully underexplored. This book helps to change that, presenting a meticulously curated collection of later Genizah documents that expand the boundaries of current scholarship.Moving beyond the more familiar Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic texts, the author ventures into neglected terrain, offering expert translations of Arabic and Ottoman Turkish texts in Arabic script. The collection is rich with remarkable ‘firsts’, including a Jewish funerary prayer on the reverse of a letter from a military commander, fragments of Sufi poetry, and a primer on Muslim practice. The author uses her training in Ottoman history to analyse and contextualise these documents fully. As a result, each document opens new avenues of inquiry, linking Egypt’s Jewish community to wider intra- and intercommunal networks in the Ottoman Empire and beyond. With a lucid introduction, well-structured chapters, and a thoughtful conclusion, the book illuminates networks of exchange in the early modern Mediterranean. It will appeal to scholars of Jewish history, the Cairo Genizah, the Ottoman Empire, and early modern Egypt; students of Middle Eastern languages and religions; historians of intercommunal relations and trade; and librarians, archivists, and general readers fascinated by Middle Eastern manuscript culture and the vibrant religious and commercial networks of the early modern Mediterranean."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction / Jane Hathaway

1. Documents from Ottoman Damietta / Jane Hathaway

2. Documents from Ottoman Alexandria / Jane Hathaway

3. Inter- and Intracommunal Commercial Transactions / Jane Hathaway

4. The Raʾīs al-Yahūd and Other Rabbis / Jane Hathaway

5. Documents from the Muslim Community (?) / Jane Hathaway.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Online resource; title from PDF title page (Open Book Publishers, viewed June 9, 2026).

Other Format:

Print version: Hathaway, Jane,1962- Ottoman-Era documents from the Cairo Genizah.

ISBN:

1805117602

9781805117605

OCLC:

1581941657

Access Restriction:

Unrestricted online access