India Traders of the Middle Ages

Documents from the Cairo Geniza 'India Book'
Erscheinungsjahr 2007
ISBN: 978-90-04-15472-8
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 31, 918 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 1661 g

Reihe: Études sur le judaïsme médiéval

The India trade in Oriental spices, pharmaceutical, dyeing and other materials was the backbone of medieval economy, especially in the Islamic world. A unique source of documentation is now available in 11th-12th century Geniza letters, written in Judeo-Arabic (Middle Arabic in Hebrew characters), by participants in this activity. The documents are presented in translation with an introduction and notes. They deal with economic history and material, social, and spiritual civilization. Besides illuminating the activities of the Jewish traders of the Indian Ocean and their families in the territories from the Far East to southern Arabia and Egypt, the letters contain valuable information on Jewish and Islamic culture, relations between Jews and Arabs, Mediterranean culture, and Judeo-Arabic.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Goitein, Shelomo Dov

Friedman, Mordechai

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wirtschaftsgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

CONTENTS
SECTION ONE: INTRODUCTION
Chapter One Letters and Documents on the India Trade in Medieval Times—A Preview
Chapter Two Dramatis Personae
A. Joseph b. David Lebdi and his Family
B. Madmun b. Hasan-Japheth and his Family
B1. Mahruz b. Jacob
C. Abraham Ben Yiju and his Family
C1. The Ibn al-Amshati Family
Chapter Three Select Studies on Shipping and Travel
A. Nakhudas—Shipowners and Captains
B. Dangers in Travel and in Shipping Goods by Land and Sea
SECTION TWO: THE DOCUMENTS
Chapter One Joseph B. David Lebdi and his Family
A. Lawsuit of Jekuthiel al-Hakim vs. Joseph Lebdi
B. Lawsuit of Ibn Sughmar vs. Joseph Lebdi
C. Additional Geniza Papers on Joseph Lebdi
D. The Lebdi Family
Chapter Two Madmun B. Hasan-Japheth, Prince of Yemenite Jewry, and his Family
A. Hasan b. Bundar, his Brothers Abraham and Isaac, and Elder Son Bundar II
B. Business Letters Sent by Madmun b. Hasan to India
C. Letters and Memoranda Sent by Madmun to Egypt (Cairo-Fustat)
D. Internal Yemenite Affairs
E. Hebrew Poems by Abraham Ben Yiju in Honor of Madmun
F. Joseph b. Abraham b. Bundar, Madmun’s Cousin
G. Khalaf b. Isaac b. Bundar, Madmun’s Cousin
H. Mahruz b. Jacob son of Madmun’s Paternal Aunt
I. Madmun b. Hasan’s Descendents
J. Shipwrecked Merchants, Whose Estates were Cared for by Madmun I and his Successors
Chapter Three Abraham Ben Yiju and his Family
A. Letters sent to Ben Yiju by Madmun b. Hasan (See II, 13–31)
B. Letters sent to Ben Yiju by Joseph b. Abraham
C. Letters sent to Ben Yiju by Khalaf b. Isaac
D. Documents Related to Abraham Ben Yiju During his Stay in India and Yemen
E. Correspondence after Leaving India and while Returning ‘Home’
List of Works Cited and Abbreviations
Indexes
Indexes of Geniza Texts and Literary Sources
Name and Subject Index

Über Autor(innen)

S. D. Goitein (1900-1985) was the world’s preeminent Geniza scholar. His publications include the seminal six-volume A Mediterranean Society.
Mordechai A. Friedman, Ph.D. (1969), University of Pennsylvania, is Professor of Geniza Studies at Tel-Aviv University. His most recent book is Maimonides, the Yemenite Messiah and Apostasy.