The significance of the Genizah's medical documents for the study of medieval Mediterranean trade

Zohar Amar, Efraim Lev

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

The medical texts in the Genizah have been analyzed mainly as part of other subjects, like the various professional classes within the Jewish community in Old Cairo. Until now few have studied these documents in their own right, despite the fact that they offer valuable insights into the medieval economy of the Eastern Mediterranean and beyond. Focussing on saffron and myrobalan, this article offers a tentative investigation of the significance of medical drugs for the study of Mediterranean trade in the Middle Ages on the basis of practical medical fragments found mainly at the Taylor-Schechter collection in Cambridge.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)524-541
Number of pages18
JournalJournal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient
Volume50
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Nov 2007

Keywords

  • Eastern Mediterranean
  • Genizah
  • Medical drugs
  • Middle ages
  • Myrobalan
  • Saffron
  • Trade

RAMBI Publications

  • RAMBI Publications
  • Jews -- Medicine -- History -- Middle Ages, 500-1500
  • Judaism and science -- History -- To 1500
  • Jews -- Economic conditions -- Middle Ages, 500-1500
  • Cairo Genizah

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