Mediterranean Society

by Goitein, S. D.

• ISBN13: 9780520221611
• ISBN10: 0520221613
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-09-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

This 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 IV, subtitledDaily Life, details city life, domestic architecture, furnishings and housewares, clothing and jewelry, food and drink, and other material culture.

Author Biography

S.D. Goitein (1900-1985), scholar, administrator, professor, and author of 500 or more books and articles in Hebrew and English, worked at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton until his death

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Abbreviations And Symbols	xix
Map of Medieval Egypt	xxviii
Daily Life	1	(270)
The Home	1	(149)
The City	1	(46)
Domestic Architecture	47	(35)
Socioeconomic Aspects of Housing	82	(23)
Furnishings of the Home	105	(33)
Housewares	138	(12)
Clothing and Jewelry	150	(76)
Clothing	150	(50)
Jewelry	200	(26)
Food and Drink	226	(35)
Food	226	(27)
Wine and Other Beverages	253	(8)
Mounts	261	(10)
A Note on Sachkultur	270	(1)
APPENDIXES	271	(74)
A. Prices of Houses in Geniza Documents (antedating 1250)	273	(18)
B. The Cost of Rents in Communal Buildings	291	(6)
C. Furnishings	297	(13)
D. Selected Documents	310	(35)
Notes	345	(124)
Index	469