Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic Manuscripts in the Cambridge Genizah Collections: Arabic Old Series (T-S Ar.1a-54)

by Colin F. Baker

The Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic manuscripts of the Genizah Collection are gradually being uncovered as one of its prized gems. These manuscripts open a rare window into the everyday lives of the Jews of Arab lands almost a thousand years ago. This volume is the first part of a project to classify and describe the Arabic portion of the Collection, based on worldwide expertise in Jewish and Arabic literature. The subject matter of the 8,000 fragments described here includes important literary material, as well as documentary sources, such as private and business letters, legal and administrative documents, merchant accounts and school exercise-books. The detailed introduction will interest Arabists, Hebraists, historians, linguists, medievalists, religious and literary scholars. Extensive indexes and bibliography provide easy access to the rich subject matter, and to the many medieval authors, both Jewish and Arab, whose works have been identified here, often for the first time.

664 pages, Hardcover

First published April 2, 2001