Jewish scribes at work in medieval Egypt: glimpses from the Cairo Geniza

Jewish communities of medieval Islamicate world were communities of readers. Books were essential for religious life but also as professional guides and for leisure. Although it is difficult to evaluate the extent of literacy or the amount of books produced, the preserved writings in Hebrew script from the 10th century onwards reveal intense book production and a great diversity of books available to medieval Jewish readers. Books were hand written and several different craftsmen participated in their production. This lecture reveals various aspects of the scribal activities as attested in the documents discovered in the Cairo Geniza.

Judith Olszowy-Schlanger, FBA, is President of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and Professor of Hebrew Manuscript Studies at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris. Her research interests include Hebrew palaeography, Cairo Geniza Studies as well as Hebrew manuscripts from medieval England. Her publications include Karaite Marriage Documents from the Cairo Geniza. Legal Tradition and Community Life in Mediaeval Egypt and Palestine (Brill, 1998), Hebrew and Hebrew-Latin Documents from Medieval England: a Diplomatic and Palaeographical Study, Monumenta Palaeographica Medii Aeavi (Brepols, 2015).

Speaker: Dr Judith Olszowy-Schlanger, President of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies at the University of Oxford.

Chair: Professor Sarah Pearce

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