TY - BOOK AU - Goitein,S.D. TI - Letters of Medieval Jewish Traders T2 - Princeton Legacy Library SN - 9781400868728 AV - DS135.L4 U1 - 915.6/06/924 PY - 2015///] CY - Princeton, NJ PB - Princeton University Press KW - Cairo Genizah KW - Comerciantes judíos KW - Comercio KW - Historia KW - Commerce KW - Histoire KW - Sources KW - History KW - Medieval, 500-1500 KW - Medieval KW - Génizah du Caire KW - Jewish letters KW - Jewish merchants KW - Middle East KW - Correspondence KW - Jews KW - Judíos KW - Lenguas KW - Juifs KW - Levant KW - Lettres (Genre littéraire) juives KW - Marchands juifs KW - Travel / Middle East / General KW - bisacsh KW - Abbasid Caliphate KW - Al-Muwaffaq KW - Almohad Caliphate KW - Almoner KW - Arabic literature KW - Arabic name KW - Arabic script KW - Ayyubid dynasty KW - Bedouin KW - Berakhot (Talmud) KW - Bill of lading KW - Bodleian Library KW - Buyid dynasty KW - Cairo Geniza KW - Dinar KW - Epistle to Yemen KW - Fatimid Caliphate KW - Freedman KW - Fustat KW - God Knows (novel) KW - Hajj KW - Hebrew alphabet KW - Hebrew calendar KW - Hebrew language KW - Hebrew literature KW - Hebrew name KW - Ifriqiya KW - India paper KW - Islam KW - Islamic–Jewish relations KW - Japheth KW - Jewish education KW - Jewish history KW - Jewish literature KW - Jewish name KW - Joseph Schacht KW - Joseph ibn Migash KW - Judea (Roman province) KW - Kohen KW - Kunya (Arabic) KW - Maghrebi Jews KW - Maimonides KW - Medieval Latin KW - Mishnah KW - Mithqal KW - Muhammad KW - Muslim KW - Nagid KW - Palestinians KW - Parchment KW - Passover KW - Payment KW - Persian Jews KW - Qadi KW - Rabbi KW - Ramadan KW - Rosh Hashanah KW - Sayyid KW - Sharia KW - Solomon Schechter KW - Talmud KW - Tammuz (Hebrew month) KW - Torah scroll KW - Tunisia KW - Vizier KW - Writing KW - Yemenite Jews KW - Yeshiva N1 - Frontmatter --; Preface --; Contents --; Author's Note --; Abbreviations --; CHAPTER I. Introduction --; CHAPTER II. Geographical Setting --; CHAPTER III. The Eleventh Century --; CHAPTER IV. Merchant-Banker, Scholar, and Communal Leader --; CHAPTER V. The India Traders --; CHAPTER VI. Twelfth Century and Later --; CHAPTER VII. Accounts --; CHAPTER VIII. Travel and Transport --; List of Geniza Texts Translated --; Index --; Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data; restricted access N2 - Modern international business has its origins in the overseas trade of the Middle Ages. Of the various communities active in trade in the Islamic countries at that time, records of only the Jewish community survive. Thousands of documents were preserved in the Cairo Geniza, a lumber room attached to the synagogue where discarded writings containing the name of God were deposited to preserve them from desecration. From them Professor Goitein has selected eighty letters that provide a fascinating glimpse into the world of the medieval Jewish traders. As the letters vividly illustrate, international trade depended on a network of personal relationships and mutual confidence. Organization was largely through partnerships, based usually on ties of common religion but often reinforced by family connections. Sometimes the partners of Jews were Christians or Muslims, and the letters show these merchants working together in greater harmony than has been thought, even in partnerships that lasted through generations. The services rendered to a friend or partner and those expected from him were great, and the book opens with an angry letter from a merchant who believed he had been let down by his friend.The life of a trader was full of dangers, as the letter describing a shipwreck illustrates, and put great strain on personal relationships. One of the most moving letters is that written to his wife by a man absent in India for many years while endeavoring to make the family's fortunes. Although never ceasing to love her and longing to be with her, he offers to divorce her if she feels she can wait for him no longer. A decisive event in the life of the great Jewish philosopher, Moses Maimonides, was the death of his brother David, who drowned in the Indian Ocean. Printed here is the last letter David wrote, describing his safe crossing of the desert and announcing his intention to go on to India, against his brother's instructions. Professor Goitein has provided an introduction and notes for each letter, and a general introduction describing the social and spiritual world of the writers, the organization of overseas trade in the Middle Ages, and the goods traded. The letters demonstrate that although it reached from Spain to India, the traders' world was a cohesive one through which these men could move freely and always feel at home.Originally published in 1974.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905 UR - https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400868728 UR - https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9781400868728 UR - https://www.degruyter.com/document/cover/isbn/9781400868728/original ER -