Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T01:08:59.291Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Importance of the Cairo Geniza Manuscripts for the History of Medieval Female Attire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2009

Yedida K. Stillman
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Over the past two decades scholars have become aware of the great importance of the so-called Cairo Geniza documents as a primary source for medieval Mediterranean socioeconomic history. This awareness is due principally to the indefatigable work of S. D. Goitein. The Geniza documents also provide an important source for one aspect of the art history of the period. The some 750 trousseau lists from the Cairo Geniza, in combination with ancillary Geniza records, offer a wealth of information—hitherto unexploited—on the attire of Jewish women in medieval Egypt, and by extension, the attire of Muslim women as well. The trousseau lists dating mainly from the Fatimid and Ayyubid periods (969–1250)—and to a lesser extent from the Mamluk (1250–1517)—contain the complete wardrobe of a medieval Egyptian bride.

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Middle East Studies , Volume 7 , Issue 4 , October 1976 , pp. 579 - 589
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1976

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 For Professor Goitein's publications related to the Geniza documents up to 1964, see Shaked, Shaul, A Tentative Bibliography of Geniza Documents (Paris and the Hague, 1964), pp. 289–296 and 253–254.Google Scholar More recently, see Goitein, S. D., Studies in Islamic History and Institutions (Leiden, 1966),Google Scholar and idem, A Mediterranean Society, 2 vols. (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1967, 1971) (hereafter Med. Soc.).

2 Even with incomplete and undated manuscripts, the approximate date and place can be ascertained in many cases by, among other things, the handwriting of the scribe.Google Scholar

3 See, e.g., Tammām, Abû, Hamâsa, Vol. 1, ed. Freytag, (Bonn, 1828), pp. 131, 419, 423, 504, 519 f.;Google ScholarLyall, Charles J., Translations of Ancient Arabian Poetry (New York, 1930), pp. 31, 48, 51, 62, 81;Google Scholar or even Arberry's, A. J. anthology, Arabic Poetry (Cambridge, 1965), pp. 31, 53, 55, 87, 93, 119, and 135.Google Scholar

4 For the nature of Arabic historiography, see von Grunebaum, G. E., Medieval Islam (Chicago, 1962), pp. 275–287,Google Scholar and Rosenthal, F., A Historiography of Muslim Historiography (Leiden, 1952), passim.Google Scholar For geography, see Miquel, André, La géographie humaine du monde musuluman jusqu'au milieu du IIe siècle (Paris and the Hague, 1967).Google Scholar

5 Ed. Brünnow, R. E. (Leiden, 1866).Google Scholar

6 This dictionary, which has remained a standard work till this day, was the published form of a prize-winning composition (Amsterdam, 1845) written by Dozy two years earlier at the age of twenty-one.Google Scholar

7 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, n.v. (1935), 318–338.Google Scholar

8 Geneva, 1952.Google Scholar

9 Islamic Textiles: Material for a History up to the Mongol Conquest (Beirut, 1972) originally published as a series of articles in Ars Islamica 9 (1942)-15 (1951).Google Scholar

10 There are numerous exemplars of the Mâqamât in European libraries in London, Paris, Leningrad, Venice, and Istanbul. The Hadîth Bayâd wa-Riyâd survives in a unique manuscript in the Biblioteca Vaticana. Some illustrations from these manuscripts may be found in Ettinghausen, R., Arab Painting (Cleveland, 1962). I was able to study some of these manuscripts in London, Paris, and Rome during the winter of 1971–72 through the generous assistance of the American Research Center in Egypt.Google Scholar

11 Lane, E., An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians (London, 1836 and numerous reprints).Google Scholar

12 On dhimmîs in government service, see Goitein Med. Soc., II, 354–363. Concerning discriminatory tariffs and their nonenforcement, see Marcel Canard, “Fatimids,” El2, II, 861, and Goitein, Med. Soc., I, 344 ff.Google Scholar

13 E.g., we know from al-Suyûtî that Jewish women had to wear a yellow izâr (outer wrap), Christian women a blue one, and Samaritan women a red one (de Sacy, S., Chrestomathie arabe [Paris, 1826], 1, 145–146).Google Scholar

14 Baron, S., A Social and Religious History of the Jews (New York, 1957), 3, 142.Google Scholar

15 E.g., we find a twelfth-century Jewish merchant in India ordering a tirâz turban of Dabiqi linen with his son's name embroidered on it as a gift for the latter (Westminster College Cambridge Cair. Misc. f. g, 11. 19f [IB 50]).Google Scholar

16 In a contract of betrothal (Heb. shetar êrûsîn) from around the year 1100, the groom promises to give the bride a robe of honor (TS 8 J 9, f. 9: wa-an yadfa' lahâ 'ind al-dukhûl khil'a).Google Scholar

17 Khosrau, Nassiri, Sefer Narneh: Relation du Voyage, trans. Schefer, Ch. (Paris, 1881), p. III, where this fabric is called by its alternate name bû qalamûn.Google Scholar

18 Goitein, Med. Soc., I, 101.Google Scholar

19 al-Muqaddasi, , Ahsan al-Taqâsîm fî Ma'rifat al-Aqâlîm, ed. de Goeje, M. J. (Leiden, 1906), p. 239: wa-bil-inaghrib wa-bil-maghib rusûmuhum miasriyya. That ruslûm refers here to custom in regard to dress is clear from the continuation of the text.Google Scholar

20 See Mayer, Mamluk Costume, passim. The great Tunisian philosopher of history, Ibn Khaldûn, who came to Egypt in 1382, apparently stood out with his distinctive Maghrebi dress. This interesting fact is mentioned in Ibn Khaldûn's autobiographical work al-Ta'rîf, cited by M. Talbi, “Ibn Khaldûn,” EI 2 III, 828a.Google Scholar

21 See, e.g., Lane, Modern Egyptians, p. 30 n. I: “The fashion of their dress remains almost the same during the lapse of centuries”.Google Scholar

22 Gaudefroy-Demombynes, M., Le pélerinage à la Mekke (Paris, 1923), p. 173.Google Scholar

23 See Lundquist, E. R., La mode et son vocabulaire (Göteborg, 1950), p. II.Google Scholar

24 See, e.g., Bodl. MS Heb. f 56, f. 53b, 1. 3; TS NS J 409 I, ll. 3 and 5.Google Scholar

25 For qajîja with belt and veil: TS NS J 409 I, 1. 5; qajîja paired with various headgear: TS Box K 25, f. 269 I, 1. 25 (with an 'ardî); TS NS J 409 I, 1. 9 (with a mindîl); TS Box K 25, f. 269, I, l. 23 (with a radda). The qajîja appears in trousseaux from the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods, but not in Fatimid lists.Google Scholar

26 al-Jawzi, Ibn, al-Muntazam fî ta' rîkh al-mulûk wa 'l-umam (Hyderabad, 1939–1940), 8, 141;Google ScholarAshtor, E., Histoire des prix et des salaires dons l'Orient médiéval (Paris, 1969), p. 153,Google Scholar notes this reference but does not give the context. Perhaps the name of this garment should be read juwakâniyya indicating that it came from the small town of Juwakân in Persia. See Yâqût, , Mu'jam al-Buidân Wüstenfeld, F. (Leipzig, 1866–1870), 2, 159.Google Scholar

27 TS 20.77, I. 7: jûkâniyyat harîrî mukallalat al-akmâm bi-lu' lu'.Google Scholar

28 TS NS J 239 (dated 1140), for example. See Goitein, Med. Soc. II, 444, 448, 456, and 459. Professor Goitein has jûkhâniyya, deriving the word from jûkh, a type of cloth (see his discussion,Google Scholaribid., pp. 131–132). There is, however, a dress called jûkha (p1. jawâkhîn) which is probably made of jûkh. See, e.g., TS jo J 21, f. 4b, 1. 12, or PER H 20, l. 9, where both jûkaniyya and jûkha are listed together and must certainly be different items.

29 See G. Wiet, “Dabik,” EI2 II, 72 f.Google Scholar

30 Serjeant, Islamic Textiles, Index No. 3, pp. 242–263. Concerning the textile industry in the medieval Mediterranean, see Goitein, Med. Soc. I, 101 ff.Google Scholar

31 The town of Arjish in Armenia was a cotton center during the Il-Khânid period. See Serjeant, Islamic Textiles, p. 72. Cotton was one of the important products of Ashraf, a town in the Persian province of Mazandaran, south of the Caspian Sea. See R.M. Savory, “Ashraf,” EI2 I, 701.Google Scholar

32 According to Steingass, F., Persian-English Dictionary (London, 1963), p. 153a,Google Scholar Bâwal is the “name of a place famed for its silks.” I have been unable to find any reference to it in the geographical literature. For Gabes (Ar. Qâbis) in Tunisia as a silk center, see the literature cited in Serjeant, Islamic Textiles, pp. 180 f.Google Scholar

33 Perhaps this fabric came from al-Lakhaba, a town near Aden. For the location of this town, see Löfgren, O., Arabische Texte zur Kentniss der Stadt Aden (Leipzig, 1936), pp. 23, 24, and 54.Google Scholar

34 See Goitein, Mediterranean People (a selection of Geniza texts in translation), no. 48, n. 9, in preparation.Google Scholar

35 The jallâyäh or jallâyäh mezahhar is a wide-sleeved, white brocade robe of honor worn by Yemenite Jewish brides (and sometimes by the grooms as well). See Brauer, E., Ethnologie der jemenitischen Juden (Heidelberg, 1934), p. 151,Google Scholar and Kafih, J., Jewish Life in Sanà (Jerusalem, 1963), pp. 117, 131, and 334 (in Hebrew).Google Scholar The Palestinian jallâyeh is an embroidered wedding dress. See Weir, S., Palestinian Embroidery (London, 1970), p. 10,Google Scholar and plates 2, 3, 7, II, 19, and 23, and Stillman, Y. K., Palestinian Costume and Jewelry in the Museum of International Folk Art, in preparation. The original signification of this garment may also have been a wedding dress, since the formal unveiling of a bride before her new husband is known as jilwat al-'arūs (apparently from same root j-l-w).Google Scholar See al-Zabīdī, Tāj al-'Arūs, X, 75; and for contemporary usage, Frayho, Anis, Hadāra fī Tarīq al-Zawāl: al-Qariya al-Lubnāniyya (Beirut, 1957), p, 116. I owe this last reference to Professor Sasson Somekh.Google Scholar

36 There are many examples of malâhif of jallâya cloth. See, e.g., TS Misc. Box 29, f. 29, 1. 19; TS Box H 20, 1. 9; TS Box K 15, f. 65 I, 1. 19; TS Box K 15, f. 100 I, 1. 19; TS Box K 25, f. 42, 1. 9; TS Box K 25, f. 269 I, 1. 14.Google Scholar

37 Bodl. MS Heb. d 66, f. 47 I, margin, 1. 8 (dated 1146); TS 16.85, 1. 17; TS 20.7, 1. 12 (dated 1050); TS 13 J 6, f. 9 Iv, l. 21. Dozy (Vêtements, p. 181 n. 2) states: “Je ferai observer qu'à ma connaissance, le mot maqâtî' n'est j amais employé dans le sens de robes.”Google Scholar

38 According to al-Zabîdî, Tâj al-'Arûs (Cairo, 1888–1893), VI, 180, the word inutarraf is used to describe a horse whose head and tail are white and the rest of whose body is a different color, or whose head and tail are black and the rest another color. Often a color is mentioned with the designation mutarraf which perhaps means that the two edges (Ar. taraf) were of that color. E.g., wasat bayâd mutarraf (TS I2.443, I. 5), or wasat azraq mut arraf (TS Box K 25, f. 269 I, ll. 12).Google Scholar

39 See Dozy, Supplément I, 142b.Google Scholar

40 Bodl. MS Heb. d 66, f. 47, l. 29 (dated 1146). The same manuscript, 1. 25, mentions a jubba hamâ'ilî (a coatlike outer garment).Google Scholar

41 Bodl. MS Heb. a 3(2873), f. 42, I. 23.Google Scholar

42 Hainâ'il is the plural of hamâla or hamâla, a sword belt. See al-Zabîdî, Tâj al-'Arûs, VII, 289. Ashtor, Prix et salaires, p. 165, citing Dozy, Supplément, p. 328, tries to connect hamâ'îlîi with a type of ornamented belt worn by women. Dozy's only source, however, is A. Cherbonneau, in Journal Asiatique I. (1849).Google Scholar

43 Dozy, Vêtements, pp. 226–229,Google Scholar and idem, Supplément, I, 763. For sha'rî as goat wool, see Serjeant, Islamic Textiles, p. 160.

44 Bodl. MS Heb. a 3 (2873), f. 42, 1. 22.Google Scholar

45 Ashtor, Prix et salaires, pp. 349 f.Google Scholar

46 TS NS J 231 II (dated 1225), and TS NS J 226 I (dated 1244).Google Scholar

47 Mayer (Mamluk Costume, p. 50), mentions it only as a garment worn by members of the ‘ulamâ’ and fuqah'; Dozy, Vêtements, pp. 327–334.Google Scholar

48 TS 16.73. The farajiyya is listed in other dated trousseaux from the eleventh and twelfth centuries, e.g., Antonin 460, 1. 10 (1065), and Bodl. MS Heb. a 3 (2873), f. 42, 1. 20 (1117). In all, it is mentioned in twelve trousseau lists.Google Scholar

49 Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS Arabe 3929, f. 151.Google Scholar

50 Thawb nisâwî: TS Box K 15, f. 99 II, 1. 17; thawb rijâlî: ULC Or 1080 J 142 I, 1. 13.Google Scholar

51 See Dozy, Vêtements, pp. 21 f.,Google Scholar and idem, Supplément, I, 166a–b. See also Lane, Modern Egyptians, p. 46, where it is called tob or sebleh.

52 Al-Idrîsî, , Nushat al-Mnshtâq (Description de l'Afrique et de l'Espagne), ed. and trans. Dozy, R. and De Goeje, M. J. (Leiden, 1866), p. 59 (Arabic text);Google Scholaral-'Umarî, , Masâlik al-Absâr fî Mamâlik al-Amsâr, trans. Gaudefroy-Demombynes, M. (Paris, 1927), p. 125.Google ScholarDozy, Vêtements, does not have an entry for safsârî, although he does in Supplément, I, 658a–b. The large wrap worn by the mistress of the house in the Bayâd wa-Riyâd manuscript illustrations (Vat. Arabo 362, f. 26r) is probably either a safsârî or barrakân.Google Scholar

53 ULC Or 1080 J 77, 1. 25, where a safsârî and a barrakân are ordered together. It is interesting that one of Dozy's sources, Richardson, , Travels in tile Great Desert of Sahara, 1 (London, 1848), I, 51, mentions both of these items together.Google Scholar

54 Dozy, Vêtements, pp. 56–58,Google Scholar and idem, Supplément, I, 85b.

55 E.g., see TS 12.763, 1. 6; TS Misc. Box 29, f. 29, 11. 14, 15, and 18; TS Arabic Box 4, f. 4, 1. 4; Bodl. MS Heb. a 3 (2873), f. 46, 1. 13.Google Scholar

56 See Goitein, S. D., “Four Ancient Marriage Contracts from the Cairo Geniza,” Leshonenu, 30 (1966), 202.Google Scholar

57 See al-Bukhârî, , Sahîh (Les traditions islamiques) trans. Marçais, W. and Houdas, O. (Paris, 1903–1904), IV, 101.Google Scholar The most famous burda is the one given by the Prophet to the poet Ka'b b. Zuhayr. See Basset, R., “Burda,” EI2 1, 1314.Google Scholar See also al-Qaiqashandi, , Subh al-A'shâ (Cairo, 1913–1919), 3, 273 f.Google Scholar

58 Lane, Modern Egyptians, p. 255, n. 5.Google Scholar