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Letters of Medieval Jewish Traders (Paperback)
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Letters of Medieval Jewish Traders (Paperback)
Series: Princeton Legacy Library
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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.
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