The Cairo Geniza

The Cairo Geniza

Author: D Field May 2, 2023 Duration: 42:59
Today’s episode is not the story of an individual but rather of a collected body of sacred and secular writings, or rather bodies of writings. It’s a story of scripture, court records, correspondence, literature, scholarly studies, and more, of human life as it has left its echoes in writing. This is the story of the Cairo Geniza, an incredible collection of historical documents, from medieval manuscripts to modern divorces. It's about how that collection, brought from the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat, Egypt, has reached us, and some of the figures involved. If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here. I'm on Twitter @circus_human, Instagram @humancircuspod, and I have some things on Redbubble. 3 Things: The photography of the Scottish twins, Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson A short Cambridge University Library video on the conservation of Geniza fragments and the painstaking work involved "From Cairo to Kolkata, Traces of a Vibrant Jewish Past" by Michael David Lukas Sources: Goitein, S. D. A Mediterranean Society, Volume III: The Family. University of California Press, 1978.  Hoffman, Adina & Cole, Peter. Sacred Trash: The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza. Shocken Books, 2011.  Jefferson, Rebecca. The Cairo Genizah and the Age of Discovery in Egypt: The History and Provenance of a Jewish Archive. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2022. Jefferson, Rebecca. "Deconstructing ‘the Cairo Genizah’: A Fresh Look at Genizah Manuscript Discoveries in Cairo before 1897." The Jewish Quarterly Review 108, no. 4 (2018): 422–48. Lewis, Agnes Smith. Eastern Pilgrims: The Travels of Three Ladies. Hurst and Blackett, 1870. Outhwaite, Ben. "A Hoard of Hebrew MSS," Limn issue 6, The Total Archive. Reif, Stefan. A Jewish Archive from Old Cairo: The History of Cambridge University's Genizah Collection. Routledge, 2013. Princeton Geniza Project. https://geniza.princeton.edu/en/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Step away from the dry textbook version of the Middle Ages and into the footsteps of those who actually walked it. Human Circus: Journeys in the Medieval World, hosted by D Field, is a narrative history series built around the voyages of real people. Each episode follows a specific traveler-whether a merchant on the Silk Road, a Franciscan friar venturing to the Mongol court, or an ambassador navigating Ottoman politics-placing their personal experiences within the sweep of larger events. You’ll hear how these individual journeys, driven by faith, trade, diplomacy, or sheer adventure, wove together a surprisingly interconnected world long before modern globalization. The podcast digs into the cultural exchanges and dramatic encounters that defined an era, all through the lens of movement and human connection. It’s about listening to history unfold as a story, where the vast and often abstract medieval world becomes immediate and personal through the voices of those who traversed it. Tune in for a deeply researched yet vividly told exploration of places, societies, and the figures who moved between them, reminding us that the past was never static.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Human Circus: Journeys in the Medieval World
Podcast Episodes
Pedro Tafur 6: In the Baths and at the Fairs [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:10
Our 15th-century traveller returns to Venice and goes overland into central and western Europe, making friends and catching up with some old ones along the way. He'll heal at the thermal baths, and there's talk of Bruges…
Pedro Tafur 5: Doomed Empires and Slavery on the Black Sea [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:15
Pedro Tafur ventures out from Constantinople to visit a sultan, an emperor, and the centre of the Black Sea slave trade. If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here. I'm on Bl…
Pedro Tafur 4: Cyprus, Chios, and Constantinople [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:18
Our 15th-century traveller dodges catastrophe on the Mediterranean and drops in on late-imperial Constantinople, where there's plenty of seafood and the roots of Pedro's family tree. If you like what you hear and want to…
Pedro Tafur 3: From Cyprus to Cairo [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:12
As our Castilian traveller makes his roundabout way toward Mt Sinai, he finds ill-health but lots of help on Cyprus, while around Cairo he's struck by the street food and crocodiles. If you like what you hear and want to…
Pedro Tafur 2: Busy Days in the Holy Land [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:39
The journey of our 15th-century Castilian traveller continues, as Pedro Tafur leaves Venice and makes his way to Jerusalem, where there will be no shortage of things for him to see and do. If you like what you hear and w…
Pedro Tafur 1: The Mediterranean Tour [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:43
Pedro Tafur, a 15th-century Castilian, makes his way around Spain and Italy with lengthy stops in Genoa, Venice, and Rome, and generally has a pretty pleasant holiday. If you like what you hear and want to chip in to sup…
Medieval Lives 8: Giovanni Fontana [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:37
Giovanni Fontana was a 15th-century Italian engineer and inventor. His designs included everything from systems for retrieving sunken ships and automating the defence of fortifications to measuring time and producing mus…
The Fire at Louvain [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:11
In the late-summer of 1914, a city burns and its university library with it. Unusually for this podcast, the story takes us into WWI, but there are medieval connections to the story of Louvain (Leuven) and what happened…
Fernao Mendes Pinto 10: Lisbon at Last [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:44
The Fernao Mendes Pinto story reaches its conclusion, and he finally reaches Portugal once more. If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here. I'm on BlueSky @a-devon.bsky.soci…
Fernao Mendes Pinto 9: With Francis Xavier in Japan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:49
The story of Fernao Mendes Pinto intersects with that of the Jesuit saint, Francis Xavier, and takes him back to Japan. If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here. I'm on Blu…