Congratulations to the Genizah Unit’s Nick Posegay, the 2022 winner of the British and Irish Association for Jewish Studies (BIAJS) Book Prize, for his book Points of Contact: The Shared Intellectual History of Vocalisation in Syriac, Arabic, and Hebrew (Open Book Publishers, 2021 - read it Open Access here). Nick’s win (and an honourable mention for Joan Taylor and the late David M. Hay for their book Philo of Alexandria) was announced this week at the BIAJS annual conference at... Read More
Book
Nadia Vidro
on Mon 31 Jan 2022
Diversity and Rabbinization: Jewish Texts and Societies between 400 and 1000 CE ● Edited by Gavin McDowell, Ron Naiweld and Daniel Stökl Ben Ezra ● Open Book Publishers, 2021
The vast majority of Jews whose records are preserved in the Cairo Genizah were rabbinic. They derived their legal and theological systems primarily from rabbinic literature such as the Mishnah and the Talmuds and saw rabbinic leaders as the main authority. The only non-rabbinic group reflected in Genizah documents... Read More
Has tags: Book, Genizah Fragments, Karaite, Rabbanite
Ben Outhwaite
on Fri 14 Jan 2022
Thabit ibn Qurra On Talismans and Ps.-Ptolemy On Images 1-9. Together with the Liber prestigiorum Thebidis of Adelard of Bath ● By Gideon Bohak and Charles Burnett ● Sismel, 2021
Not everyone can claim to have looked at every single item in the Taylor-Schechter Collection. Even after a quarter of a century working on the Genizah, I’m not sure I’ve... Read More
Has tags: Book, Genizah Fragments, magic
Melonie Schmierer-Lee
on Fri 7 Jan 2022
Points of Contact: The Shared Intellectual History of Vocalisation in Syriac, Arabic, and Hebrew ● By Nick Posegay ● Open Book Publishers, 2021
This book is the newest entry in the Cambridge Semitic Languages and Cultures series, and it is authored by the Genizah Research Unit's very own Nick Posegay. It investigates the shared history of ideas behind the vocalisation systems of three medieval Semitic languages, examining the work of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scholars as they developed ways to... Read More
Has tags: Arabic, Bible, Book, Genizah Fragments, grammar, masora, Qurʾan, Syriac, vocalisation
Kim Phillips
on Tue 14 Dec 2021
Studies in Hebrew Linguistics and Masora ● By Aron Dotan ● Asupport 20 ● Bialik Institute, 2021
This volume collects together 35 articles from the full range of Aron Dotan’s scholarly interests. The original publications span more than fifty years: the earliest having first appeared back in 1965, while the most recent is the one hitherto unpublished article appearing for the first time in this volume. The articles are arranged... Read More
Has tags: Book, Genizah Fragments, Hebrew, language, masora
Joseph Habib
on Fri 17 Sep 2021
An Anonymous Karaite Commentary on Hosea from the Cairo Genizah ● By Friedrich Niessen ● Cambridge Genizah Studies Series, Volume 13 ● Brill 2021
In his preface to his commentary on the book of Hosea, St. Jerome, one of the greatest Biblical scholars of his time (5th century C.E.), wrote desperately,
If, in the exposition of all the prophets, we need the Holy Spirit’s intervention in order that — by whose inspiration they were written — they may be explained through... Read MoreHas tags: Bible, Book, commentary, Genizah Fragments, Karaite
Kim Phillips
on Fri 23 Jul 2021
Thesaurus of Quntrese Ha-Masora: Hidden Language Treasures of Old ● By Aron Dotan ● Sources and Studies 18 – A New Series ● Academy of the Hebrew Language, 2020
Do you need a short, memorable overview of when the shewa is silent or sounded, and how to pronounce it? Or perhaps a recap of when the accent tevir is preceded by darga, and when by merkha? Maybe you’d like a... Read More
Has tags: Book, Genizah Fragments, Hebrew, language, masora
Sarah Sykes
on Wed 23 Jun 2021
Bouncing Back - and Forward: From Immigrant Household to Cambridge Fellowship ● By Stefan C. Reif ● Vallentine Mitchell & Co Ltd, 2021
When you have lived such a busy and varied life as Stefan Reif, it behoves you to record it for future posterity! From humble beginnings in Edinburgh to Professor and College Fellow at Cambridge University, Stefan’s life journey has been one full of industry and determination. The book, originally... Read More
Has tags: Book, Genizah Fragments, Stefan Reif
Melonie Schmierer-Lee
on Thu 6 May 2021
Languages Are Good For Us ● By Sophie Hardach ● Head of Zeus, 2021
Fustat’s multilingual community and the practice of stashing away sacred but worn out manuscripts make an appearance in novelist and former Reuters journalist Sophie Hardach’s new book, Languages Are Good For Us (2021). The book, written for a general audience interested in ‘the strange and wonderful ways in which humans have used languages’ is bursting with fascinating stories, ranging from cuneiform tablets, Linear B, the activities of medieval monks, and trading languages, to fairy... Read More
Has tags: Book, Genizah Fragments, language