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Copyright of Revista de Historía da Sociedade e da Cultura is the property of Revista de Historia da Sociedade e da Cultura and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Standard qere (lit., "it is read") notes recorded in the margin of medieval Hebrew Bible manuscripts instruct the reader how to read and interpret words in the body of the text, the ketiv (lit., "it is written"). Although some qere notes may appear to correct errors in the ketiv, as a rule the ketiv was meant to be preserved unchanged, with the qere perpetuated in the margin. This study will explore a hitherto overlooked, nonstandard usage of the qere notation that served to notify the reader of an error in the text and was intended to replace the ketiv the next time the manuscript was copied. This phenomenon of "text-correcting qere" can be identified when the qere is seemingly superfluous or improbable. Other indicators of text-correcting qere occur when the ketiv has been marked for erasure with a strikethrough or has been left unpointed, when it has been previously corrected, or when it is ambiguous or illegible due to successive corrections. A related phenomenon involves recording the word ketiv itself in the margin along with a correction to indicate "it should be written [X]." A parallel in talmudic manuscripts raises the possibility of understanding this as "I found it written [X] in another manuscript." The former would be an actual correction ("text-correcting ketiv"), whereas the latter would record a textual variant that was meant to be perpetuated as a marginal note ("variant-noting ketiv"). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on a chapter in a manual on circumcision written in Worms in the thirteenth century by Jacob and Gershom haGozrim (the circumcisers). The third chapter of the manual contains medical instruction on how to attend to women in labour and other gynaecological conditions. Whereas the first two chapters of the manual were published in the late nineteenth century, the midwifery chapter has only been recently examined. This article is comprised of a translation of the midwifery text(s) along with an introduction to the text and the community practices it reflects. It outlines the cooperation between medical practitioners, male and female, Jewish and Christian, and discusses the medical remedies recommended and some practices current in thirteenth-century Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of eHumanista is the property of Professor Antonio Cortijo-Ocana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses serendipity coined by author Horace Walpole to describe scientific discovery occurring chance after reading book "Travels and Adventures of Three Princes of Serendip." Topics discussed include finding of a medieval Hebrew document made unsorted archives of family of Walpole, Hebrew documents which presents collection of documents in Herbew characters from medieval Western world and consideration of corpus of the English quitclaims in Herbew.

Copyright of Sefarad is the property of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The third and last of Abraham Ibn Ezra's three Hebrew treatises on the astrolabe was composed in Béziers in 1148. In 1144 or soon after, a Christian scholar, Rudolph of Bruges, composed a Latin work the construction of an astrolabe, referring to an observation he had made in the same city on April 24 of that year. The present article assembles the evidence that Béziers was a place where Jews and Christians were working together to write about and practice the science of the stars; it also proposes the identification of a certain 'John David' as a patron of this activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1342, Levi ben Gershom dedicated to the newly elected Pope Clement VI a revised version of chapters 4 through 11 of the Latin translation of the astronomical section of his Wars of the Lord.The text was preceded by a dedicatory letter and a prologue, of which no Hebrew version is preserved. The paper presents a critical edition of both texts, with translation and commentary. The circumstances of the Latin translation of Gersonides' astronomical text (date, authorship, modality) are again discussed and some of the author's previous conclusions revised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomenon of Christian calendars in Hebrew has largely been ignored in modern scholarship; yet it points to an important dimension of Jewish-Christian relations, and more specifically Jewish attitudes towards Christianity, in late medieval northern Europe. It is also evidence of transfer of religious knowledge between Christians and Jews, because the Hebrew texts closely replicate, in contents as well as in layout and presentation, the Latin liturgical calendars, which in many cases the Hebrew scribes must have used directly as base texts. Knowledge of the Christian calendar was essential to Jews for dating documents, especially (but not exclusively) those intended for Christians, for understanding dates in documents, for scheduling business or other meetings with Christians, and in short, for effectively coordinating their socio-economic activities with the rhythms and structure of Christian medieval life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Memorabilia - Boletín de Literatura Sapiencial is the property of Universitat de Valencia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article examines the spoken language of Jews living in Eastern Slavic lands during the Middle Ages, focusing on possible literary, intellectual, and cultural influences on both the Slavs and Jews. Citing early Hebrew-Slavic translations, the author suggests the existence of a common language between the two cultures. Historical information on the Slavic language is provided as well as an analysis of medieval Hebrew literature.

The essay advances the thesis that the Jewish "Book of Creation," or "Sefer Yetsirah," (SY) was not simply understood during the Early Middle Ages as a scientific-philosophical treatise. The author examines three medieval texts which represent mystical commentaries on the SY, including a ninth-century testimony by Agobard of Lyon.

This article discusses the manuscript titled "Iggeret ha-Musar," which is attributed to 12th and 13th century author Yehudah al-Harizi. The author comments on the circulation of this work in Jewish communities during this time period and discusses the Spanish translations that were created. The inclusion of a supposed letter written by Aristotle within the 36-page manuscript is examined. The content of the manuscript is also analyzed, which provides a universal code of ethics and conduct as well as the philosophy of 10th century Egyptian physician 'Ali Ibn Ridwan.

The final twenty-two verses of the biblical book of Proverbs (31:10–31) are written in the form of a complete alphabetic acrostic from Aleph to Taw and offer a detailed description of the ideal woman, who is portrayed as a capable and industrious wife. This distinct literary unit had a particularly fruitful life in post-biblical times. In this essay, I offer a glimpse into the history of its interpretation, specifically focusing on late medieval readings of the passage. Scholarship in the field often describes the late medieval exegetical tradition on this section in particular—and on the book of Proverbs in general—as fossilized in Maimonides’ philosophical allegory. In addition, and probably as a result of the aforementioned assumption, scholars usually consider that medieval authors disregarded all aspects relating to women and women's lives, in favour of philosophical categories. The following pages question both of these commonly held views. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fifteenth-century Book of ‘Aḥiṭub and Ṣalmon (Sefer Aḥiṭub ve-Ṣalmon), a Hebrew anti-Christian prose narrative from Iberia written in the wake of the 1413–14 Disputation of Tortosa, tells the story of a just queen who ruled an island without any worldly religion. After deciding to seek the true religion by sending out three wise men, who later return as a Jew, a Muslim, and a Christian, respectively, the queen holds a debate between the Christian and the Jew. When the Muslim, who arbitrates the debate, adjudicates in favor of the Jew, the whole island joins the queen in converting to Judaism while the Christian hangs himself in disgrace. This study focuses on the role of the queen as a narratological device and as a polemical tool. It argues that the queen is presented as a symbol of both reason and wisdom—a sort of Lady Wisdom—and as a counterpoint to the Virgin Mary. In this way, the figure of the queen constitutes a Jewish response to Christian arguments according to both rational proofs and religious authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to provide a close reading of a thirteenth-century Hebrew narrative by Jacob Ben El‘azar of Toledo that recounts the tale of a “sodomite” who meets a violent end. The story focuses on the amorous affair of Sapir, an adult male, his beloved Shapir, a male youth around the age of puberty, and Birsha, a nefarious old man who lures Shapir away from Sapir, though Sapir ultimately seeks out Shapir and is reunited with him. Sapir and Birsha dispute over the boy and ultimately submit their case before a judge. The judge declares that Birsha deserves the death penalty, though he is spared this sentence and ordered only to forfeit the boy. Nevertheless, Sapir and Shapir take the law into their own hands and brutally murder Birsha. At the heart of the narrative is the tension between two models of eroticism between males, epitomized by the relationships of Sapir–Shapir and Birsha–Shapir, one sanctioned and the other condemned. The question that will be dealt with here is to determine what exactly distinguished the two relationships. Was Birsha considered a “sodomite” as opposed to Sapir, despite the fact that they both loved the male youth Shapir? Were they distinguished by their age, the nature of their desire, their sexual “identities,” their sexual acts, or other behaviors? (Foucault, The History of Sexuality, argued that the notion of sexual “identity” did not emerge until the modern era and that pre-modern societies thought only in terms of sexual acts. I largely agree with this evaluation though I will maintain that the categorization in the narrative under discussion distinguished between individuals who desired males and females versus those who desired males only.) In order to unravel this complicated narrative, we must delve deeply into the construction of sexuality within medieval Hebrew literature and more broadly within medieval Jewish culture—so enmeshed within its Islamic and Christian environments. I will argue that the identification of Birsha as a “sodomite” resided in his obsessive, mendacious, and violent qualities and not in his choice of love object, much less his sexual “identity.” Before presenting the narrative and my reading, I review some of the history of scholarship on homoeroticism in medieval Hebrew literature in order to provide a counterpoint to the methodological underpinnings of the present study. Throughout the study, I engage a variety of source types—Arabic homoerotic poems and narratives, Andalusi Hebrew poems, Christian reports of Muslim sexuality, exegetic and legal sources—in order to convey the highly specific and culturally circumscribed forms of homoeroticism assumed in Ben El‘azar's story. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pseudo-Sirach (or Pseudo-Ben Sira) is an early medieval Hebrew text which contains much homiletical material, but whose intent is more playful than genuinely exegetical. Eli Yassif has argued that this work originated in Caliphal Mesopotamia. Pseudo-Sirach is structured as a series of exchanges between the child prodigy Ben Sira (Jeremiah’s son), and King Nebuchadnezzar. Yassif’s argument that the Solomon and Sheba tales which underlie some of Pseudo-Sirach probably depend on a non-Jewish source is useful as we try to explain a puzzling short aetiological tale in this work. In this article, it is argued that in its form in Pseudo-Sirach the tale about Joshua’s bull-riding during the taking of Jericho, first, has been re-aetiologized: whereas Muslim tradition explains the Ephraimite Joshua’s association with the bull in a different way, the Jewish rationale for this motif occurs on account of tribal symbolism that links the bull to Joseph. Second, it is proposed that the motif of a bull-riding hero is likely derived from an Iranian myth in which King Ferêdûn is associated with cattle and bull-riding; it also reflects Islamic sources where it is connected to various biblical characters. Third, it is argued that a bull-riding hero against the backdrop of city walls, in a relief from the Capitoline Museums in Rome, is probably unrelated to Pseudo-Sirach; however, it is evidence of the occurrence of such a juxtaposition of motifs in international folklore. Finally, the tradition that the Abū Thōr neighbourhood in Jerusalem was named after a bull-riding man (a general of Saladin) is discussed. The toponym Abū Thōr is possibly correlated to the bull-riding Joshua. The tale behind the name of the neighbourhood is possibly reminiscent of one of the conflations between the Iranian Ferêdûn and Islamic traditions about a number of biblical characters. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Ha-Maamar be-Qaddaat ha-dever (Treatise on Pestilential Fever), composed by an anonymous author, is one of several treatises devoted to the subject of plague that exist in Hebrew literature. The treatise is basically a concise regimen of health as it was common throughout the Middle Ages that has been adapted to the special case of the plague and that has been supplemented with a final section of remedies for the time of the plague. Although we do not know the name of the author nor where and when he lived and composed the treatise, we can draw some conclusions from the foreign, non-Hebrew terminology used in the treatise. As several of the foreign terms used for the different plants and remedies are in old Spanish, it seems reasonable to suppose that the author hailed from the Iberian Peninsula and possibly composed the treatise there as well. The frequent quotations in the supplementary section 21 from Spanish Islamic physicians like Ibn Rushd, al-Zahrāwī, al-Ghāfiqī and above all Ibn Zuhr also confirm such a supposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a projected online database of Piyyut dictionary or medieval Hebrew liturgical poetry. It states that the text dictionary has started as electronic database that allows the loading of encyclopedic information, such as bibliographical references. It says that a completed entry collection will result to a modern Piyyut dictionary.

The article focuses on the use of the Hebrew language and characters in German literature from 1765 to 1820. The author discusses the book "Chovot, ha-levavot," written by Jewish philosopher Bachia Ibn Paquda toward the end of the 11th century, and its translation from Hebrew and Yiddish to German by Mosche Jaakov Steinhard. Also discussed is German philosopher Moses Mendelssohn and the psalms he translated to German and Latin.

The terminology in medieval Hebrew medical literature is virtually lacking in standard Hebrew dictionaries. The only dictionary with a certain number of medical terms is that composed by Ben Yehuda. The secondary literature dealing with medieval Hebrew medical terminology is extremely limited and only covers a few medical terms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents a preliminary study on modern Hebrew histories of literature and the formation of the Canon. It discusses the matters of language, translation and multiple editions as considerations for the study, including periodisation. It mentions the main purpose of the study as the positioning of histories of Modern Hebrew literature versus the aesthetical-ideological framework.

The present article analyzes the Hebrew story of Johanan and the Scorpion, found in a thirteenth-century manuscript from Northem France (Ms. Oxford [Bodl. Or. 135]), which represents an unusual phenomenon in Jewish literary tradition. Although it appears in a manuscript considered an important milestone in the history of medieval Hebrew literature, and despite the Jewish cultural norm of rewriting literary works again and again, it is the only existing Hebrew version of this theme. The reason it was never revised or copied may be the portrayal of the main character as a Jewish knight who leaves his community and surrenders to the element of ‘the other’, thereby losing his original identity. The assumption is made that these problematic ideas and poetic materials, together with historical circumstances, created the non-acceptance of this story. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the evolution of several exegetical terms used by Quranic exegetes during the eighth and the ninth centuries. The history of some Hebrew and Arabic terms for "hysteron proteron" and "anastrophe" is discussed. Two Arabic and Hebrew exegetical terms are discussed in detail and the author suggests that the Arabic terms were borrowed from the Hebrew terms.

A common misconception is that slang constitutes a "corrupt" form of language, and that because it deviates from accepted norms of "appropriateness," it must be regarded as an inferior mode of expression. The fact is, however, that slang does not violate any standard grammatical norms; it only defies stylistic conventions and breaks social taboos in order to impress the hearer with the distinctiveness and originality of some well-defined group of speakers. Furthermore, it can be shown that slang can be as creative as literary language. In Israeli slang, for instance, there are no less metaphors than in the highest literary registers of Hebrew: in both literature and slang, metaphors provide tangible realization of concepts through the use of objects and situations taken from real life, helping the reader/listener visualize an idea or concept in the most direct and colorful fashion. Although slang metaphors tend to be more blunt and down-to-earth, they are often characterized by a degree of creativity that may even overshadow the imaginative use of metaphors in the literary register, displaying highly sophisticated use of humor, sarcasm, double entendre, puns, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the establishment of Hebrew literature in the Medieval period. Association of culture with literary development; Relations between Jews, Muslims and Christians in the Crusader period; Influence of rabbinic literature on the Jewish religious law.

Discusses the place of the polemical treatise `Bina' al-maqalah al-Fatimiyyah fi naqd alrisalah al `Uthmaniyyah written by Shi'i theologian, Jamal al-Din Abu al-Fada'il Ahmad within the manaqib/mathalib genre. Satirical poetry; Analysis of radd literature.

The article presents an examination into the significance of the apocryphal, non-canonical Biblical Hebrew book "The Words of Gad the Seer" through an evaluation of its composition date. Details are given reviewing the content of the book, the literary history of the work from its composition to its scholastic rediscovery, and conclusions on the precise dating of the text.

Presents information on the Hebrew text 4Q225. Details on editors; Interpretation of biblical account of sacrifice of Isaac in rabinic literature; Demographics of case.

The article discusses the history of Hebrew narrative anthologies in the Middle Ages. Subjects addressed include the evolution of the Hebrew tale and the separation of disciplines, components of Talmudic literature, and the relevance of sequencing to the process of chronological editing to the field.

The article discusses an anthology of midrash or rabbinic scriptural interpretation called yalkut. Period of appearance of yalqutim; Distinction between midrashic literature and medieval anthologies; Common connotations of the term yalqut and midrash; Distinguishing features of yalqutim; Reasons for compiling anthologies; Contribution of anthologies to the identification of lost works.

The article studies the historical context of themes of inheritance in the tale of "Mahbarot," by the 13th-century Jewish author Immanuel of Rome. Subjects discussed include the plot and structure of the tale, the significance of the novella in Hebrew literature, and comments on the focus of the tale on Jewish community of Sibmah.

The article examines the use of medieval Hebrew fabular literature as a covert means of transmitting verbal polemic arguments. Topics addressed include discussion of the use of fables to transmit messages of protest against theological circumstances, the role of fabulists in a chain of historical transmission, and the interpretation of the Jewish writer Berechiah Hanakdan's "Mishlei Shualim."

The article focuses on the emergence of Hebrew sonnet in medieval literature. Topics addressed include the impact of the printing press' invention on the dissemination of Hebrew sonnets, the significance of Italian Jew's participation in cultural surroundings for renewal of Hebrew sonnet, and the common literary elements found in sonnets of Hebrew poets.

The article examines the representation of prevailing views about women found in medieval Hebrew literature. Topics addressed include the predominance of aristocratic and clerical circles in medieval literature, the representation of women in male love lyrics, and the depiction of women in specific genres such as the maqamahs and the kharjas.

The article discusses the traditions of Alexander the Great and his influence on the medieval literature of the Hebrews. The author explores the historical and legendary sources of the Jewish and the creation of Alexander-stories and Romances in the literary history of the Hebrews. It states that the Talmud and Midrash tradition as well as the development of Aramaic dialects were introduced during the reign of Alexander which play a significant role in the development of Rabbinic literature. The image of Alexander as a philosopher was also discussed.