A history of Palestine, 634-1099
Moshe Gil, Ethel Briodo (Translator)
This is the first comprehensive history of Palestine from the Muslim conquest in 634 to that of the Crusaders in 1099. It is a translation and revised version of volume I of Palestine during the first Muslim period which was published in Hebrew in 1983 and presents an authoritative survey of the early mediaeval Islamic and Jewish worlds. Professor Gil begins by reviewing the political and military events in Palestine before and after the Arab invasion. Later chapters explore the Abbasid, Tulunid, Ikhshidid and Fatimid periods, during which time Palestine was an almost perpetual battlefield for states, armies and factions. Against this backdrop of conflict and administrative changes, the author portrays the everyday life of Palestine and its inhabitants. He looks at the economic history of Palestine--its agriculture, transport facilities, exports and systems of taxation--as well as the religious status of Jerusalem, the nature of Islam's tolerance towards Jews and Christians and the status, leadership and customs of the Christian populace. Specific attention is paid to the history of Palestinian Jews under Muslim rule. Professor Gil details their topography, economic activities and religious life; he explores the Karaite and Samaritan communities and discusses the role of the most prominent Jewish institution, the yeshiva. A history of Palestine, 634-1099 is based on an impressive array of sources. Professor Gil has put to use more than one thousand documents of the Cair Geniza collection and these are paralleled by Arabic, Syriac, Latin and Greek material. This monumental study will be an essential resource for students and specialists of mediaeval Islamic and Jewish history and religious studies and for anyone interested in the history of the Holy Land
History
xxvi, 994 pages ; 23 cm
9780521599849, 0521599849
59601193
1: The conquest. Muhammad and the vision of the conquest. The causes of the Great Jihad. The tribes and the population of Palestine. The first incursions; Dhat Atlah, Muta. Muhammad and the Palestinian tribes. Dhat al-Salasil. Tabuk. The treaties with towns in the south of Palestine. The expedition of Usama b. Zayd. The great invasion. The expedition of Amr ibn al-As. The expedition of Khalid ibn al-Walid. Ijnadayn. Additional conquests. The battle of the Yarmuk. The dismissal of Khalid ibn al-Walid. The capitulation of Jerusalem. The completion of the conquest. The attitude of the population towards the conqueror. The episode of the Temple Mount and the return of the Jews to Jerusalem
2: Islam strikes roots. Events in Palestine to the end of Umayyad rule. Natural disasters. The religious status of Jerusalem. The achievements of the Umayyads. The administrative division. Muslim personalities in the Umayyad period. The tribes
3: The local population and the Muslims. The protected people. The taxes. The responsibility for the life of the dhimmi. Dress regulations. Freedom of worship and its limitations. Professions and offices. Matters of inheritance; Muslim courts. The population and localities
4: The economy. Land and agriculture. Occupations. Book production. Exports. Internal trade. Imports. The representative of the merchants. Seafaring. Commercial methods. Measures and coins. The Maghribis. The economy of Jerusalem
5: Palestine from the beginning of Abbasid rule to the Fatimids. From the revolution to al-Mamun. The days of al-Mamun and his successors. The Abbasid caliphs and Jerusalem. The sixties of the ninth century. More about Muslim personalities during the Abbasid period. The period of the Tulunids. The Ismailis: Qarmatis and Fatimids. The Invasion of Tiberias by the Qarmatis and the return of the Abbasids. The Ikhshidids. Muslim personalities in Palestine during the period of the Tulunids and Ikhshidids
6: The Fatimid conquest: the war of sixty years and other events during the eleventh century. Fatimid advance northwards (a). Fatimid retreat (a). Fatimid advance northwards (b). Yaqub ibn Killis. Fatimid retreat (b). Fatimid advance northwards (c). Fatimid retreat (c). Renewal of the Byzantine offensive. Fatimid advance northwards (d). Fatimid retreat (d). Fatimid advance northwards (e). The attitude of the Muslims in Palestine towards the Fatimids. Events of the year 979. The episode of al-Qassam. Events in Palestine 981-983. Jewish personalities in the Fatimid administration: Manasseh b. Abraham al-Qazzaz; Paltiel. The episode of Bakjur, 983-988. The events of 996-997; internal war in Palestine. The cruelties of al-Hakim. First war of the Jarrahids (1011-1014). Second war of the Jarrahids (1024-1029). Forty years of Fatimid rule. The invasion of the Turcomans. The situation in Palestine during Turcoman rule. Events in Tyre. Brief chronological summary. Muslim personalities during the last generations of the period
7: The Christians. The Christian leadership after the conquest. Christendom in Jerusalem. Christianity in other Palestinian localities. Christian sects. The patriarchs and other personalities in the Church of Jerusalem. Ritual and customs. The authorities and the Christians. Aid and reconstruction. Christian pilgrimage
8: The Jewish population and its leadership.The problematics of Jewish leadership in the Middle Ages. The Palestinian yeshiva in ancient sources. Palestinian customs. The organisation of the yeshiva and its titles. The status of the yeshiva and its prerogatives. Peace-making. The judicial prerogative. Excommunication. Aid for individuals. 'Palestinians' versus 'Babylonians'. The exilarchs. Relations between the Palestinian yeshiva and the communities in Palestine and the diaspora. The Jewish leadership and the Fatimid authorities. Calendrical matters. Yeshiva and community. Communal leaders in close contact with the yeshiva. The negidim. Aid for the yeshiva and the Jewish population of Jerusalem. Aliya (immigration to Palestine) and pilgrimage. Burial in Palestine. The Jewish quarters of Jerusalem. The geonim of Palestine. The affair of David b. Daniel. The yeshiva, last pages
9: Karaites and Samaritans. The house of Anan and the beginning of Karaism. Karaism in Palestine in the tenth century. The Karaite nesiim. Beliefs and opinions. The social structure of the Karaites. The Karaites and their leaders in the eleventh century. The Samaritans
10: The Crusaders' conquest and the fate of Palestinian Jewry
This translation originally published: 1992
Translated from the Hebrew