Under Crescent and Cross: The Jews in the Middle AgesThe exacerbation of Arab-Israeli conflict at the time of the Six-Day War in 1967 gave birth in some quarters to a radical revision of Jewish-Arab history. At stake was the longstanding, originally Jewish, "myth of the interfaith utopia" in which medieval Muslims and Jews peacefully cohabited in Arab lands - a utopia that many Arabs claimed had continued until the emergence of modern Zionism. Some Jewish writers challenged this notion with a "countermyth of Islamic persecution, " suggesting that Jews fared not much better socially and politically under Islamic rule than they did under Christendom. Full of implications for Jewish, Islamic, and European historians, both myths form the backdrop of this provocative book aimed at enriching our understanding of medieval gentile-Jewish relations. Addressing general readers and specialists alike, Mark Cohen offers the first in-depth explanation of why medieval Islamic-Jewish relations, though not utopic, were less confrontational and violent than those between Christians and Jews in the West. Cohen presents a systematic comparison of the legal, economic, and social situations of Jews in medieval Islam and Christendom, offering particularly fresh insights on issues of hierarchy, marginality, and ethnicity and on the topic of persecution and collective memory. His analysis includes differences in theology that helped influence the way Muslims and Christians treated Jews. Written for a broad audience, this book draws on many salient primary sources, which let the voices of medieval Islam, Christendom, and the Jews speak for themselves. |
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UNDER CRESCENT AND CROSS: The Jews in the Middle Ages
User Review - Jane Doe - KirkusA thorough comparative study of the conditions of medieval Jewish life in Christian and Muslim lands. Cohen (Near Eastern Studies/Princeton) explores and explodes the recently resurrected myth of ... Read full review
Under crescent and cross: the Jews in the Middle Ages
User Review - Not Available - Book VerdictDid medieval Jews enjoy peace and security while living in an interfaith utopia under the crescent of Islam but experience hostility and persecution under the cross of Christianity? In this important ... Read full review
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Abraham Ahkam ahl ahl al-dhimma al-Hakim Almohad anti-Jewish antisemitism Arab Arab Lands Ashkenazic Baron Bible biblical Cairo caliph canon law Chap chapter Chris Christendom Christian Christian-Jewish chronicles church collective memory Compare contrast conversion countermyth Crusade dhimmis economic Egypt English ethnic Europe European expulsion Fatimid Fattal galut Geniza gentile Goitein Hebrew hierarchy Ibid Ibn al-Qayyim Ibn Taymiyya Ishmael Islamic law Islamic world Israel Jerusalem Jewish community Jewish history Jewish-Christian Jewry law Jews and Christians Jews of Islam jizya Judaism jurist Kisch Latin Lewis Maimonides Mamluk medieval Islam Mediterranean Society merchants Middle Ages Muhammad Muslim non-Muslims of'Umar ofjewish ofJews oppression Pact of Umar pagan Palestine papal period persecution polemics Prophet protection Qur'an Rabbi relations religion religious rulers Saadya scholars social order Spain status Studies synagogue Talmud theJewish theJews Theodosian Code thirteenth century tion tolerance Torah town trade trans translation twelfth century usury verse Visigothic writes Yemen
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Bibliographic information
| Title | Under Crescent and Cross: The Jews in the Middle Ages Under Crescent and Cross: The Jews in the Middle Ages, Mark R. Cohen |
| Author | Mark R. Cohen |
| Edition | reissue, revised |
| Publisher | Princeton University Press, 1994 |
| ISBN | 069101082X, 9780691010823 |
| Length | 280 pages |
| Subjects | › History / Jewish |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |