04859nam 2200757 450 991046579770332120210427023434.00-8122-9001-110.9783/9780812290011(CKB)3710000000224143(OCoLC)891398218(CaPaEBR)ebrary10909216(SSID)ssj0001340692(PQKBManifestationID)11784104(PQKBTitleCode)TC0001340692(PQKBWorkID)11381111(PQKB)11743247(MiAaPQ)EBC3442407(OCoLC)890533782(MdBmJHUP)muse35440(DE-B1597)449871(OCoLC)1004884024(DE-B1597)9780812290011(Au-PeEL)EBL3442407(CaPaEBR)ebr10909216(CaONFJC)MIL682591(EXLCZ)99371000000022414320140830h20142014 uy 0engurcnu||||||||txtccrReorienting the East Jewish travelers to the medieval Muslim world /Martin Jacobs1st ed.Philadelphia, Pennsylvania :University of Pennsylvania Press,2014.©20141 online resource (345 p.)Jewish Culture and ContextsBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph1-322-51309-0 0-8122-4622-5 Includes bibliographical references and index.Front matter --CONTENTS --A Note on Translations and Transliterations --List of Abbreviations --Introduction --Chapter 1. Medieval Jewish Travelers and Their Writings --Chapter 2. Travel Motivations: Pilgrimage and Trade --Chapter 3. Levantine Journeys: Choices and Challenges --Chapter 4. Facing a Gentile Land of Israel --Chapter 5. Medieval Mingling at Holy Tombs --Chapter 6. Marvels of Muslim Metropolises --Chapter 7. Ishmaelites and Edomites: Muslims and Christians --Chapter 8. Near Eastern Jews: Brothers or Strangers? --Chapter 9. Karaites, Samaritans, and Lost Tribes --Chapter 10. Assassins, Blacks, and Veiled Women --Conclusion --Chronology of Travelers and Works --Glossary --Notes --Selected Bibliography --Index --AcknowledgmentsReorienting the East explores the Islamic world as it was encountered, envisioned, and elaborated by Jewish travelers from the Middle Ages to the early modern period. The first comprehensive investigation of Jewish travel writing from this era, this study engages with questions raised by postcolonial studies and contributes to the debate over the nature and history of Orientalism as defined by Edward Said. Examining two dozen Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic travel accounts from the mid-twelfth to the early sixteenth centuries, Martin Jacobs asks whether Jewish travelers shared Western perceptions of the Islamic world with their Christian counterparts. Most Jews who detailed their journeys during this period hailed from Christian lands and many sailed to the Eastern Mediterranean aboard Christian-owned vessels. Yet Jacobs finds that their descriptions of the Near East subvert or reorient a decidedly Christian vision of the region. The accounts from the crusader era, in particular, are often critical of the Christian church and present glowing portraits of Muslim-Jewish relations. By contrast, some of the later travelers discussed in the book express condescending attitudes toward Islam, Muslims, and Near Eastern Jews. Placing shifting perspectives on the Muslim world in their historical, social, and literary contexts, Jacobs interprets these texts as mirrors of changing Jewish self-perceptions. As he argues, the travel accounts echo the various ways in which premodern Jews negotiated their mingled identities, which were neither exclusively Western nor entirely Eastern.Jewish culture and contexts.JewsTravelHistoryEarly works to 1800Jewish travelersHistoryEarly works to 1800Travelers' writings, HebrewEarly works to 1800History and criticismTravel, MedievalEarly works to 1800History and criticismJewsIslamic EmpireHistoryElectronic books.JewsTravelHistoryJewish travelersHistoryTravelers' writings, HebrewEarly works to 1800History and criticism.Travel, MedievalEarly works to 1800History and criticism.JewsHistory.915.604/14089924Jacobs Martin1963-1033013MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9910465797703321Reorienting the East2451230UNINA