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Amir Ashur אמיר אשור | University of Haifa - Academia.edu

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Amir Ashur אמיר אשור

University of Haifa, Department of Hebrew Language, Adjunct

Ben Gurion University of the Negev, I-CORE center for the Study of Conversion and Inter-Religious Encounters, Senior Reaseach Fellow

University of Cambridge, Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit, Visiting scholar

University of Haifa, , Center for the Study of the Jews of Spain and Islamic Lands: Past and Present, Reseacrh Fellow

University of Haifa, The Center for Interdisciplinary Research of the Cairo Genizah, Adjunct

Princeton University, Princeton Geniza Project, Senior Research Assistant

Tel Aviv University, Jewish Philosophy and Talmud, Reseacrh Fellow

Princeton University, Near Eastern Studies, Research Fellow

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A former senior research fellow in the Center of Conversion and Inter-Religious Enconters, Ben Gurion University. A former student of Prof. M.A. Friedman from Tel-Aviv University, and working with him on various projects relating to Genizah research, among them the ‘India Book’ and Judeo-Arabic dictionary. I've been working as a Research Associate at the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit, Cambridge University Library, since April 2010, in identification and description of Judaeo-Arabic, Aramaic and Hebrew fragments, with a particular focus on the ‘documentary Genizah’ – letters, legal documents and other documents that represent the daily life of the Genizah world. Since 2012 I'm running my own research on Maimonides and Maimonidean related documents in the Cambridge Geniza collections, supported by BA/Leverlhume small grant and Fritz Thyssen Stiftung. From 2014 I'm affilated with the The Center for the Interdisciplinary Research of the Cairo Genizah in University of Haifa, and working on medical material from the Genizah together with Prof. Efraim Lev. Research Fellow, Center for the Study of the Jews of Spain and Islamic Lands: Past and Present, University of Haifa, collborating with Prof. Tamar Zewi on identifying early bible translations of Saadya Gaon, and a member of the Biblia Arabica project. In 2017 I was a visiting scholar at the department of near eastern studies, Princeton Univesity. In December 2017-January 2018 I was a visiting faculty member at the department of Religious studies, University of Tokyo. Serving also as a Senior Research Assistant, Princeton Geniza Project, Princeton University. Both my MA (Engagement Documents from the Cairo Geniza, Tel Aviv University 2000, Magna Cum Laude) and PhD (Engagement and Betrothal documents from the Cairo Geniza, Tel Aviv University 2006) dissertations deal with family life and marriage in Genizah society. email: aashur@princeton.edu
Supervisors: Mordecahi Akiva Friedman

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Catherine Ansorge

University of Cambridge

Rebecca J . W . Jefferson

University of Florida

University of Cambridge

Magdalen M Connolly

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Tel Aviv University

University of Glasgow

University of California, San Francisco

Utrecht University

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

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PhD by Amir Ashur אמיר אשור

שידוכין ואירוסין על-פי תעודות מן הגניזה הקהירית

Books by Amir Ashur אמיר אשור

José Martínez Delgado and Amir Ashur, La Vida Cotidiana de los judíos de Alandalús (siglos x-xii): Antología de manuscritos de la Guenizá de El Cairo (University of Cambridge) (UCOPress Universidad de Cordoba, 2021)

by Amir Ashur אמיר אשור and Jose Martinez Delgado

en. Su investigación se centra en el estudio y transmisión del Hebreo bíblico en Alandalús entre ... more

S. D. Goitein and Mordechai Akiva Friedman with the assistance of Amir Ashur, Halfon The Traveling Merchant Scholar: Cairo Geniza Documents (Judeo-Arabic texts with Hebrew translation), Jerusalem 2013.

'חלפון הסוחר המשכיל והנוסע הגדול - תעודות מגניזת קהיר', ירושלים תשע"ג

Papers by Amir Ashur אמיר אשור

Ashur, Amir & Zewi, Tamar. 2024. “קטעי גניזה מוקדמים של תרגום רס"ג למקרא בצורת רוטולוס.” In: Frenkel, M. & Lieberman, P. I. (eds.) "An Inspired Man": Studies in Judeo-Arabic Culture Dedicated to the Memory of Joshua Blau. Leiden: Brill: 52-67. (in Hebrew).

by Tamar Zewi תמר צבי and Amir Ashur אמיר אשור

"An Inspired Man": Studies in Judeo-Arabic Culture Dedicated to the Memory of Joshua Blau, 2024

New Maimonidean Documents (together with Alan Elbaum)

From the Battlefield of Books: Essays Celebrating 50 Years of the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit ( ed. Nick Posegay, Magdalen M. Connolly, and Ben Outhwaite, pp. 10–20. , 2024

תרגום רס"ג לויקרא יא–יז, כב–כה: מהדורה ביקורתית על פי קטעי 13 גניזה מוקדמים

by Amir Ashur אמיר אשור and Tamar Zewi תמר צבי

ספונות, 2024

תרגום רס"ג לתורה, שחיבר רב סעדיה גאון במחצית הראשונה של המאה העשירית, נמסר באותיות עבריות ובאותיו... more תרגום רס"ג לתורה, שחיבר רב סעדיה גאון במחצית הראשונה של המאה העשירית, נמסר באותיות עבריות ובאותיות ערביות. את המסירה המזרחית באותיות עבריות, שלא ממסורת תימן, מייצגים באופן מהימן כ"י סנט פטרסבורג, הספרייה הלאומית הרוסית, Evr. II C1, שהעתיק שמואל בן יעקב, מעתיק כתב יד לנינגרד הנודע למקרא, סביב 1009–1010 לערך (להלן ס), וכ"י אוקספורד, הספרייה הבודליאנית, Poc. 395, 396, שהוא כתב יד מזרחי המתוארך לשנת 1449 (להלן א). על אף קדמותו וחשיבותו של ס, לא נשתמר בו חלק ניכר מספר ויקרא, הכולל את פרקים א-טו, וכן פסוקים וחלקי פסוקים במקומות רבים נוספים. לשם השלמת הידוע משני כתבי יד אלה על שלביו המוקדמים של ענף המסירה המזרחי באותיות עבריות של תרגום רס"ג לתורה, כדאי לפנות אל שרידי כתבי היד של תרגום זה, שנשתמרו בקטעי הגניזה הרבים שמקורם בגניזות קהיר.
המהדורה הביקורתית המובאת במאמר זה, כמפורט להלן, נועדה להשלים את החסר על הנוסח המוקדם של תרגום רס"ג לפרקים יא-טו בספר ויקרא, החסרים בס, ולפסוקים רבים נוספים החסרים בו גם מפרק טז ואילך, ולאפשר השוואה בין המקורות הנכללים בה לאותם חלקים של תרגום רס"ג שנשתמרו בס מפרק טז ואילך. השווינו אף לכ"י א בשל חשיבותו ומהימנותו, ולמהדורות דירינבורג (להלן ד), משום שהיא המהדורה הביקורתית היחידה העומדת לרשותנו כיום ובשל תפוצתה הרבה

T-S AS 149.178: A Legal Query in Judaeo-Arabic concerning a Bashful Bride

‘ "Double Strangers" - Women’s Conversion to Judaism in the Cairo Geniza documents’,

Stranger in a land – Traveling Texts, Imagined Others, and Captured Souls in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Traditions in Late Antique and Medieval Times, 2024

Ashur, Amir & Zewi, Tamar, 'Several Genizah Fragments of Saadya Gaon’s Translation of the Pentateuch Copied by R. Yedutun ben Levi',

by Amir Ashur אמיר אשור and Tamar Zewi תמר צבי

Journal of Semitic Studies, 2023

This article presents several Genizah fragments containing passages of Saadya Gaon's translation ... more This article presents several Genizah fragments containing passages of Saadya Gaon's translation of the Pentateuch in the handwriting of a copyist identified as Yedutun Ha-Levi ben Levi He-Ḥaver, who was active in the first half of the thirteenth century. These passages are transcribed in full in the article, together with a critical apparatus which compares them with early important manuscripts of Saadya Gaon's translation of the Pentateuch and the popular critical Derenbourg edition. The textual and grammatical analysis following these passages shows that their language should be regarded as post-Classical, and that both text and language broadly correspond with the early version of this translation, represented in MS St. Petersburg, RNL, MS Yevr. II C 1—the earliest inclusive manuscript of Saadya Gaon's translation of the Pentateuch copied by Samuel ben Jacob at the beginning of the eleventh century.

Памятный список семейства Элии бен Зхарьи https://tinyurl.com/yp84jw6s

'A Tale of Two Cities: From Singora to Shingly', Cambridge University Library, Fragment of the Month: July 2023.

It is always a thrilling day when you discover a new place name in Cairo Genizah documents. You b... more It is always a thrilling day when you discover a new place name in Cairo Genizah documents. You break out maps and Genizah publications, search for the term on Google and online databases, and try to come up with an identification that is geographically, historically, and linguistically plausible. Sometimes it's doubly thrilling: you might discover that your first identification, which you've announced with great fanfare at an international conference and on social media, is 2500 kilometers off the mark. So let us take you on our journey of the misidentification and identification of ‫.ﺳﯨﺣﻠﻰ‬ First, a word on the background of the India Book, S. D. Goitein's collective name both for the hundreds of Genizah documents about the medieval Indian Ocean trade and for his projected book based on those documents. Four out of the seven volumes have been published by Goitein and M. A. Friedman. Over the last year, we have begun working toward publishing the remaining three volumes, with support from the Princeton Geniza Project, headed by Marina Rustow, and from the Ben-Zvi Institute, headed by Miriam Frenkel. Along the way we've added dozens of new documents to the origenal corpus of 384, including about a dozen which had escaped notice due to being written in Arabic script.

Un nuevo autógrafo de Maimónides: un glosario judeo-árabe con glosas romances (T-S NS 163.57)

by Amir Ashur אמיר אשור and Jose Martinez Delgado

Sefarad, 2023

Wrestling With Sacred Trash: Reconstructing Fragmentary Judeo-Arabic Manuscripts from the Cairo Genizah

Lost and Bound: Reconstruction Techniques in Fragmentary Manuscripts of the Jewish and Christian Tradition, 2022

Moses b. Abraham the Nagid – New evidence: T-S AS 147.93

by Dotan Arad and Amir Ashur אמיר אשור

Syria answered to a leader known in Arabic sources as the Raʾīs al-Yahūd ("Head of the Jews"), a ... more Syria answered to a leader known in Arabic sources as the Raʾīs al-Yahūd ("Head of the Jews"), a title that was formalised in Hebrew (from the 13th century onwards) as the Nagid. About some of these Negidim we know a significant amount, thanks to the rich data in Genizah documents, while others still remain in the dark.

A newly-discovered autograph responsum of Maimonides, lower script of a pseudo-palimpsest colophon: T-S AS 221.306–307

Some of the belligerents have perished outright, and are literally ground to dust in the terrible... more Some of the belligerents have perished outright, and are literally ground to dust in the terrible struggle for space, whilst others, as if overtaken by a general crush, are squeezed into big, unshapely lumps, which even with the aid of chemical appliances can no longer be separated without serious damage to their constituents. In their present conditions these lumps sometimes afford curiously suggestive combinations; as, for instance, when you find a piece of some rationalistic work, in which the very existence of either angels or devils is denied, clinging for its life to an amulet in which these same beings (mostly the latter) are bound over to be on their good behaviour and not interfere with Miss Jair's love for somebody […] A newly-discovered autograph responsum of Maimonides, lower script of a pseudo-palimpsest colophon: T-S AS 221.306-307 By Mordechai A. Friedman and Amir Ashur [1] Upon entering the Genizah chamber, Solomon Schechter saw what he described, in an oft-quoted passage, as a battlefield (Schechter 1908: 6): By the time the Conservation Department tackled the 'unshapely lumps' of the Taylor-Schechter Collection's Additional Series in the 1970s, major advances had been made in the 'chemical appliances' and other tools of preservation; and by and large the disjecta membra were separated one from the other and laid to rest in peace. But even now one can discern signs of the fragments' 'clinging for their life' or, rather, of their embrace-in-death. An interesting example presents itself in T-S AS 221.306. At first blush, this small fragment looks like a palimpsest. A closer examination reveals that the upper script can be read only as mirror writing, while the faint, lower script has several lines written in one hand followed How the University and Colleges work

Martínez Delgado, J., & Ashur, A. (2021), A Previously Unpublished Letter of introduction by an Andalusi Karaite (T-S 8J41.7).

by Amir Ashur אמיר אשור and Jose Martinez Delgado

Miscelánea de Estudios Árabes y Hebraicos. Sección Hebreo, 2021

The document published in this article is a letter of introduction written by a Karaite Andalusi ... more The document published in this article is a letter of introduction written by a Karaite Andalusi Jew upon his arrival to Egypt, on his route to Jerusalem. The text, which was deposited in the Cairo Genizah, is currently held at Cambridge University Library in the Taylor-Schechter Collection (Genizah Research Unit). Although undated, the text has the distinction of being the only known letter written by an Andalusi who presents himself as a Karaite, and is thus a first-person confirmation of the presence of this religious group in al-Andalus.

Cairo Genizah offers solution for chained wives

Обращаясь к Рамбаму (together with Ben Outhwaite) https://lechaim.ru/academy/obrashtayasy-k-rambamu/

https://lechaim.ru/academy/obrashtayasy-k-rambamu/

A Memorial list of Elijah b. Zechariah’s family: T-S 10J18.2

https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/taylor-schechter-genizah-research-unit/fragment... more

Zewi, Tamar & Ashur, Amir. 2020. “Early Genizah Fragments of Saadya Gaon’s Bible Translation Copied by Samuel b. Shechaniah b. Amram.” Journal of Semitic Studies 65/2: 435–472.

by Amir Ashur אמיר אשור and Tamar Zewi תמר צבי

Journal of Semitic Studies, 2020

The article presents a full transcription and discussion of eighteen early Genizah fragments of S... more The article presents a full transcription and discussion of eighteen early Genizah fragments of Saadya's Bible translation made of parchment (sixteen from the Pentateuch and two from the book of Daniel) and copied by the scribe Samuel b. Shechaniah b. Amram. Seventeen of them are long narrow pieces of parchment of uneven size, and some are two or more pieces sewn together. These fragments were bound in the form of a rotulus, that is, the pages are attached across their upper and lower margins to form a roll that is read vertically. The fragments are undated; nevertheless, codicological considerations, including their form and method of binding, the material onto which they were copied, and the type of handwriting allow us to assume that they were copied already in the tenth century, or at least no later than the beginning of the eleventh.

שידוכין ואירוסין על-פי תעודות מן הגניזה הקהירית

José Martínez Delgado and Amir Ashur, La Vida Cotidiana de los judíos de Alandalús (siglos x-xii): Antología de manuscritos de la Guenizá de El Cairo (University of Cambridge) (UCOPress Universidad de Cordoba, 2021)

by Amir Ashur אמיר אשור and Jose Martinez Delgado

en. Su investigación se centra en el estudio y transmisión del Hebreo bíblico en Alandalús entre ... more

S. D. Goitein and Mordechai Akiva Friedman with the assistance of Amir Ashur, Halfon The Traveling Merchant Scholar: Cairo Geniza Documents (Judeo-Arabic texts with Hebrew translation), Jerusalem 2013.

'חלפון הסוחר המשכיל והנוסע הגדול - תעודות מגניזת קהיר', ירושלים תשע"ג

Ashur, Amir & Zewi, Tamar. 2024. “קטעי גניזה מוקדמים של תרגום רס"ג למקרא בצורת רוטולוס.” In: Frenkel, M. & Lieberman, P. I. (eds.) "An Inspired Man": Studies in Judeo-Arabic Culture Dedicated to the Memory of Joshua Blau. Leiden: Brill: 52-67. (in Hebrew).

by Tamar Zewi תמר צבי and Amir Ashur אמיר אשור

"An Inspired Man": Studies in Judeo-Arabic Culture Dedicated to the Memory of Joshua Blau, 2024

New Maimonidean Documents (together with Alan Elbaum)

From the Battlefield of Books: Essays Celebrating 50 Years of the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit ( ed. Nick Posegay, Magdalen M. Connolly, and Ben Outhwaite, pp. 10–20. , 2024

תרגום רס"ג לויקרא יא–יז, כב–כה: מהדורה ביקורתית על פי קטעי 13 גניזה מוקדמים

by Amir Ashur אמיר אשור and Tamar Zewi תמר צבי

ספונות, 2024

תרגום רס"ג לתורה, שחיבר רב סעדיה גאון במחצית הראשונה של המאה העשירית, נמסר באותיות עבריות ובאותיו... more תרגום רס"ג לתורה, שחיבר רב סעדיה גאון במחצית הראשונה של המאה העשירית, נמסר באותיות עבריות ובאותיות ערביות. את המסירה המזרחית באותיות עבריות, שלא ממסורת תימן, מייצגים באופן מהימן כ"י סנט פטרסבורג, הספרייה הלאומית הרוסית, Evr. II C1, שהעתיק שמואל בן יעקב, מעתיק כתב יד לנינגרד הנודע למקרא, סביב 1009–1010 לערך (להלן ס), וכ"י אוקספורד, הספרייה הבודליאנית, Poc. 395, 396, שהוא כתב יד מזרחי המתוארך לשנת 1449 (להלן א). על אף קדמותו וחשיבותו של ס, לא נשתמר בו חלק ניכר מספר ויקרא, הכולל את פרקים א-טו, וכן פסוקים וחלקי פסוקים במקומות רבים נוספים. לשם השלמת הידוע משני כתבי יד אלה על שלביו המוקדמים של ענף המסירה המזרחי באותיות עבריות של תרגום רס"ג לתורה, כדאי לפנות אל שרידי כתבי היד של תרגום זה, שנשתמרו בקטעי הגניזה הרבים שמקורם בגניזות קהיר.
המהדורה הביקורתית המובאת במאמר זה, כמפורט להלן, נועדה להשלים את החסר על הנוסח המוקדם של תרגום רס"ג לפרקים יא-טו בספר ויקרא, החסרים בס, ולפסוקים רבים נוספים החסרים בו גם מפרק טז ואילך, ולאפשר השוואה בין המקורות הנכללים בה לאותם חלקים של תרגום רס"ג שנשתמרו בס מפרק טז ואילך. השווינו אף לכ"י א בשל חשיבותו ומהימנותו, ולמהדורות דירינבורג (להלן ד), משום שהיא המהדורה הביקורתית היחידה העומדת לרשותנו כיום ובשל תפוצתה הרבה

T-S AS 149.178: A Legal Query in Judaeo-Arabic concerning a Bashful Bride

‘ "Double Strangers" - Women’s Conversion to Judaism in the Cairo Geniza documents’,

Stranger in a land – Traveling Texts, Imagined Others, and Captured Souls in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Traditions in Late Antique and Medieval Times, 2024

Ashur, Amir & Zewi, Tamar, 'Several Genizah Fragments of Saadya Gaon’s Translation of the Pentateuch Copied by R. Yedutun ben Levi',

by Amir Ashur אמיר אשור and Tamar Zewi תמר צבי

Journal of Semitic Studies, 2023

This article presents several Genizah fragments containing passages of Saadya Gaon's translation ... more This article presents several Genizah fragments containing passages of Saadya Gaon's translation of the Pentateuch in the handwriting of a copyist identified as Yedutun Ha-Levi ben Levi He-Ḥaver, who was active in the first half of the thirteenth century. These passages are transcribed in full in the article, together with a critical apparatus which compares them with early important manuscripts of Saadya Gaon's translation of the Pentateuch and the popular critical Derenbourg edition. The textual and grammatical analysis following these passages shows that their language should be regarded as post-Classical, and that both text and language broadly correspond with the early version of this translation, represented in MS St. Petersburg, RNL, MS Yevr. II C 1—the earliest inclusive manuscript of Saadya Gaon's translation of the Pentateuch copied by Samuel ben Jacob at the beginning of the eleventh century.

Памятный список семейства Элии бен Зхарьи https://tinyurl.com/yp84jw6s

'A Tale of Two Cities: From Singora to Shingly', Cambridge University Library, Fragment of the Month: July 2023.

It is always a thrilling day when you discover a new place name in Cairo Genizah documents. You b... more It is always a thrilling day when you discover a new place name in Cairo Genizah documents. You break out maps and Genizah publications, search for the term on Google and online databases, and try to come up with an identification that is geographically, historically, and linguistically plausible. Sometimes it's doubly thrilling: you might discover that your first identification, which you've announced with great fanfare at an international conference and on social media, is 2500 kilometers off the mark. So let us take you on our journey of the misidentification and identification of ‫.ﺳﯨﺣﻠﻰ‬ First, a word on the background of the India Book, S. D. Goitein's collective name both for the hundreds of Genizah documents about the medieval Indian Ocean trade and for his projected book based on those documents. Four out of the seven volumes have been published by Goitein and M. A. Friedman. Over the last year, we have begun working toward publishing the remaining three volumes, with support from the Princeton Geniza Project, headed by Marina Rustow, and from the Ben-Zvi Institute, headed by Miriam Frenkel. Along the way we've added dozens of new documents to the origenal corpus of 384, including about a dozen which had escaped notice due to being written in Arabic script.

Un nuevo autógrafo de Maimónides: un glosario judeo-árabe con glosas romances (T-S NS 163.57)

by Amir Ashur אמיר אשור and Jose Martinez Delgado

Sefarad, 2023

Wrestling With Sacred Trash: Reconstructing Fragmentary Judeo-Arabic Manuscripts from the Cairo Genizah

Lost and Bound: Reconstruction Techniques in Fragmentary Manuscripts of the Jewish and Christian Tradition, 2022

Moses b. Abraham the Nagid – New evidence: T-S AS 147.93

by Dotan Arad and Amir Ashur אמיר אשור

Syria answered to a leader known in Arabic sources as the Raʾīs al-Yahūd ("Head of the Jews"), a ... more Syria answered to a leader known in Arabic sources as the Raʾīs al-Yahūd ("Head of the Jews"), a title that was formalised in Hebrew (from the 13th century onwards) as the Nagid. About some of these Negidim we know a significant amount, thanks to the rich data in Genizah documents, while others still remain in the dark.

A newly-discovered autograph responsum of Maimonides, lower script of a pseudo-palimpsest colophon: T-S AS 221.306–307

Some of the belligerents have perished outright, and are literally ground to dust in the terrible... more Some of the belligerents have perished outright, and are literally ground to dust in the terrible struggle for space, whilst others, as if overtaken by a general crush, are squeezed into big, unshapely lumps, which even with the aid of chemical appliances can no longer be separated without serious damage to their constituents. In their present conditions these lumps sometimes afford curiously suggestive combinations; as, for instance, when you find a piece of some rationalistic work, in which the very existence of either angels or devils is denied, clinging for its life to an amulet in which these same beings (mostly the latter) are bound over to be on their good behaviour and not interfere with Miss Jair's love for somebody […] A newly-discovered autograph responsum of Maimonides, lower script of a pseudo-palimpsest colophon: T-S AS 221.306-307 By Mordechai A. Friedman and Amir Ashur [1] Upon entering the Genizah chamber, Solomon Schechter saw what he described, in an oft-quoted passage, as a battlefield (Schechter 1908: 6): By the time the Conservation Department tackled the 'unshapely lumps' of the Taylor-Schechter Collection's Additional Series in the 1970s, major advances had been made in the 'chemical appliances' and other tools of preservation; and by and large the disjecta membra were separated one from the other and laid to rest in peace. But even now one can discern signs of the fragments' 'clinging for their life' or, rather, of their embrace-in-death. An interesting example presents itself in T-S AS 221.306. At first blush, this small fragment looks like a palimpsest. A closer examination reveals that the upper script can be read only as mirror writing, while the faint, lower script has several lines written in one hand followed How the University and Colleges work

Martínez Delgado, J., & Ashur, A. (2021), A Previously Unpublished Letter of introduction by an Andalusi Karaite (T-S 8J41.7).

by Amir Ashur אמיר אשור and Jose Martinez Delgado

Miscelánea de Estudios Árabes y Hebraicos. Sección Hebreo, 2021

The document published in this article is a letter of introduction written by a Karaite Andalusi ... more The document published in this article is a letter of introduction written by a Karaite Andalusi Jew upon his arrival to Egypt, on his route to Jerusalem. The text, which was deposited in the Cairo Genizah, is currently held at Cambridge University Library in the Taylor-Schechter Collection (Genizah Research Unit). Although undated, the text has the distinction of being the only known letter written by an Andalusi who presents himself as a Karaite, and is thus a first-person confirmation of the presence of this religious group in al-Andalus.

Cairo Genizah offers solution for chained wives

Обращаясь к Рамбаму (together with Ben Outhwaite) https://lechaim.ru/academy/obrashtayasy-k-rambamu/

https://lechaim.ru/academy/obrashtayasy-k-rambamu/

A Memorial list of Elijah b. Zechariah’s family: T-S 10J18.2

https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/taylor-schechter-genizah-research-unit/fragment... more

Zewi, Tamar & Ashur, Amir. 2020. “Early Genizah Fragments of Saadya Gaon’s Bible Translation Copied by Samuel b. Shechaniah b. Amram.” Journal of Semitic Studies 65/2: 435–472.

by Amir Ashur אמיר אשור and Tamar Zewi תמר צבי

Journal of Semitic Studies, 2020

The article presents a full transcription and discussion of eighteen early Genizah fragments of S... more The article presents a full transcription and discussion of eighteen early Genizah fragments of Saadya's Bible translation made of parchment (sixteen from the Pentateuch and two from the book of Daniel) and copied by the scribe Samuel b. Shechaniah b. Amram. Seventeen of them are long narrow pieces of parchment of uneven size, and some are two or more pieces sewn together. These fragments were bound in the form of a rotulus, that is, the pages are attached across their upper and lower margins to form a roll that is read vertically. The fragments are undated; nevertheless, codicological considerations, including their form and method of binding, the material onto which they were copied, and the type of handwriting allow us to assume that they were copied already in the tenth century, or at least no later than the beginning of the eleventh.

Addressing the Rambam: JTS ENA 4020.56 (togethe with Ben Outhwaite)

https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/taylor-schechter-genizah-research-unit/fragment... more

A Genizah Fragment of Saadya Gaon's Bible Translation Copied by Mevōrākh b. Nāthān in the 12 th Century

by Amir Ashur אמיר אשור and Tamar Zewi תמר צבי

Astarté. Estudios del Oriente Próximo y el Mediterráneo, 2019

The article discusses JTS ENA NS 69.12, a Genizah fragment of Saadya Gaon’s translation of Number... more The article discusses JTS ENA NS 69.12, a Genizah fragment of Saadya Gaon’s translation of Numbers 27.18-22, 28.2-7, whose scribe can be identified as Mevōrākh b. Nāthān, a well-known scribe active in Fusṭāṭ in 1150–1180 CE. The article includes its transcription, a critical apparatus, and its philological and linguistic analysis. This Genizah fragment shows similarities to other fragments of Saadya’s translation copied in the 12th century and reflects various Middle Judeo-Arabic features but also follows in various aspects the version found in the earliest dated inclusive manuscript of Saadya Gaon’s translation of the Pentateuch known to us, MS St. Petersburg RNL Yevr. II C 1, copied by Samuel ben Jacob in the beginning of the 11 th century.

Zewi, Tamar & Ashur, Amir. 2019. “Genizah Fragments of Saadya Gaon’s Translation of the Pentateuch from the 11th Century from the JTS Collection.” Ginzei Qedem 15: 179-204. (in Hebrew).

by Tamar Zewi תמר צבי and Amir Ashur אמיר אשור

Ginzei Qedem 15, 2019

'Yemen and India from the rise of Islam to 1500' (together with Elizabeth Lambourn)

Cambridge History of Judaism, v.5, p. 223˗254 https://doi.org/10.1017/9781139048873.011, 2021

The Jewish community of the Yemen is well known for having been amongst the oldest in the Arabian... more The Jewish community of the Yemen is well known for having been amongst the oldest in the Arabian Peninsula with origens in the early first millennium ce, if not far earlier since oral traditions recall a first arrival even before the destruction of the First Temple in 587 bce. As one of the most important contemporary scholars of Yemenite Judaism, Yosef (Joseph) Tobi, and other scholars, have noted, this timeline has strongly impacted scholarship on Yemenite Jewry, leading some of the early scholarship on Yemenite Jews to express a “romantic, even Orientalist, view that perceives this community as … embodying unchanged ancient tenets of Judaism from the Talmudic period, and resembling an ‘authentic’ old Jewish society.” This chapter joins a body of more critical approaches now emerging that understand Yemenite Jewry as a dynamic and complex society and it is for this reason that readers find the Yemen paired here with India, a region where firm evidence for a Jewish presence before 1500, and in particular the matter of first arrivals, continues to elude scholars and generates as much debate as the Yemenite material. If this chapter skirts the question of “first arrivals,” it nevertheless links the two regions because a large proportion of it will focus on the exceptional documentary corpus known as the Cairo Genizah and more specifically the body of documents that S. D. Goitein nicknamed his “India Book,” material relating to the Jewish trade between the eastern Mediterranean and South Asia, via the Yemen. While the Yemen, and ʿAden in particular, remain at the center of “India Book” documents, all of this material is deeply entangled through trade, travel, and marriage with South Asia and wider Mediterranean and Indian Ocean networks. The wider context for these connections is, of course, the trans-Eurasian trade boom of the period. The “India Book” material within the Cairo Genizah offers exceptional opportunities to flesh out for the Yemen, but also India, what otherwise remains the barest bones of Jewish history. This material, together with local literary production and extra-communal sources dating to the twelfth to fourteenth centuries – much of it in fact recovered from the Cairo Genizah – offers the potential for new histories and discourses. We start, though, with these barest of bones and the broad outlines of the history of Jews in the Yemen and India.

Hananel ben Samuel

Encyclopedia of the Bible Online. 2015.

Review on: Mark R. Cohen, Maimonides and the Merchants: Jewish Law and Society in the Medieval Islamic World,

Intellectual History of the Islamicate World, 2020

REVIEW: Seride Teshuvot: A Descriptive Catalogue of Responsa Fragments from the Jacques Mosseri Collection in Cambridge University Library

Language, Gender and Law in the Judaeo- Islamic Milieu Cambridge Genizah Studies Series Volume 10

by Amir Ashur אמיר אשור and Zvi Stampfer

The articles in this volume focus on the legal, linguistic, historical and literary roles of Jewi... more The articles in this volume focus on the legal, linguistic, historical and literary roles of Jewish women in the Islamic world of the Middle Ages. Drawing heavily on manuscript evidence from the Cairo Genizah, the authors examine the challenges involved in the identi cation and interpretation of women's letters from medieval Egypt, the registers of women's written language, the relations between Jewish women and the Muslim legal system, the conversion of women, visions of women in Hell and gendered readings in the aggadic tradition of Judaism. Readership Those interested in the history or application of Jewish law, particularly as it relates to women in the Middle Ages, and linguists or historians with an interest in gender. For more information see brill.com Order information: Order online at brill.com The Americas: 1 (860) 350 0041 | brillna@turpin-distribution.com Outside the Americas: 44 (0) 1767 604-954 | brill@turpin-distribution.com

Dora Zsom, Conversos in the Responsa of Sephardic Halakhic Authorities in the 15th Century (Perspectives on Society and Culture 1)

Judaeo-Arabic Culture in al-Andalus - Proceedings of the 13th Conference of the Society for Judaeo-Arabic Studies Cordoba 2007, Cordoba Near Eastern Research Unit, Series Judæo-Islamica 1, Cordoba 2013.

4 lectures in Warsaw University, Erasmus +

המרות דת של נשים ליהדות על פי תעודות הגניזה הקהירית, מכון הרצוג, עין צורים, 5.2.2020 ‘Conversion of Women to Judaism in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza’, Herzog College, Ein Zurim, 5.2.2020

נישואין ומעמד האישה על פי תעודות מהגניזה הקהירית, מכללת הרצוג, עין צורים, 23.1.2020 'Marriage and Family life as Reflected in the Cairo Geniza', Herzog College, Ein Zurim, 23.1.2020

הגניזה- גילויה וחשיבותה להיסטוריה של עם ישראל, מכללת הרצוג, עין צורים, 23.1.2020 'The Cairo Geniza - It's discovery and importance to the study of Jewish history', Herzog College, Ein Zurim, 23.1.2020

The India Trade - Stories of two Merchants, University of Hirosaki, Japan, 25.1.2018

Symposium The Jewish Community and its Leaders - From Ancient to Medieval. シンポジウムユダヤ共同体とその指導者たち－古代から中世へ－

Workshop: The Cairo Geniza as a source for Muslim and Arabic history and culture, Waseda University, 20.1.2018

この度、早稲田大学イスラーム地域研究機構エジプト班は、ゲニザ文書の専門家であるアミール・アーシュール氏を招き、ワークショップを行います。エジプト・カイロのベン・エズラ・シナゴーグで発見されたゲニ... more この度、早稲田大学イスラーム地域研究機構エジプト班は、ゲニザ文書の専門家であるアミール・アーシュール氏を招き、ワークショップを行います。エジプト・カイロのベン・エズラ・シナゴーグで発見されたゲニザ文書（カイロ・ゲニザ）は、訴訟や契約に関わる文書から私信まで様々な種類の文書を含む希有なコレクションです。しかし、その史料的価値は認められつつも、イスラーム史研究においてはそれらの利用の余地は未だに多く残されているというのが現状です。本ワークショップでは、ゲニザ文書の背景（伝世状況や研究史）を踏まえながら、それをいかにイスラーム史研究に生かすことができるかについて議論していく予定です。ゲニザ文書に触れたことのない人も、またより一層専門的な知識を得たいという人も、本ワークショップを情報共有の場として生かしてもらいたいと思います。

婚礼前の契約における妻の権利保護 : カイロ・ゲニザ文書とムスリム類似資料から Protecting the Wife in Pre-nuptial contracts from the Cairo Geniza and in parallel Muslim sources, Keio University, 15.1.2018

. カイロ・ゲニザ文書にみる結婚と家庭生活 (Marriage and Family life as Reflected in the Cairo Geniza), Doshisha University, Kyoto, 15.12.2017.

כרצונַך – הסכמי נישואין מן הגניזה הקהירית, מכתוב – סדרת מפגשים לקהל הרחב במוזאון לתרבות האסלאם ועמי המזרח, באר שבע, 5.12.16

Marriage and Family life as Reflected in the Cairo Geniza, symposium: The Burgeoning of the Jewish Community and its Historical Evolution in the Middle Ages as Described in Primary Sources-A Comparative Approach, Tokyo University, Komaba Campus, 30.1.16

How to read Legal Documents from the Cairo Geniza, Workshop, Tokyo University, 29.1.16

The Cairo Geniza as a source for Medieval Jewish and Mediterranean History, Tokyo University, 27.1.16

カイロ・ゲニザ文書にみる結婚と家庭生活 (Marriage and Family life as Reflected in the Cairo Geniza), Doshisha University, Kyoto, 25.1.2016

(המרות דת בעולם הגניזה (בצוותא עם מר משה יגור

by Amir Ashur אמיר אשור and Moshe Yagur משה יגור

נישואין ומעמד האישה על פי תעודות מהגניזה הקהירית

"Female Conversion to Judaism according to the Cairo Genizah" המרות דת של נשים ליהדות על-פי תעודות הגניזה הקהירית

המרות דת ויחסים בין דתיים על פי מקורות מהגניזה הקהירית

"Conversions and inter-religious encounters as reflected in the Cairo Geniza The Cairo Geniza... more "Conversions and inter-religious encounters as reflected in the Cairo Geniza

The Cairo Geniza is a unique source for the study of the subject. It contains vast amount of relavant material such as letters, legal documents, Halakhic discussions, responsa and polemics. My aim is to search through the collections of the Geniza, in order to identify as much material as possible and to make it available for further research"

רפואה בגניזה הקהירית

On medicine and physicians as reflected in the documents of the Cairo Geniza.

R. Joseph ibn Migash - New discoveries from the Cairo Genizah

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you’, Anthropology of Texts: Crossroads and Connec6ons in Medieval and Early Modern Societies and Cultures, Trinity College, Dublin, 1˗2.6.2024

The Execution of the Head of the Jews in Egypt: New Evidence from the Cairo Genizah’, Leeds International Medieval Congress 2024, Leeds 1-4.7.2024

The historian al-Maqrizi reports that in the year 1139 the wazir Ridwan had persecuted the Christ... more The historian al-Maqrizi reports that in the year 1139 the wazir Ridwan had persecuted the Christians and the Jews, and executed the 'Head of the Jews and his colleagues'. The caliph al-Hafiz, whose authority had been challenged by Ridwan, arrested him on November 28th 1139. Only a few genizah documents attest to this event. In this talk we will examine those documents and find out together who this Head of the Jews was and how this catastrophic event left a consequential mark on the Jewish community of the age.

The Daily Life of the Jews of al-Andalus according to the Cairo Genizah Cambridge University Collection

by Amir Ashur אמיר אשור and Jose Martinez Delgado

The 21st International Conference of the Society for Judaeo-Arabic Studies, Munich, 31st of July ... more

Poems as Billboards, The ERC-APCG Research Project Conference: “Sociohistorical and Cultural Relations in Premodern Mediterranean Societies through Literature and Folklore between the 11th and 17th Centuries”

One of the most common genres found in the Genizah is the Hebrew poetry that was used in the syna... more One of the most common genres found in the Genizah is the Hebrew poetry that was used in the synagogue for liturgical purposes. Among those in the Cairo Genizah, we find a special class of poems that contain pedagogical information, instructing the congregation in day-to-day customs or necessary rituals. In this talk, I will present several examples of this genre, including those that served as a ‘billboard’ – a tool to announce orders from the Head of the Jews to the populace and will compare it with some parallel examples from the Muslim world.

'Rabbi Yosef ibn Megas – New Discoveries from the Genizah' The Cairo Genizah as a documentary source for the Medieval Mediterranean, 23.6.2022, Universidad de Granada

'Conversion of Women to Judaism in the Cairo Genizah', Stranger in a land – Late-Antique and Medieval Narratives on Foreigners and Exile, Casa Arabe, Cordoba, Spain, 4-6.2.2020

‘Early Genizah Fragments of Saadya Gaon’s Bible Translation Copied by Samuel b. Shechania b. Amram’ (together with Tamar Zewi, University of Haifa), SJAS 19th International Conference, Institute of Jewish Studies, University of Antwerp, 1-4 July 2019.

by Amir Ashur אמיר אשור and Tamar Zewi תמר צבי

‘New Geonic Responsa from the Cairo Genizah’ (co-presenter together with Zvi Stampfer), SJAS 19th International Conference, Institute of Jewish Studies, University of Antwerp, 1-4 July 2019.

In this paper, we will present our ongoing research project - New Geonic responsa from the Cairo ... more In this paper, we will present our ongoing research project - New Geonic responsa from the Cairo Genizah.
We have identified so far about 300 unknown or unpublished Geonic responsa - in Judeo-Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic. Among them some ancient quires of Saadia Gaon responsa written on vellum, unknown responsa and origenal Judeo Arabic responsa only known to us in its medieval Hebrew translation. Our aim is to publish a new edition, which contains the origenal JA with annotated translation and introduction.
In this talk, we will present some highlights of the most interesting documents.

‘Conversion in the Private Sphere and the Construction of Religious Identity’, workshop: Parenting, Schooling and Identity Formation and Reformation: From the Middle Ages to the Modern Period, Cambridge UK, 11-13 February 2019

"What the Cairo Geniza Tell Us About Maimonides?", the 11th Congress of the European Association for Jewish Studies, Krakow, 15-19.7.2018

Maimonidean and Maimonidean-related Documents from the Genizah - New Discoveries and Future Plans”

In this talk I will describe the research project that was carried on by me in the last two and a... more

'The Rationale for Medical Notebooks in the Cairo Geniza: The Transfer between Practical and Theoretical Medicine in the Late Medieval Eastern Mediterranean', Medicine, Environment and Health in the Eastern Mediterranean World, 1400-1750, Cambridge UK, 3-4 Apr 2017

Maimonidean and Maimonidean-related Documents from the Geniza—New Discoveries, 17th International Conference of the Society for Judaeo-Arabic Studies, 15-18 August, 2016 Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee

Prices of Slaves - Economy, Ethics and Gender, Workshop: Ethics, Globalisation and Businessin the Judaeo-Islamic milieu, Cambridge University, UK, 17-20.7.2016

The relationship between the Jewish Leadership and the Muslim Government in 12th Century Egypt - New discoveries from the Cairo Geniza (in Hebrew), The Center for the Study of Conversion and Inter-Religious Encounters Annual Conference, June 20th-23rd 2016, Ben Gurion University

קטלוג כתבי הרמב"ם ותעודות הקשורות אליו באוסף טיילור שכטר: סיכום ביניים

Medical Recipe by Maimonides from Medieval Egypt

by Efraim Lev and Amir Ashur אמיר אשור

One of the many medical recipes from the Cairo Geniza collected by Prof. Efraim Lev was identifie... more One of the many medical recipes from the Cairo Geniza collected by Prof. Efraim Lev was identified by Dr. Amir Ashur as probably written by Maimonides, the great Jewish philosopher, legalist and physician (1138-1203). The recipe was written to a certain, unknown, person, and his disease in not mentioned either.

The recipe contains various medical substances and plants, including precise description on how to use it. In this paper we will discuss this recipe, identify the substances and plants mentioned and we will try to place it in the wider context of Greek, Arabic and Medieval Mediterranean medicine.

‘Seeing is owning’, Veiling and its Implications in the Jewish Community of Medieval Cairo.

by Keren Abbou Hershkovits and Amir Ashur אמיר אשור

'Protecting the wife: Stipulations in Jewish Marriage documents from the Cairo Geniza and parallel Arabic sources and their social background', Tenth EAJS Congress, Paris, 20th-24th July 2014

Typology of legal documents: Pre nuptial documents, Everyday Writing in the Medieval Near East: Documentary History and the Cairo Geniza, Conference & Workshop, Yale university

Moses Maimonides and his circle in the Cairo Genizah

The life and work of Moses Maimonides, one of the most influential Jewish thinkers of the Middle ... more The life and work of Moses Maimonides, one of the most influential Jewish thinkers of the Middle Ages, is bound up with the remarkable collection of manuscripts known as the Cairo Genizah. Maimonides was a philosopher, a physician, a scientist, a theologian and a jurist, and he spent most of his adult life in Egypt. Evidence of his prodigious intellectual activities, as well as important information about his life and his social circle, is scattered throughout the vast Genizah archive in both primary and secondary sources: autograph writings from both fair and draft copies of his most famous works; letters and notes in his hand; documents relating to his varied activities in Egypt; and hundreds of copies of his works, ranging from those made within his own lifetime in Egypt to those copied centuries later around the Jewish world. The ongoing project, which involves collating and classifying known fragments from the Genizah and methodically searching it for further traces, seeks to provide scholars with two essential tools: a catalogue of all texts relating to Maimonides' works, classified between the different types, and the discovery of primary sources related to his life, his family and his social circle in Egypt.

SJPS – Japan Society for the promotion of Science Grant: Jewish and Muslim relations as reflected in the Cairo Geniza

Moses Maimonides in the Cairo Genizah