India Traders of the Middle Ages ─ Documents from the Cairo Geniza, India Book

Decades in the making, this volume presents translations into English and full annotation of the 380 documents concerning the spice trade with India and other countries contained within the rich resource of the Ginezah documents. Highly detailed and knowledgeable, and beautifully presented by Brill, the presentation in English of so many documents related to trade with India, Yemen, and North Africa in the Middle Ages will be of use to scholars in a wide variety of fields. Gotein had assembled much of the material over a long period before his death in 1985. Friedman (Tel Aviv U., Israel), who had worked with Gotein on the project, undertook its completion. The entry for each document begins with a short section describing the condition of the document, its dimensions, and other physical details. A discussion follows, describing the layout and contents of the document and the individuals named. The English translation of the document follows this, with thorough annotation. A group of color and b&w plates of excellent quality are included depicting manuscript illumination of trade vessels, examples of the documents, and three maps. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

S. D. Goitein (1900-1985) was the world’s preeminent Geniza scholar. His publications include the seminal six-volume A Mediterranean Society. Mordechai A. Friedman, Ph.D. (1969), University of Pennsylvania, is Professor of Geniza Studies at Tel-Aviv University. His most recent book is Maimonides, the Yemenite Messiah and Apostasy.