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Note on Jewish Naming Patterns in the Cairo Geniza During the Fatimid Reign (Tenth-Eleventh Centuries)*

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NOTE ON JEWISH NAMING PATTERNS IN THE CAIRO GENIZA DURING THE FATIMID REIGN (TENTH-ELEVENTH CENTURIES)* Elinoar Bareket Achva Academic College, under the Academic Auspices of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel Introduction Based on about 3000 names, out of about 1000 Geniza papers of a documentary nature, it is possible to characterize the Jewish society in Fatimid Egypt during the eleventh century, and its social status within the rest of the population. The most significant conclusion is that among the Jews, there was a wish for economic integration in particular. That wish was most strongly manifested in efforts to take an active part in the country’s economy, principally in trade. From the letters in the Geniza, we can see that their participation in the textile market was greater than their proportion in the over- all population. At that time, Egypt was developing at a great pace, and becoming a major center of trade in the Mediterranean basin. The Fatimids had already begun to develop commerce when they were still in the Maghrib. With the conquest of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, they succeeded in building up the shipping lanes in the Mediterranean. The Fatimid Kingdom and its Jews exercised a great influence on Mediterranean society, and it is very significant that they succeeded in playing an important role without converting to Islam, but adapting only its external characteristics, mainly names. Background The power of the Fatimid rulers during the eleventh century was characterized by instability: occupying the throne while they were * This article is an edited and improved summary of a bigger article, due to be published (in Hebrew) in Te’uda magazine, translated to English: David Strassler. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2011 EJJS 5.1 Also available online – brill.nl/ejjs DOI: 10.1163/187247111X579287 82 elinoar bareket still children, their mothers and viziers had enormous influence on the government’s policies. The imam’s army was actively involved in the matters of the state, and the conflicting interests between the army’s different components dictated the state policies to a large extent. Various powers such as the Abbasid Empire, the Byzantine Empire, and various groups such as Turkish independent bands and tribes of Bedouins claimed the right of possession of Palestine and Syria. This resulted in endless conflicts in the area, making never- ending demands on resources, which the Fatimids had to supply. Egypt frequently suffered from recurrent drought, starvation, and the plague. But despite these drawbacks, Egypt was also develop- ing at a great pace, and becoming a major center of trade in the Mediterranean basin. The Fatimids had already begun to develop commerce when they were still in the Maghrib. With the conquest of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, they succeeded in building up the shipping lanes in the Mediterranean as well as developing trade routes into the Egyptian hinterland and the Far East.1 Because of the Fatimid imam’s and vizier’s failure to deal with the threat of the first crusade, the Fatimids lost Syria and Palestine at the end of the eleventh and beginning of the twelfth century. In Egypt itself, the imams lost power, and Christian Armenians became viziers. The invasion of Egypt by foreign troops, Muslim and Franks, alienated the population. For much of the twelfth century, the Fatimid regime failed to provide what was expected in medieval Islam from the rulers: protection of the community of the believers from internal disorder and external threats. From the year 1121, when the Armenian vizier, al-Afdal, was assassinated, the Fatimid state declined gradually towards its end in 1171.2 The Jews took an active part in the country’s economy, princi- pally in the import and export trades, and were in daily and close contact with their non-Jewish surroundings. From the letters in the Geniza, we gather that their participation in the textile trade was of far greater proportion relative to their percentage in the overall 1 Stanley Lane-Poole, History of Egypt in the Middle Ages (London: Cass, 1968), 118–140; 158–161; Yaacov Lev, State and Society in Fatimid Egypt (Leiden: Brill, 1991), 1–7; Moshe Gil, A History of Palestine, 638–1099 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), 335–337; Elinoar Bareket, Fustat on the Nile; The Jewish Elite in Medieval Egypt (Leiden: Brill, 1999), 4. 2 Lev, State and Society, 63–64; Seda B. Dadoyan, The Fatimid Armenians; Cultural and Political Interaction in the Near East (Leiden: Brill, 1997), 11–13; 120–122..
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