STUDY QUESTIONS

Norman A. Stillman, "The Jew in the Medieval Islamic City" in Daniel Frank, ed., The Jews of Medieval Islam:  Community, Society, and Identity (New York, 1995): 3-13

1) How did most new Arab cities emerge in the wake of the Islamic conquests?

2) How did the Arabs attempt to preserve their cultural and political exclusiveness?

3) In what ways might the social hierarchy enshrined in the "Pact of 'Umam" have kept the peace? Were the inequalities between the Arabs and their subject peoples in any way mitigated?

4) Why might Stillman have referred to the location of the new Arab settlements as "safely" inland? What disadvantages might have accrued to living in proximity to the Mediterranean Sea?

5) Might the differing cultural and religious practices and traditions of the peoples within the newly conquered territories have at all influenced the subsequent division of labor in the cities?

6) Who were the Mawali? Why were the Arab conquerors eventually forced to accept them on a more or less equal footing?

7) What were some of the reasons for the rising ethnic and socio-economic heterogeneity in the cities over time?

8) How did the view of property change with the increase in Jewish urbanization? What do the real estate deals in the Cairo Genizah reflect?

9) What does Stillman mean by the loss of "corporate character" in the cities of the Middle East during Hellenistic times? Where did "corporate identity" primarily come to reside?

Terms, Concepts, Names, and Dates

Max Weber

umma

bara'a

jihad

arabization

dhimmis

beit kenesset

mittaltelin (movable goods)

Zoroastrianism