Meanderings in the Arabic Literary Genizot

Abstract

The Cairo genizot (plural of Geniza) provide not only new Arabic literary texts but also new contexts. This study explores different kinds of context by presenting several examples of Arabic literary material found mostly in the Ben Ezra Geniza (BEG). The examples include three tales that also appear in the Arabian Nights literature, a Judeo-Arabic fragment of a Šīʿī kitāb al-ğafr, a Muslim historical work dealing with Muḥammad’s letters to foreign rulers, a playful romantic polemical exchange between a Jewish man and a Christian woman and more. Thinking about different kinds of context is one of the ways to reconnect the study of the documentary and the literary genizot.