Historians frequently rely on secondary sources written by other scholars. However, such texts often fail to include all available primary resources or present a topic from every perspective. Therefore, it is important for researchers to explore a variety of secondary materials.
For instance, when studying the medieval Middle East, it is necessary to investigate the issue from the perspective of varying religious groups. As historian S.D. Goitein notes, in this setting “religion formed the frame…of the daily existence” (Goitein xii). While one source might not effectively convey religious variances, Goitein’s text, A Mediterranean Society, along with The Medieval Islamic World, by James Lindsay, combine to provide an informative narrative on life in the Middle East during the seventh through fourteenth centuries.
S.D. Goitein's Work
The aim of Goitein’s work is to describe daily life in the medieval Middle East from the perspective of the Jewish population living in and around Cairo. The experiences of these people are captured in Goitein’s main source, which he refers to as the Geniza letters. A Geniza is a storage place for documents containing the word “God”. According to Jewish law, such texts cannot be destroyed and, instead, must be ritually buried. The repository of information found in these buried storehouses has provided a plethora of information on the day to day dealings of the population. Thus, Goitein uses the Geniza letters to daily life in the medieval Cairo-Fustat region.
In discussing his text, the author states, “my endeavor is to let the reader listen to the Geniza people’s talk” (Goitein xvi). Therefore, a majority of the data presented comes strictly from the Geniza letters and documents. However, Goitein acknowledges the need to provide supporting evidence for his claims. Thus, he references a variety of other sources including the Talmud, comparative pictorial material, and the secondary works of fellow historians. The inclusion of such resources lends validity to Goitein’s work. Furthermore, the author’s early acknowledgement of his sources’ potential flaws, such as the difficulty translating the Geniza texts’ medieval Arabic, grants credibility to Goitein as a historian.
Flaws in the Geniza
One major flaw in the Geniza documents is their lack of information about the medieval Islamic populace in the region. Since the letters were almost exclusively written by Jews, they cannot serve as a particularly thorough source for the study of medieval Muslim population in the Middle East. However, such persons should not be excluded from the study of a region where they formed a majority of the populace. Thus, to conduct a thorough examination of daily life in this setting, one must turn to another work. It is in this context that Lindsay’s text becomes important. His work deals almost exclusively with the Muslim population, and is an excellent complement to Goitein’s research.
James Lindsay's Work
The ultimate aim of Lindsay’s work is to provide a general overview of daily life in the medieval Islamic world. Much of the data in Lindsay’s text directly supports Goitein’s findings. For instance, both authors acknowledge Arabic as the dominant language of the region. Additionally, both studies center on urban life, which was quite developed by the Middle Ages. The presence of such similar points in two distinct works allows the reader to conclude such assertions are factual.
Lindsay draws his conclusions from a variety of sources including Islamic texts, archaeological finds, poetry, and literary sources. Like Goitein, he acknowledges the flaws in these resources at the outset of his discussion. The lack of sources written during the period in question poses what Lindsay refers to as a “fundamental problem” (Lindsay 7). The issue, he notes, is “how does one uncover ‘what actually happened’ without contemporary documentary sources” (Lindsay 7).
Despite this daunting problem, Lindsay manages to uncover enough reliable data to begin his study. One interesting resource he employs is poetry. Poetic narratives can remain unchanged through centuries of oral transmission because their rhythmic structure is difficult to alter.
Lindsey and Goitein aim to provide an overview of daily life in the medieval Middle East. Each earns credibility as a historian by his willingness to acknowledge the potential flaws in his sources at the outset of his work. This allows the reader to consider such problems and make their own assessment of the presented data. Thus, both Goitein and Lindsay appear to have constructed reliable texts on their respective topics. Despite this, each individual text offers an incomplete picture of the medieval Middle East. However, combined they present a more thorough discourse on an era that must be understood through the separate lenses of both Judaism and Islam.
 |
