The paper and textile industry in the land of Israel and its raw materials in light of an analysis of the Cairo Genizah documents

Zohar Amar, Azriel Gorski, Izhar Neumann

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

The Arab conquest was followed in al-Šām by several changes in agriculture and agriculture-based industry as part of an adaptation to the new conditions that were created in the region that had newly come under Islamic control. This chapter shows that there was a connection between the paper industry and the cotton industry. To illustrate this point, the Hula Valley region, whose inhabitants had previously raised flax for cloth and papyrus for papermaking, turned to the cultivation of cotton and began to manufacture the new paper which was based on the local textile industry. The chapter examines this account, which is strongly supported by an analysis of the historical sources, by analysing the composition of the paper taken from documents from the land of Israel in the Middle Ages which were found in the Cairo Genizah.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication"From a Sacred Source"
Subtitle of host publicationGenizah Studies in Honour of Professor Stefan C. Reif
EditorsBen Outhwaite, Siam Bhayro
PublisherBrill Academic Publishers
Pages25-42
Number of pages18
ISBN (Electronic)9789004190580
StatePublished - 2011

Publication series

NameEtudes sur le Judaisme Medieval
Volume42

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • History
  • Religious studies
  • Literature and Literary Theory

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