Book Review: Rebecca J. W. Jefferson, The Cairo Genizah and the Age of Discovery in Egypt: The History and Provenance of a Jewish Archive. London: I. B. Tauris & Company Limited, 2022. xiv, 267 p. ISBN: 9781788319638
Year: 2024
Type: book-review
Abstract: Rebecca Jefferson'sThe Cairo Genizah and the Age of Discovery in Egypt: The History and Provenance of a Jewish Archive is a book about fragments-and about fragmentation, and the actors and processes behind it.Alongside climate conditions, misuse, or neglect, the book shows fragmentation as a result of multiple intersecting personalities, motivations, and circumstances that are inexorably tied to the violence of European imperialism and colonialism.Jefferson has written not only a deeply erudite book, based on sleuthing and painstaking research, but also a breathtaking account that reads like a novel about belle-époque hotels and exclusive clubs, European consuls with insider knowledge of the antiquities trade and adventurers scouting local markets, archaeologists working under the scorching sun and the relentless dust, and tourists and scholars alike vying for fragmented treasures.
Source: Judaica librarianship
Author: Amalia S. Levi
Institution: University of Bonn
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4405912198