ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the position occupied by the Jewish community within the multi-ethnic, urban society of late medieval Famagusta, Northern Cyprus. The analysis combines historical sources and archaeological data with the use of innovative space syntax, spatial analysis methods developed against a background of robotics: notably access and agent analyses and visibility graphs. The results demonstrate that despite being positioned close to the main trade artery of the walled town, Famagusta’s Jewish community was spatially and visually secluded from both visitors and other inhabitants of the city. This arrangement allowed the Jews to contribute to the urban economy without disrupting the thoroughly Christian, albeit ethnically diverse (Greek, Syrian and Latin), image of the city. The analysis shows that absence of internal walls segregating neighbourhoods should not indicate absence of division as urban layouts, and that manipulation of movement patters could serve as equally powerful tools of enforcing social hierarchy in diverse, urban environments of medieval cities.
