ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses exclusively on medieval Jewish civilization, from the fall of the Roman Empire to about 1492. It includes alphabetically organized entries, written by scholars from around the world, include biographies, countries, events, social history, and religious concepts. Although the main expectations for a Jewish woman of the Middle Ages were domestic, the evidence shows that women were also active in transacting business, often supporting their husbands and families, and that certain women fulfilled religious roles such as teaching other women and leading them in prayer. The Cairo Genizah documents are a major source of information about women in the large urban Jewish communities of the Muslim world from the ninth to twelfth century. Marriage contracts, for example, which often enumerated all of the dresses, ornaments, and furniture brought into marriage by the bride, provide information about high standards of living and material culture.