A History of Palestine, 634-1099 [Paperback]

Moshe Gil (Author), Ethel Broido (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 1997

This was the first comprehensive history of Palestine from the Muslim conquest in 634 to that of the Crusaders in 1099. It is a 1992 translation and revised version of volume I of Palestine During the First Muslim Period which was published in Hebrew in 1983 and presents an authoritative survey of the early mediaeval Islamic and Jewish worlds. Based on an impressive array of sources including documents from the Cairo Geniza collection, the author examines the lives of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities of Palestine against a background of the political and military events of the period. Specific attention is paid to the history of Palestinian Jews under Muslim rule. An essential resource for students and specialists of mediaeval Islamic and Jewish history, religious studies and for anyone interested in the history of the Holy Land.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Review of the hardback: '... it illuminates society in Palestine during this period. This is a major work of scholarship and we should be grateful that it is now available in English.' The Times Higher Education Supplement

Review of the hardback: 'Gil shows himself a master of an enormous mass of Hebrew, Arabic Judaeo-Arabic and Syriac source material, and his book is, given its bulk, clearly laid out and easy to read ...' C. Edmund Bosworth, The English Historical Review

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Hebrew --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 996 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (April 28, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521599849
• ISBN-13: 978-0521599849
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,884,494 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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26 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stark reality of Muslim rule of Palestine, 634-1099, July 18, 2002

By 

Andrew G. Bostom (Chepachet, RI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A History of Palestine, 634-1099 (Paperback)

Middle East scholars have lauded "A History of Palestine, 634-1099" as the most comprehensive historiography of Palestine from the initial Arab Muslim conquests, until the arrival of the Crusaders in 1099. Remarkably, despite the constraints of academic annotation, and the uncertainties of translation (i.e., from Hebrew to English), Professor Gil's narrative is eminently readable for the non-professional student of history. Through the clear, dispassionate presentation of a rich profusion of data, he captures the stark, unromantic reality of Muslim ruled Palestine during this 465-year period.

Professor Gil begins with a survey of events before the Arab Muslim invasion. He also notes the singular centrality that Palestine occupied in the mind of its pre-Islamic Jewish inhabitants, who referred to the land as "al-Sham". Indeed, as Gil observes, the sizable Jewish population in Palestine (who formed a majority of its inhabitants, when grouped with the Samaritans) at the dawn of the Arab Muslim conquest were "..the direct descendants of the generations of Jews who had lived there since the days of Joshua bin Nun, in other words for some 2000 years..". The 465-year period carefully surveyed by Gil comprises the following stages: the Arab Muslim conquest and establishment, from 634 to 661; the Umayyad-Damascene rule, from 661 until 750; the Abbasid-Baghdadian rule, from 750 through 878; Turco-Egyptian rule- Tulunids and Ikshidids- from 878 until 970- "interrupted" by Abbasid-Baghdadian rule again, between 905 and 930; nearly two generations of war including numerous participants, the dominant party being the Fatimids, from 970 through 1030; just over 40-years of Fatimid-Egyptian rule, between 1030 and 1071; and a generation of Turkish rule encompassing most of Palestine, from 1071 until 1099.

Gil offers a particularly revealing assessment of dhimmitude (i.e., the regulations imposed on the non-Muslims vanquished by jihad), and its adverse impact on these conquered, indigenous peoples, in chapter 3 pages, pages 139 to 161. For example, excessive, arbitrarily imposed taxation in the first quarter of the 11th century lead to the destitution, imprisonment, torture, and death of many Jews living in Jerusalem. However, the clearest outward manifestations of this imposed inferiority and humiliation were the prohibitions regarding dhimmi dress "codes", and the demands that distinguishing signs be placed on the entrances of dhimmi houses. During the Abbasid caliphates of Harun al-Rashid (786-809) and al-Mutawwakil (847-861), Jews and Christians were required to wear yellow ( as patches attached to their garments, or hats). Later, to differentiate further between Christians and Jews, the Christians were required to wear blue. Finally, in 850, consistent with Koranic verses and hadith (sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad) associating them with Satan and Hell, al-Mutawwakil decreed that Jews and Christians attach wooden images of devils to the doors of their homes to distinguish them from the homes of Muslims.

Near the end of his extensive, scrupulously documented presentation, Gil offers this sobering assessment: "..These facts do not call for much interpretation; together they simply form a picture of almost unceasing insecurity, of endless rebellions and wars, of upheavals and instability..".

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An indispensable reference., August 4, 2005

By 

M. D Roberts (Gwent, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A History of Palestine, 634-1099 (Paperback)

The reader is provided with what can only be described as a scrupulously documented and indispensable reference, that is a must read for any individual interested in a complete history of Palestine - especially in relation to the period dating from the Muslim conquest until that of the Crusaders.

Drawing on many historic Muslim, Christian and Jewish sources/texts/references, this study proceeds to reveal how the Muslim conquest of Palestine began before the death of Muhammad and how it subsequently subdued the population of Jews and Christians.

For the purposes of a review, it is impossible to refer to all the issues covered in a study of this depth and magnitude that spans nearly 1,000 pages, so for those interested I shall select only a few.

Early in this work, brief reference is provided to the events surrounding the Jewish revolt against Roman rule which culminated in 135AD with the "Diaspora", the renaming of the Jewish homeland as Syria Palestina (eventually anglicised into `Palestine') and the renaming of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina..

The book documents how the period AD135 until AD638 saw the enforced separation of the Jews from Jerusalem and their most Holy site. Reference also being made to how this purportedly formed the integral basis of the convictions held by the "early Church Fathers" which resulted in so much anti-Semitism (hatred of the Jews).

At the time of the Muslim conquest the book illustrates how, despite the Diaspora, the majority of the population was indeed Jewish who referred to the Land as al-Sham (the Samaritans also being inclusive in this majority). The Jewish population itself is shown in this work, to not only be "survivors from the revolt against the Romans", but also to consist of the "direct descendants" of the generations of Jews who had lived there since the days of Joshua bin Nun.

In other words, a continual Jewish presence spanning some 2,000 years prior to the Islamic conquest.

The book also illustrates how the Jewish connection with the Temple Mount , Moses, David and Solomon was present in the minds of the Muslims during the conquests and that the prior injunction preventing Jewish access to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount (which had been used as a rubbish dump) was even initially revoked by the Muslims. Having said this, the book refers to some conflicting/contradictory information in relation to these issues.

The Muslim conquest of Palestine is described as opening an entirely "new page" in Palestine's history, amid a period that is shown to witness almost "unceasing warfare". The study stressing that the goal during the initial phases of the Islamic invasion of Palestine was to compel the nomadic tribes around the border to accept Islam and consolidate around Muhammad. The study citing numerous campaigns that are described as being "cruel" and accompanied by "rebuke and chastisement".

The reader is provided with references throughout. Having access to such detailed historical credentials it is difficult to weigh any Arab/Islamic/Palestinian claim to this land against that of the Jews who preceded them. The land being shown in this study to have been systematically and violently "de-populated" through Jihads, and then re-populated with Muslims/Arabs etc.. The Jewish and Christian populations described herein shown to have been subjected to the regulations imposed on the non-Muslims that were "vanquished" by jihad ("holy war") during which many Churches and Synagogues are cited as having been destroying by the invading tribes.

Indeed, the book provides some attention to the aforementioned "dhimmi" status afforded the non-Muslims and the adverse affects imposed upon their lives.

Amongst the outward manifestations detailed herein that are described as portraying the purported inferiority and humiliation suffered by non-Muslims, is the enforced wearing of distinguishing yellow marks by Jews and blue by Christians. The reader is provided with an ominous foretaste of what awaited the Jews in the 20th Century during the Holocaust.

The book culminates in the effects upon the population of Palestine, including the slaughter of the Jews, during the ensuing "Crusades".

Might I also respectfully recommend the following books to anyone interested in a detailed history pertaining to the region.

"Empires Of The Sands; The Struggle for Mastery in the Middle East, 1789 - 1923" by Inari & Efraim Karsh.
"From Time Immemorial; The Origins of the Arab - Jewish Conflict Over Palestine" by Joan Peters.
"A Peace To End All Peace; The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace" by David Fromkin.
"The Palestine War 1948" by Efraim Karsh.

Thank you for your time.