@mrustow

Cairo Geniza specialist, professor of Near Eastern Studies & History, director of the Princeton Geniza Lab. Deciphering, often with great difficulty, since 1996

 Munsee-Lenape occupied lands
princeton.academia.edu/MarinaRustow
Joined September 2008
  • Tweets2.4K
  • Following680
  • Followers4.7K
357Media
Princeton Geniza Lab has joined Bluesky! We hope you will connect with us at our profile over there! 🦋→ bsky.app/profile/genizalab.b…
Screenshot of the Princeton Geniza Lab's profile on Bluesky containing the lab's logo, a banner image of Geniza fragments, and a short description of the lab and its websites.

ALT Screenshot of the Princeton Geniza Lab's profile on Bluesky containing the lab's logo, a banner image of Geniza fragments, and a short description of the lab and its websites.

1
1
6
1,287
Medieval Judaeo-Arabic manuscript recording how to say "OMG" in fifteen languages. If you happen to know Samaritan, Nubian, Rusian, {A}rmenian, Oghuz, Coptic, or any of the half dozen mystery languages here, please advise! geniza.princeton.edu/en/docu…
Photos of recto and verso of a small medieval manuscript in Hebrew and Arabic script, alongside tentative transcription & translations: אלה שמיה תרגמיה God of heaven (in) Targumic שמח שמח באלסימריה ŠMḤ ŠMḤ in Samaritan נגש נגש באלחתיה(?) NGŠ NGŠ in Hittite(???) סלו סלו באלנוביה SLW SLW in Nubian תחה תחה באלכאשכיה(?) TḤH TḤH in Kāskian(?) יא בר בר באלרוסיה O BR BR in Russian יא זגזגה סוראניה O ZGZGH (in) Syriac(?) יא קרס קרס באלסרצטיה(?) O QRS QRS in SRṢṬian יא קטפז באלרמנייה(?) O QṬFZ in {A}rmenian(?) יֵאמִנתִיָיו(?) אפרנגיה O Mintiyaw (in) Frankish יאגמתו(?) באלגזיה O GMTW in Ghuzz(?) יא שפנותה באלקבטיה O S(h)ephnute in Coptic יא כדי כדי באלעגמיה O Khudī Khudī in Persian יא חס חס באלרומיה(?) O ḤS ḤS in Roman (Greek?) יא רב . . . . . אלשמא באלערביה O Lord of heaven in Arabic بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم عونك يا رب بالله ربكما عوجا على سكني وعاتبماه(!)

ALT Photos of recto and verso of a small medieval manuscript in Hebrew and Arabic script, alongside tentative transcription & translations: אלה שמיה תרגמיה God of heaven (in) Targumic שמח שמח באלסימריה ŠMḤ ŠMḤ in Samaritan נגש נגש באלחתיה(?) NGŠ NGŠ in Hittite(???) סלו סלו באלנוביה SLW SLW in Nubian תחה תחה באלכאשכיה(?) TḤH TḤH in Kāskian(?) יא בר בר באלרוסיה O BR BR in Russian יא זגזגה סוראניה O ZGZGH (in) Syriac(?) יא קרס קרס באלסרצטיה(?) O QRS QRS in SRṢṬian יא קטפז באלרמנייה(?) O QṬFZ in {A}rmenian(?) יֵאמִנתִיָיו(?) אפרנגיה O Mintiyaw (in) Frankish יאגמתו(?) באלגזיה O GMTW in Ghuzz(?) יא שפנותה באלקבטיה O S(h)ephnute in Coptic יא כדי כדי באלעגמיה O Khudī Khudī in Persian יא חס חס באלרומיה(?) O ḤS ḤS in Roman (Greek?) יא רב . . . . . אלשמא באלערביה O Lord of heaven in Arabic بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم عونك يا رب بالله ربكما عوجا على سكني وعاتبماه(!)

23
175
35
552
90,333
Marina Rustow retweeted
Marina Rustow@mrustow6 Apr 2023
Fun opportunity to work with me!🦸‍♀️🦹‍♀️📜✍️ 🧑‍💻 If you're less than 4 years post-PhD and into digital humanities *and* premodern textual artifacts (manuscripts, archives, coins, inscriptions, etc), please apply for this postdoc. Deadline: May 7, 2023. puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHir…
4
80
1
153
36,057
A monumental new Fragment of the Month from @GenizaLab's own Yosef Ginsberg on new fragments of Sefer Tagin ("The Book of Crownlets") lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/de…
Medieval manuscript with Hebrew writing on it. Caption: Detail from JTS ENA 2753.16, recto, published with courtesy of the Jewish Theological Seminary Library.

ALT Medieval manuscript with Hebrew writing on it. Caption: Detail from JTS ENA 2753.16, recto, published with courtesy of the Jewish Theological Seminary Library.

6
27
3,857
Marina Rustow retweeted
Dan Gallaher@DanGallaher130 Jan 2023
Replying to @GenizaLab
This looks like an extract from an edition of the tenth century History of Yovhannēs Drasxanakertc‘i.
1
1
1
827
We still know little about how medieval Islamic law worked in practice, despite having access to many legal documents. By analyzing legal texts in creative ways, Dr. Marina Rustow (@mrustow) is shedding new light on the role of judges (qadis) & how they worked. A thread. 🧵
Detail from a 17th century painting of a scene from Sa'di's Gulistan. Description from the Met museum: "This painting was created during the reign of Mughal Emperor Jahangir (r. 1605–27) and illustrates a scene from the Gulistan of Sa'di, a 13th century poetic collection of moral tales. In this story, an old man takes on a much younger wife, named Pearl, but is unable to consummate the marriage. Complaining of his wife's inadequacies but unable to see his own, the old man takes the issue up with the local qadi (or magistrate), seated at the right of the scene."

ALT Detail from a 17th century painting of a scene from Sa'di's Gulistan. Description from the Met museum: "This painting was created during the reign of Mughal Emperor Jahangir (r. 1605–27) and illustrates a scene from the Gulistan of Sa'di, a 13th century poetic collection of moral tales. In this story, an old man takes on a much younger wife, named Pearl, but is unable to consummate the marriage. Complaining of his wife's inadequacies but unable to see his own, the old man takes the issue up with the local qadi (or magistrate), seated at the right of the scene."

5
22
3
85
12,865
Marina Rustow retweeted
Xin Wen@xwen011324 Jan 2023
Today is the official publication date of my book The King's Road. It is widely available now, but if you order from PUP website press.princeton.edu/books/ha…, you can use the code P321 for 30% off!
4
43
5
256
45,337
Ever wonder what kind of stuff you'd find on the shelves of a pharmacy in medieval Cairo? Wonder no more! geniza.princeton.edu/en/docu…
medieval manuscript covered with Arabic writing

ALT medieval manuscript covered with Arabic writing

manuscript illumination of a pharmacist preparing a medicine

ALT manuscript illumination of a pharmacist preparing a medicine

1
16
1
47
New join for this letter from a disconsolate mother to her son in al-Ushmūnayn (Upper Egypt), 1146–54 CE. Found by @OdedZinger! geniza.princeton.edu/en/docu…
Princeton Geniza Lab@GenizaLab18 Jun 2022
Letter from a mother: "My son, people only raise children so that they won't have to rely on others, but you are making me rely on others even as you prosper!" ويا ولدي انما يربو الناس اولادهم ان يغنوهم عن الناس تحوجني الى الناس وانت بكل خير geniza.princeton.edu/en/docu…
2
5
20
A glimpse of trade networks in Aden (Yemen) in 1155–56 CE: "Travelers arrived in these two years in ships from every sea: from all the lands of Hind and its provinces, from the land of the Zanj and its provinces, from the inland region of Berbera and Abyssinia.... 1/
2
34
3
160
New offer/invitation: If you'd like any Geniza document translations, tag us with the document, and say what intrigued you about the description and what more you'd like to know! Browse/search our new database here: geniza.princeton.edu/en/docu…
1
8
20
On the left, Cairo Geniza doodles of soldiers. On the right, similar looking Fatimid pottery spotted at @TheBenakiMuseum! The pottery is described as Tunisian, 10th–11th c. The Geniza manuscript contains a work by Jonah of Girona (d. 1264), so at least a couple centuries later
1
11
1
42
Marina Rustow retweeted
Suzanne Paul@suz_paul4 Apr 2022
Thanks @mrustow for alerting me to yet another cool thing @theULSpecColl that I previously knew nothing about - MS ruling board made of paper and string.
Marina Rustow@mrustow4 Apr 2022
Replying to @Paul_Babinski
Here’s one from the 11th-13th c. For more: cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/search?fi…
5
23
Marina Rustow retweeted
UptownBerber@HishamAidi9 Feb 2022
Leila Murad, 1953 al Fan - from the forthcoming “Unknown Past: Layla Murad, the Jewish-Muslim Star of Egypt” by Hanan Hammad
11
62
A medieval medical prescription that sounds a lot like lemonade 🍹 -grainy concentrated lemon syrup, 1 oz -sugar candy, 1/2 oz -something, 3 dirhams -white gum of tragacanth, 1/2 dirham -something, 1/8 dirham (possibly aphrodisiac: ללגמ[אע]/للجم[اع]) geniza.princeton.edu/en/docu…
1
7
1
44
Ottoman History Podcast has been carrying Ottoman history to thousands of listeners since March 2011. Let's thank them, listen to their stories & celebrate them at this session of the OTSA Co-Op, featuring over a dozen of OHP’s longtime contributors! Reg.: ucdavis.zoom.us/meeting/regi…
13
5
48
פרסמנו לראשונה ב-#הבוקר_הזה של @ReshetBet - בחודש האחרון נמצאה גניזה חדשה בבית הקברות היהודי העתיק בקהיר. אלא שבימים האחרונים, כפי שדיווחנו, אנשי רשות העתיקות המצרית נכנסו לבית הקברות והחלו לרוקן אותה בעשרות שקים למרות ההתנגדות של אנשי הקהילה היהודית בקהיר וללא רשותם >>
37
64
37
504
Marina Rustow retweeted
Marijn van Putten@PhDniX17 Mar 2022
It is with great joy that I can announce today that I have received the ERC Consolidator Grant for my research Project: QurCan: The Canonisation of the Quranic Reading Traditions. I am incredibly grateful, and happy that I will be employed to conduct such a cool project.
47
54
11
395
Marina Rustow retweeted
Ali Yaycıoğlu
@ayayciog13 Mar 2022
Empire of Debt: Finance, Violence, and Accounting in the Ottoman Age of Crisis, 1770-1840. Speaker: Ali Yaycioglu, Stanford University Respondent: Francesca Trivellato, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. Mar 14, 2022, 12:00 pm – 1:20 pm.
Marina Rustow@mrustow11 Mar 2022
Monday 3/14 at noon eastern: come hear ⁦@ayayciog⁩ discuss his amazing work on an Ottoman fiscal register at the Princeton NES virtual seminar. ALİ YAYCIOĞLU: Empire of Debt: Finance, Violence, and Accounting in the Ottoman Age of Crisis, 1770-1840 nes.princeton.edu/events/emp…

Empire of Debt: Finance, Violence, and Accounting in the Ottoman Age of Crisis, 1770-1840

Speaker: Ali Yaycıoğlu, Stanford University This talk is on the political economy of public and private debt in the Ottoman Empire during the severe crisis of the Ottoman order in the late 18th and...

nes.princeton.edu
1
8
1
57
State archives are generally a modern creation. But in this episode with @mrustow, we discuss how past Islamic empires, while not necessarily leaving behind an organized archive, had much more sophisticated documentary practices than often assumed.👇 ottomanhistorypodcast.com/20…
1
44
1
146
Load more