The Writings of Maimonides as an Archive for the History of Slavery

About the Lecture: Perry illustrates how Maimonides approached the topic of slavery across these different written genres. The breadth and diversity of his writings show that slavery had multiple, diverse (and seemingly contradictory) meanings in Jewish culture and the larger societies of which they were apart. Thus, Maimonides's writings illuminate the social, legal, and intellectual history of medieval slavery. Using examples from his Hebrew and Arabic writings, Perry will show how Maimonides treated slavery as a legal and philosophical problem, an intimate part of everyday life, and a practice through which Jewish identities and communal boundaries were constructed. By reading between the lines, we can also partially reconstruct the historical experiences of enslaved individuals."

About the Lecturer: Craig Perry is an Associate Professor at Emory University. His areas of expertise include: Social and Cultural History of the Medieval Middle East, Jewish History, The Cairo Geniza, History of Slavery, History of Medieval Africa before 1500, Red Sea and Indian Ocean Histories before 1500, History of Jewish-Muslim relations and more.