The View from Here: S.D. Goitein’s “World of Women” Revisited

This essay takes a look at how scholars have noted or ignored the existence of material concerning women’s lives found in the Cairo Genizah. The pioneer in this endeavor was S.D. Goitein, who devoted an entire chapter to “The World of Women” in the third volume of his magnum opus, A Mediterranean Society. By analyzing how Goitein chose and arranged his material, one can appreciate his scholarship while simultaneously asking new questions to further the field. The generations of Genizah scholars who have followed in his footsteps have done and are doing precisely that.