This Noble House: Jewish Descendants of King David in the Medieval Islamic East

Contents

C o n t e n t s A Note on Transliteration, Names, and Dates ix Preface xi Introduction 1 Chapter 1. “Sharīf of the Jewish Nation”: Reconceptualizing the House of David in the Islamic East 34 Chapter 2. “The Truth of the Pedigree”: Documenting Origins and the Public Performance of Lineage 68 Chapter 3. Ancestry as Authority: Lineage and Power in Near Eastern Jewish Society 107 Chapter 4. “Designated in the Past and for the Future”: Davidic Dynasts and Medieval Messianic Anticipation 131 Chapter 5. “The Sharīf of Every People Is Well-Born”: Genealogy and the Legitimization of Minority Culture 163 Conclusion 179 Appendix A. Halper 462: Transcription and Translation 185 Appendix B. A Tentative List of Davidic Dynasts Datable between ca. 950 and ca. 1450 189 Abbreviations 207 Notes 209 Bibliography 253 Index of Manuscript Sources 277 Index 285 Acknowledgments 295 viii Contents ...