Wuhsha al-dallala
al-Wuḥsha al-Dallāla (died after 1104), whose given name was Karīma bint Ammar,[1] was a Jewish-Egyptian businesswoman ("dallāla", or broker) active in the 11th and 12th centuries.[2][3][4]
She was the daughter of the Jewish banker Ammar of Alexandria.[5] She married Arye ben Yehudah and moved to Cairo, but divorced him early on, and made a business career of her own. She is known for her successful business career as well as her love life, and was a leading member of the Cairo business world,[1] often appearing in court for her business tasks, in contrast to the otherwise secluded life many women in Cairo lead.[6] She also created a scandal, challenging social and sexual conventions by living with a lover and having a child with him out of wedlock, which resulted in her being banned from the synagogue in 1095.[7]
Additionally, she is also known for her will of 1104, in which she donated her vast fortune to various institutions and charitable subjects within the Jewish community of Cairo.[8]
Al-Wuhsha had a daughter named Sitt Ghazāl from her marriage to Arye ben Yehudah. A court document from December 1132 identifies Sitt Ghazal as al-Wuhsha's daughter in bold letters, indicating the extent of her mother's reputation. No daughter is mentioned in al-Wuhsha's will, which may indicate that the two women had become estranged by that point.
References[edit]
- ^ a b Frenkel, Miriam (2010-10-01), "al-Wuḥsha", Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, Brill, retrieved 2023-07-18
- ^ Simonsohn, Uriel (2023-03-16), "In Quest of Female Power in the Medieval Near East", Female Power and Religious Change in the Medieval Near East (1 ed.), Oxford University PressOxford, pp. 1–28, doi:10.1093/oso/9780192871251.003.0001, ISBN 978-0-19-287125-1, retrieved 2023-07-18
- ^ "Jews in the Notarial Culture". publishing.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
- ^ Melammed, Reneé Levine (April 1997). "He Said, She Said: A Woman Teacher in Twelfth-Century Cairo". AJS Review. 22 (1): 19–35. doi:10.1017/S0364009400009211. ISSN 1475-4541. S2CID 162522827.
- ^ Goitein, S. D. (1967). "A Jewish Business Woman of the Eleventh Century". The Jewish Quarterly Review. 57: 225–242. doi:10.2307/1453495. ISSN 0021-6682. JSTOR 1453495.
- ^ Baskin, Judith R. (2018-04-08), "Independent Jewish Women in Medieval Egypt: Enterprise and Ambiguity", From Catalonia to the Caribbean: The Sephardic Orbit from Medieval to Modern Times, Brill, pp. 81–99, ISBN 978-90-04-37671-7, retrieved 2024-01-20
- ^ "Feuding – V 1 | Taylor & Francis eBooks, Reference Works and Collectio". www.taylorfrancis.com. doi:10.4324/9780415791182-rmeo294-1. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
- ^ Melammed, Renée Levine (2018-04-08), "A Look at Medieval Egyptian Jewry and Environs: Challenges and Coping Mechanisms as Reflected in the Cairo Genizah Documents", From Catalonia to the Caribbean: The Sephardic Orbit from Medieval to Modern Times, Brill, pp. 100–114, ISBN 978-90-04-37671-7, retrieved 2024-01-20
- Emily Taitz, Sondra Henry & Cheryl Tallan, The JPS Guide to Jewish Women: 600 B.C.E.to 1900 C.E., 2003
- S.D. Goitein, "A Jewish Business Woman of the Eleventh Century," in: Jewish Quarterly Review (Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Volume), (1967), 225–42; idem, A Mediterranean Society, 3 (1978; rep. 1988), 346–52.
- S. D. Goitein, A Mediterranean Society: The family
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