Curated Collection

Migration and Mobility in the Early Medieval Period

Medieval societies can sometimes be seen as static and isolated. Yet medieval people of all sorts moved from one place to another, for a variety of reasons: for economic opportunity and trade, driven by wars and forced displacement, and more. Western Europe and the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and even the Far East were connected by the migration of people, merchandise, and ideas.

Illustration of six bearded, turbaned men and a shirtless boy on a wooden sailboat in fish-filled water, below a line of Arabic script.

Curated by Maud Kozodoy

Mobility in the Medieval Mediterranean

The early medieval Mediterranean world was an interconnected, multilingual, and highly mobile region, in which Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived, worked, and traveled, together and apart. The Cairo Geniza has preserved letters and documents, primarily written by Jews, that illuminate trade networks, family connections, and intellectual exchanges.

Colorful illustration of two robed, turbaned, golden-haloed men sitting facing each other, one gesturing and the other holding scales and a white paper or cloth, with the hand of a third person visible at the edge.

Letter to His Brother, Moses

David tells his brother, Maimonides, about his travels with a small caravan to ‘Aydhāb, Egypt, narrowly avoiding death and robbery on the way.

A torn piece of parchment with handwritten Hebrew cut off at the top.

Letter from Salonika

The Jewish community of Salonika writes on behalf of an indigent youth from Russia who was traveling to Jerusalem, illustrating some of the motivations and difficulties of medieval travel.

Colorful illustration showing two facing seated figures in robes and long turbans, one bearded and writing on a scroll with a pen and the other gesturing.

Letter to Her Son, Dosa

A woman writes to her son, asking him to write more often, and to send her garments and other items from Fustāt (Old Cairo), illuminating the role of letters in the life of medieval Jews.

Trade Routes and Migration

Aden, Yemen, was a commercial hub and a vital connection point for the long-distance trade between India and the Middle East, which fed into the Mediterranean trading networks. Over time, a community of Egyptian Jews settled in Aden, living next to the local Yemenite Jews and Muslims. Letters went back and forth between Aden and Cairo, illuminating not only the lives of Jewish merchants but also providing invaluable details about the realities of sea travel and medieval commerce.

Damaged parchment with stains and holes, containing vowelless Hebrew script, one small fragment of which is crossed out and another annotated with letters.

Letter to His Wife

An India trader writes affectionately to the wife he left behind in Egypt, reluctantly offering her a divorce because of his lengthy absence.

Drawing on a fragment of damaged parchment of a boat with a curved, pointed prow, stick figure people and items aboard, and lines extending from the bottom, with vowelless Hebrew lettering above and below.

Letter to His Brother-in-Law, Abū Zikrī

Maḥrūz ben Jacob offers to let his brother-in-law, who was stuck in Broach, India, travel back home to Aden, Yemen on his ship, after his own has been attacked by pirates.

Letter to Hillel ibn Naḥman

A Jew in Aden writes to Hillel to inform him how his son-in-law (and his business partner) drowned at sea and to serve as official proof the two men were dead, so their widows could inherit.

Forced Displacement

In the early medieval period, the expulsions of the Jews from European countries had not yet occurred, and most Jewish migration was for economic reasons, with some exceptions. Local outbreaks of violence, sometimes specifically anti-Jewish violence, or regional wars like the Crusades drove population movement.

Facing pages of parchment with Hebrew script.

Letter to Nissim of Cairo

Menaḥem writes from Salonika to a friend in Cairo about the arrival of the Crusaders and a general feeling that the end times had come supported by stories of miracles in nearby Jewish communities.

Print of walled city surrounded by hills, and two figures in forefront, with Latin text above and below image.

Letter on the Capture of Jerusalem

Several Karaite Jewish leaders report on the aftermath of the 1099 conquest of Jerusalem by the Crusaders (“Franks”) and their defeat of a Fātimid army outside Ascalon.

Illustration of two golden-haloed figures in robes, one white-haired and bearded and the other younger, holding hands and gesturing.

Letter to His Father, Joseph

Solomon writes to his father, who had been in India, describing the conquest of the Maghreb in 1145 by ‘Abd al-Mu’min and the Almohads.

Migration and Transcultural Exchange

In the medieval Arabic-speaking world, Jewish scholars participated in Arabic intellectual culture. As the center of Jewish life moved to Christian Europe in the twelfth century, Jews brought Arabic manuscripts with them as they migrated and translated them into Hebrew. Many also participated in the Arabic-to-Latin translation movement, in which a Jew would orally translate from Arabic to the local vernacular, while a Christian would then translate that to Latin.

Manuscript page with concentric circles, zodiacal signs and Hebrew labels in outer circles, and some Hebrew text above and below.

Account of Scientific Transmission

Abraham Ibn Ezra describes the transfer of Indian astronomy to the Islamic world. Ibn Ezra’s own scientific works played a critical role in the transfer of Arabic knowledge to Latin Europe.

Illustration of four turbaned, haloed men in front of a bookshelf reading and discussing books and gesturing toward a fifth standing white-bearded man with a staff.

Commentary: On Ibn Sīnā’s Canon of Medicine

A Jewish physician working at Saladin’s court recounts his attempts to find the most accurate manuscripts of Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine, which were filtering from Central Asia into the Middle East.

Illustration of two golden-haloed figures in robes, one white-haired and bearded and the other younger, holding hands and gesturing.

Letter to His Brother-in-Law

An Egyptian Jewish physician in Seleucia, Turkey, encourages his family in Fustāt (Old Cairo) to relocate, illuminating details of medical ingredients and the challenges of Mediterranean commerce.

Individual Travelers

Some individuals seem to have crossed long distances for what may strike us as familiarly idiosyncratic reasons. Some seem to have simply wanted to explore the world. Others sought out educational enrichment or the sources of mystical knowledge in far lands. Still others moved in search of economic support, or to join a new religious community.

Damaged parchment page of Hebrew script with symbols above and between the lines.

The Scroll of Ovadiah

Megilat ‘Ovadyah

Ovadiah recounts his travels before finally reached Egypt, meeting Karaites, and encountering Crusaders.

Illustration of a bearded man in a robe holding a staff over his shoulder with a bag hanging from it, reaching his hand out toward another hand extended from the left edge of the image.

The Book of Travels: Baghdad

Benjamin's account leads from Tudela, in northern Spain, through Girona, Provence, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and farther East.

Letter to His Sister, Balluta

Simon of Toledo, now living in Jerusalem, writes a detailed letter to his sister living somewhere in al-Andalus (Muslim Spain).