From Markets to Marvels

Jews on the Maritime route to China ca. 850–ca. 950 CE

Bibliographic Data

ID7883595
AuthorsAdam Silverstein (The Oriental Institute, Oxford University), Adam J Silverstein (Czech Academy of Sciences, Oriental Institute, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume58
Issue1
Pages91-104
Publication date2007-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Jewish Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-2097 • E-ISSN: 2056-6689
PublisherOxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.18647/2707/jjs-2007
OpenAlexW1663083445
LanguageEN
Citations received6

In this article it is argued that Jewish travellers to China between 850 and 950 CE contributed to—and were the products of—a Judeo-Islamic culture, both in their mercantile activity and in the literary output that it spawned. It is argued that events in the Near East and in China in the late 9th and early 10th centuries had an irreversible effect on trade relations between the Near East (from which most Jewish traders of the time emanated) and China. The decline in trade missions to the Far East coincided with an eruption of literary activity in the Islamic world that encouraged works of ‘fiction’ and marvels. The travelogue of Eldad ha-Dānī is considered within this Arabo-Islamic context and reinterpreted accordingly

Ancient history · Archaeology · China · Context (archaeology · Islam · Judaism · Middle East · Eurasian Exchange Networks · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · Historical and Linguistic Studies · History

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