Despite extensive research on Ottoman Jews, scholarly attention on their cultural activities has largely remained confined to works produced in Hebrew, Ladino, and Arabic. This article is the inaugural piece in an ongoing series that seeks to showcase the intellectual depth and diversity of Jewish communities within Ottoman society by examining their literary contributions to Turkish in the premodern era. It introduces Deb & imacr;r & imacr;, the earliest known Jewish poet to write in Turkish, and his previously unstudied translation of the first eight Psalms from Hebrew into Ottoman Turkish - the first known translation of the Psalms in this language. After this introduction, the article delves into his translation, comparing it with those of his contemporaries, H & amacr;k & imacr; and 'Al & imacr; Ufk & imacr;, to foster a broader understanding of his linguistic approach and translation methods. It further explores why Ism & amacr;'& imacr;l Agha, chief administrator of the Ottoman palace during the reign of Mur & amacr;d IV, commissioned this translation. The article concludes with a full transliteration of Deb & imacr;r & imacr;'s text, thereby offering scholars a solid foundation to conduct further research on the intersection of Jewish and Ottoman Turkish literary traditions.
This article explores the intersection of archival practices, material philology, and administrative documentation in late Maml & umacr;k and early Ottoman Damascus through an in-depth analysis of the codex as a site for document preservation. Challenging earlier assumptions about the absence of archival institutions and documentation in pre-Ottoman West Asia and North Africa, the authors propose a tripartite framework - transmediation, translocation, and book-born documents - to conceptualize the integration of documentary texts and artefacts into codices as a strategy of preservation. Using the case of a 15th-century shur & umacr;t formulary housed in the S & uuml;leymaniye Library (Istanbul), the study focuses on transmediated text added as paracontent by the Damascene judge 'Abd al-Q & amacr;dir ibn Muflih al-Hanbal & imacr;. Particular attention is given to a protocol regulating trade and gender separation in the Shaykh & imacr; and Dahsha markets of Damascus, offering new insights into local governance, endowment management, and the social logics of documentation. The analysis demonstrates the codex's role in preserving, transforming, and transmitting legal and administrative memory across the Maml & umacr;k-Ottoman transition, moving beyond institutional, Eurocentric paradigms of the archive. By situating documentary and archival practices within interdisciplinary approaches to manuscript cultures, the article reveals the codex as a dynamic locus for the social life of documents.
This study examines the theological debates surrounding the Ib & amacr;d & imacr; epistle of Khalaf b. Ziy & amacr;d al-Bahr & amacr;n & imacr;, written in the early 2nd/8th century. The epistle, which focuses on the theological concept of al-asm & amacr;' wa-l-ahk & amacr;m (names and rulings), represents one of the earliest known discussions of faith classifications and their legal implications in Islam. Khalaf's work is compared to Kit & amacr;b al-Irj & amacr;' and the Epistle of S & amacr;lim ibn Dhakw & amacr;n, highlighting how early Islamic sects, particularly the Ib & amacr;d & imacr;s, Murji'ites, and Mu'tazilites, debated the definitions of & imacr;m & amacr;n (faith) and kufr (unbelief). The study situates Khalaf's epistle within the broader theological discourse of the period, showing how his classification of faith-related rulings influenced later Ib & amacr;d & imacr; thought. It also challenges the assumption that Ib & amacr;dism only matured as a structured doctrine in the 6th/12th century, demonstrating its continuous evolution from the early Islamic period.
Striking a middle ground between apocalyptic and anti-apocalyptic understandings of Islamic origins, Part I of this article argues that Muhammad is best understood as a "proto-apocalyptic" figure who adhered to a prophetic eschatology infused with apocalyptic elements. Chief among these is a belief in the imminent advent of the Hour, heralded by a divine warrior descending on the clouds - a theophanic motif rooted in the Ancient Near Eastern combat myth and inherited through the biblical "Day of Yahweh" (y & omacr;m yahweh) and the New Testament's "Day of the Lord." Coupled with the nearness topos found across scriptural traditions (root: q-r-b), this motif signals eschatological imminence. Yet, in the Qur'& amacr;n, such imminentism is tempered by epistemic humility, eschatological uncertainty, and historical indeterminacy. Part II of this article examines the attenuation of this eschatological urgency in the Medinan Qur'& amacr;n and what I term "the Second Meccan" corpus. Against the prevailing two-stage thesis, a three-stage Qur'& amacr;nic eschatology is put forward. The First Meccan corpus anticipates "the Day of Victory" (yawm al-fath), mirroring the New Testament's Day of the Lord. The Medinan period marks a partial eschatological reconfiguration, wherein military victory (fath) evokes the Day of Yahweh's theophanic presence on the battlefield. The Second Meccan phase is inaugurated by the Conquest of Mecca (fath makka), at which point in time a fully realized eschatology is articulated: Mecca's rejection of pagan ritual and its collective turn to the proper worship of God (d & imacr;n all & amacr;h) constitute a "manifest victory" (fath mub & imacr;n), resulting in the lifting of the imminent eschatological threat and the re-sanctification of the Mother of Cities (umm al-qur & amacr;).
The Qissa-yi sal & amacr;t & imacr;n, an insh & amacr;' collection compiled in the Sultanate of Rum in the mid-7th/13th century, places at its forefront a letter from the Khw & amacr;razm-Sh & amacr;h Tekish to Saladin, congratulating him on the reconquest of Jerusalem in 583/1187. This is a rare example of a tahniyat-n & amacr;ma found in an insh & amacr;' work that includes readily identifiable contextual elements. The text itself, composed in exceptionally complex Persian, is presented here in an edited version, followed by an English translation and a line-by-line commentary. The article then addresses the central question of the letter's authenticity. Several factors - ranging from its internal coherence and historical context to the absence of any clear motive for forgery - suggest that it may indeed be genuine, and therefore written in the chancery of Tekish. It might hint at a potential alliance envisaged by Tekish with the aim of dividing the Nile-to-Oxus region - a plan that ultimately did not come to fruition.
The consumption of distilled liquors is attested as early as the 13th century in Western Europe and the 14th century in East Asia. However, the diffusion of distilled liquors in the regions between Western Europe and East Asia remains poorly understood. I assess the historic diffusion of distilled liquors in one such region, the East Mediterranean, to better understand the diffusion across Eurasia. I draw upon sources largely ignored by scholars studying the history of distilled liquors: Hanafi normative texts. My analysis shows that distilled liquors were either rare or absent from the East Mediterranean prior to the 16th century and that the region may have experienced a diffusion of distilled liquors originating from Asia. These findings lead to two major inferences regarding the Eurasian diffusion of distilled liquors. First, it suggests that the spreads of distilled liquors in Western Europe and East Asia were two independent phenomena since any transfer between the two regions should have been visible in the East Mediterranean before the 16th century. Second, it shows that several geographies located between Western Europe and East Asia, including the East Mediterranean, may have experienced a diffusion of distilled liquors originating from East Asia.
