No Jewish symbol is more misunderstood than the Magen David, "The Star of David." A thread on the actual connection between the Magen David & Jewish magic:

1/ 🌞⏳ Ever wondered what it was like to get paid 800 years ago? The Invisible East team has deciphered a fascinating document from the Bamiyan Papers: Ms.Heb.8333.144. It reveals the ins and outs of ministry staff salaries in medieval Afghanistan! 🏛️✨

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a magnificent poem “The Legend of Rabbi Ben Levi” in 1863 which recounts one the ‘companion of Elijah’s’ journeys, this on his trip to Paradise. Jewish history is part and parcel of American history.

Found an honest to goodness Hey Nonny Nonny in a 17th-century legal record today. It was thrilling. TNA KB 33/5/5

"As long as (your absence) persists, I am very weak... I do not doubt your love for me, as you must never doubt my love for you, even if you have changed..." An eloquent letter of longing ~1334 CE, which may be by the great-great-grandson of Maimonides. geniza.princeton.edu/en/documents/1…

We just received the first copy of our new book! It is LARGE and it looks SO GOOD. It's a limited print run, but you can pre-order now at the link in my bio (£45/$60). They should ship in the UK in late Sept. and the rest of the world in Oct. #newbooks #geniza #manuscriptmonday

We have dense honey pudding like cornelian. It wearied the hands that stirred! Awestruck diners will, when first they see it, fall prostrate for it. 🍯 Glad to see classical Arabic food poetry translated by nawal nasrallah in venues like Atlas Obscura atlasobscura.com/articles/abbas…

Can you help identify this Arabic inscription in a Hebrew Bible printed in Venice in 1566, now at Stapleton Library, Indiana University of Pennsylvania? #fpcanyouhelpchallenge Footprints Project Adam Shear

Lucid dreaming and divination from a ~900-year-old Judaeo-Arabic manuscript: "This is the vision of Suwayd YHWDYN.... Suwayd is an old, sallow, slender man who comes to you in your dreams and answers whatever you ask. If you wish to perform this..." geniza.princeton.edu/en/documents/3…

On the Virtues of the Flea [الطرثوث في فوائد البرغوث] A delightful treatise by al-Suyūṭī (d. 1505 CE) in which he expands on a similar earlier work by Ibn Ḥajar (d. 1449). Link to complete manuscript [Azhariyya, 249/130] upload.wikimedia.org/wikisource/ar/…

My grant application: I will apply innovative methodological approaches to my archival sources, such as taping them back together again.

If you've ever wondered how embroidery can illuminate a Fatimid document or help us identify the seal of Caliph al-Hakim - well, this is for you. I've written the latest "Fragment of the Month" for Cambridge University Library, w/cameos by Westminster College, Cambridge and Fitzwilliam Museum. lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/de…

Absolutely charming view of Ottoman Cairo from an 18th c. copy of Pirî Reis' 16th c. atlas Kitāb-i baḥriye, love the little pyramids in the top right corner (Walters Ms. W.658):

First page of Alexander of Aphrodisias's *On the Soul* in a Hebrew translation by Samuel ibn Tibbon based on the Arabic translation by Isḥāq ibn Ḥunayn. The MS is Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Or. Oct. 332, and can be accessed here: digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht/?P…