Craig Perry, "Slavery and the Jews of Medieval Egypt: A History" (Princeton UP, 2026)
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The podcast episode features Craig Perry, a professor at Emory University and winner of the 2024 NGW Mellon Family Foundation Rome Prize, discussing his groundbreaking book *Slavery and the Jews of Medieval Egypt: A History*, published by Princeton University Press. Drawing on the Cairo Geniza—a vast collection of medieval Jewish documents from a synagogue in Fustat, Egypt—Perry reconstructs the lived realities of slavery in medieval Islamic society, revealing that Jewish households in Egypt were active participants in the slave trade, owning enslaved people for domestic labor, concubinage, and commerce. Contrary to assumptions, Jewish slave owners were not outliers but part of a widespread cultural norm shared across religious lines. Perry highlights the complex moral landscape of slavery, where religious texts endorsed manumission as a pious act, yet the institution itself was normalized and justified through legal pluralism and social hierarchy. He underscores that enslaved people were not just property but individuals whose lives were shaped by gender, kinship, and the possibility of freedom—though only about one in four gained liberty. The episode challenges modern moral judgments by showing how slavery was embedded in daily life, not as an isolated evil but as a system that shaped identity, power, and belonging.
One in every four enslaved people in medieval Egypt gained freedom, primarily through manumission deeds, though the process was rare and often tied to religious or social status.
Jewish households in medieval Egypt owned slaves as part of daily life, using them for domestic labor, concubinage, and trade—just like Muslim households—despite religious teachings that emphasized liberation.
The Cairo Geniza provides rare bottom-up evidence of slavery, revealing personal letters, bills of sale, and manumission deeds that expose the decentralized, capillary nature of the slave trade across the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean.
Enslaved women in Islamic law gained limited protection if they bore children to their masters, who would be freeborn Muslims, but Jewish law offered no such protection—enslaved children remained slaves in perpetuity.
Slave ownership was a marker of social status and religious legitimacy, with both Jews and Muslims justifying it through religious texts while simultaneously promoting manumission as a pious act.
…and 3 more takeaways available in PodZeus
Introduction to the Cairo Geniza and Craig Perry's Research
The episode opens with an introduction to Craig Perry, a professor at Emory University and author of *Slavery and the Jews of Medieval Egypt*, published by Princeton University Press. The host sets the stage by highlighting the significance of the Cairo Geniza—a vast archive of medieval Jewish documents—as a critical source for understanding everyday life in medieval Egypt.
The Cairo Geniza: A Window into Medieval Life
Perry explains the origins and significance of the Cairo Geniza, a repository of discarded religious and secular documents from a synagogue in Fustat, Egypt. He details how the Geniza preserved a wide range of materials—wills, marriage contracts, bills of sale, and personal letters—offering a rare bottom-up view of medieval society, especially regarding slavery.
The Mechanics of the Medieval Slave Trade
Perry describes the multiple forms of slave trade in medieval Egypt: diplomatic gifts between rulers, state-sponsored military recruitment, and decentralized mercantile networks. Unlike the transatlantic Middle Passage, the trade was diffuse, with enslaved people moving in small groups across ports from Africa, the Byzantine Empire, and Central Asia.
Legal and Moral Frameworks of Slavery in Jewish and Islamic Law
The episode explores the legal distinctions between Jewish and Islamic law regarding slavery. While both systems allowed for perpetual ownership, Islamic law offered enslaved women limited protections if they bore children to their masters, a provision absent in Jewish law. The discussion reveals how legal pluralism shaped the lived experience of enslaved people.
Gender, Power, and the Experience of Enslaved Women
Perry emphasizes how gender shaped the slave trade and experience. Enslaved women were sought after for domestic labor and concubinage, and their sexual exploitation was normalized among merchants and elites. Free women, including Jewish women, often formed emotional bonds with enslaved women, treating them as confidantes and surrogate kin.
“Slavery is such a durable phenomenon in world history. And we tell ourselves that slavery is over. And indeed, like the kind of chattel slavery that we think of where people can be legally bought and sold has mostly been eliminated. But there are still forms of coercion in the world that for which there are legal frameworks that make it permissible.”
“the moment a Jewish slave owner purchases a person, that enslaved person enters a liminal category in which they're neither fully Jewish, but neither are they non”
“You're probably more likely to tell yourself a story that you're one of the good slave owners and not one of the bad slave owners.”
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cairo geniza
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craig perry
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moses maimonides
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fatimid caliphate
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fustat
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princeton university press
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nubia
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cambridge world history of slavery
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mecca
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aswan high dam
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