The Importance of the Cairo Geniza Manuscripts for the History of Medieval Female

Attire
Author(s): Yedida K. Stillman
Source: International Journal of Middle East Studies , Oct., 1976, Vol. 7, No. 4 (Oct.,
1976), pp. 579-589
Published by: Cambridge University Press

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Int. J. Middle East Stud. 7 (1976), 579-589 Printed in U.S.A. 579

Yedida K. Stillman

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CAIRO GENIZA

MANUSCRIPTS FOR THE HISTORY OF

MEDIEVAL FEMALE ATTIRE

Over the past two decades scholars have become aware o

the so-called Cairo Geniza documents as a primary so
ranean socioeconomic history. This awareness is due prin
work of S. D. Goitein.1 The Geniza documents also p
for one aspect of the art history of the period. The som
the Cairo Geniza, in combination with ancillary Geniza r
information-hitherto unexploited-on the attire of
Egypt, and by extension, the attire of Muslim wome
dating mainly from the Fatimid and Ayyubid period
extent from the Mamluk (I250-I5I7)-contain the com
dieval Egyptian bride.
The history of Islamic fashion has received rather u

GENIZA MANUSCRIPT ABBREVIATIONS

Antonin Antonin Collection, Saltykov-Shchedrin State

grad, U.S.S.R.
Bodl. Bodleian Library, Oxford, England
IB India Book, a collection of 332 Geniza documents
being prepared by S. D. Goitein
PER Papyrus-sammlung Erzherzog Rainer, Osterreich
thek, Vienna, Austria
TS Taylor-Schechter Collection, University Library,
TS NS Taylor-Schechter New Series
ULC University Library, Cambridge, England. Collecti

1 For Professor Goitein's publications related to the Geniza d

Shaul Shaked, A Tentative Bibliography of Geniza Documllents (P
pp. 289-296 and 253-254. More recently, see S. D. Goitein, Studi
Institutions (Leiden, I966), and idem, A Mediterranean Society,
Angeles, 1967, 1971) (hereafter Med. Soc.).
2 Even with incomplete and undated manuscripts, the approxim
ascertained in many cases by, among other things, the handwriting

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580 Yedida K. Stillnzan

teenth- and twentieth-century scholars. This is attributable in no small measure to

the wide variety and unevenness of the sources. These include poetry (both Jahilic
and Islamiic),3 prose literature of various genres-such as general histories, man-
uals for government officials (Ar. hlisba), books of adab (polite education), ro-
mances, and travelogues by both Arab and European writers-and artistic repre-
sentations such as wall paintings, and the minor arts, such as manuscript illumina-
tions, reliefs on cups, and wood carvings. In addition to all of these there are the
actual relics of garments preserved in various museums throughout the world. The
problem up until now lhas been in coordinating the far-flung and scanty references
in the Arabic literary sources and the representations in Islamic art. The Geniza
documents not only complement these sources with names and details, but actually
fill in enough of the gaps in our knowledge to permit a real attempt at synthesis.
A major problem that has always confronted the researcher who wishes to seek
inforlmation on nledieval attire is the fact that Arab historians and geographers
did not devote any chapters or extensive passages in their works to the description
of garments as a specific topic, that is, garments for garments' sake. Any mention
they made of clothes was apropos of something else, in keeping with the Arabic
style of history writing which concentrated on leading personalities and major
political and military events. Tlhe Arab historians on the whole lacked the human-
istic view necessary for social or economic history. Little attention was given to
the industries and the arts (with the exception of the literary arts). Thus we have
scattered information, sometimes detailed, sometimes less so, in the various Arab
chronicles. The situation is sonmewhat better in the works of the geographers, espe-
cially of the tenth century, whlo had a more humanistic outlook.4 Adab literature
contains many references to elegant fashion, but al-Washshlia' (860-936) stands
virtually alone in devoting some chapters of his Kitab al-Mtzc,ashshd5 to the styles
of clothing worn by his contemporaries.5 Both the Maqdmadt of al-Hariri and the
Thousand and One Nights are especially rich in their allusions to clothing.
The first attempt to sort out the literary references to clothing was made by
Reinhart Dozy in his Dictionnaire detaile de.s nois des vc'tenlents che. les Arabes.6
One problem that confronts anyone who wishes to check many of the literary refer-
ences in Dozy's pioneer work is that most of the Arabic sources cited by him were

3 See, e.g., Abfi Tammam, Hamniasa, Vol. I, ed. Freytag (Bonn, I828), pp. 13I, 419, 423,
504, 519 f.; Charles J. Lyall, Translations of Ancient Arabiain Poetry (New York, 1930), pp.
31, 48, 5I, 62, 8i; or even A. J. Arberry's anthology, Arabic Poetry (Cambridge, 1965), pp.
3I, 53, 55, 87, 93, I 9, and 135.
4 For the nature of Arabic historiography, see G. E. von Grunebaum, Medieval Islam
(Chicago, I962), pp. 275-287, and F. Rosenthal, A Historiography of Muslim Historiography
(Leiden, 1952), passim. For geography, see Andre Miquel, La gqographie humaine du monde
musulmanl jusqu'au milieu du iic sit'clc (Paris and the Hague, I967).
5 Ed. R. E. Briinnow (Leiden, I866).
6 This dictionary, which has remained a standard work till this day, was the published form
of a prize-winning composition (Amsterdam, I845) written by Dozy two years earlier at the
age of twenty-one.

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 Medieval female attire in the Cairo Geniza manuscripts 581

then available only in manuscript. On the other hand, many texts that were not
available then, are available now. Dozy's work has remained a standard reference
to this day. His literary references were somewhat supplemented by Reuben Levy
in his article on "Notes on Costumes from Arabic Sources."7 L. A. Mayer collected
a good deal of information on the costume of the Mamluk period from literary
sources and made some attempt to coordinate this with artistic sources and pre-
served relics. His book Mailltk Costlime.8 which represented a new step forward
in the study of medieval Islamic attire, was not entirely successful. R. B. Serjeant's
monograph on the history of Islamiic textiles9-although not dealing specifically
with costume-brought forth a great deal of important ancillary material.
\Vith the exception of Mayer's limited attempt and of individual articles by art
historians treating specific works of art or isolated relics of garments, no one has
made extensive use of Islamic art as a source for costume history.
Manuscript illustrations are a first-rate source. They show the difference among
male, female, and children's costumes. They show many of the colors, patterns, and
embellishments described in the Geniza documents and in Arabic literature. Manu-

script illustrations, along with murals, paintings on ceramics, and other figural
representations sometimes even bear witness to the existence of garments not
mentioned in the written sources for the period.
The question might well be posed: How reliable are the artistic sources ? Richard
Ettinghausen and other Islamic art historians believe that Arab painting (although
not always Persian painting) and wood carvings, within certain limitations, are
on the whole accurate mirrors of their times-especially before the rather frozen
stylization of the Mamluk period. Admittedly, the pictures in medieval Arabic
manuscripts such as Hariri's Maqamitt or Hadith Baydd wa-Riyad do not have
detailed labels or captions ;10 but then neither the literary sources nor the Geniza
trousseau lists give the same precise descriptions of garments-when they give any
at all-as do eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European travelers like E. W.
Lane.11 Nonetheless, there is a high degree of correlation among the various me-
dieval sources. Not infrequently the information provided by one source compli-
ments the knowledge gained from another.
Returning now to our main source for this study, the documents of the Cairo

7 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, n.v. (1935), 318-338.

8 Geneva, 1952.
9 Islamic Textiles: Material for a History up to the Mongol Conquest (Beirut, 1972);
originally published as a series of articles in Ars Islamiica 9 (I942)-I5 (I951).
10 There are numerous exemplars of the Maqmait in European libraries in London, Paris,
Leningrad, Venice, and Istanbul. The Hadith Baydd zwa-Riyad survives in a unique manuscript
in the Biblioteca Vaticana. Some illustrations from these manuscripts may be found in R. Et-
tinghausen, Arab Painting (Cleveland, 1962). I was able to study some of these manuscripts
in London, Paris, and Rome during the winter of 1971-72 through the generous assistance of
the American Research Center in Egypt.
11 E. Lane, An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians (London,
1836 and numerous reprints).

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582 Yedida K. Stillman

Geniza, we find that one important fact stands out clearly: Jewish and Muslim
women dressed alike during the Fatimid and Ayyubid periods. This is not too sur-
prising since the sectarian Fatimids showed a comparatively tolerant attitude
toward their dhinmmn subjects (with the notable exception of al-Hakim's persecu-
tion of Jews and Christians). We know that this attitude was reflected in the civil
service in which many non-Muslims served and in the apparent lack of discrimina-
tory tariffs prescribed by Islamic law for non-Muslims.12 The Geniza trousseaux
give every indication that Islamic sumptuary laws for dhimmis were also not en-
forced. The same garments are mentioned in the Muslim sources. There is no
limitation in the Geniza documents as to color and textile, but rather the greatest
variety of hues and diversity of fabrics.
Some changes took place under the orthodox Ayyubids, but strict enforcement
of sumptuary laws began in earnest during Mamluk times (1250-1517) .13 Further-
more, we see that Jewish women, like their Muslim counterparts, went veiled
despite Salo Baron's view to the contrary.14 The great variety and ubiquity of
veils in the Geniza trousseaux vindicate the literary sources to which Baron had
raised objections. The same rules of feminine modesty applied to both Jewish and
Muslim women (and most likely to Coptic women as well) in Fatimid and Ayyubid
Egypt. In public the face had to be veiled, the head covered, and the body entirely
enveloped by one or more ample wraps.
The Fatimid period was a time of ecumenical prosperity. The commercial revolu-
tion was at its height, and there was an important middle class. From the Geniza
documents we see that the Jewish bourgeoisie-and the same might be reasonably
assumed for Muslims and Christians-consciously or unconsciously tried to imitate
the modes and mores of the ruling class. Thus we find the custom of bestowing
tiraz garments (i.e., garments with inscribed bands)15 and robes of honor (Ar.
khila'),16 the wearing of costly silks, brocades and luxury fabrics such as khosra-
wdni and qalainmni (the Persian traveler, Nasir-i Khosraw, considered the latter a
marvel of Egypt during his visit in the eleventh century).17
To the medieval Middle Eastern bourgeoisie tiraz garments and costly fabrics

12 On dhinimis in government service, see Goitein Med. Soc., II, 354-363. Concerning dis-
criminatory tariffs and their nonenforcement, see Marcel Canard, "Fatimids," El2, II, 86I,
and Goitein, Mced. Soc., I, 344 ff.
13 E.g., we know from al-Suyfiti that Jewish women had to wear a yellow izar (outer
wrap), Christian women a blue one, and Samaritan women a red one (S. de Sacy, Chresto-
nmathie arabe [Paris, I826], I, 145-I46).
14 S. Baron, A Social and Religious History of the Jews (New York, 1957), III, 142.
15 E.g., we find a twelfth-century Jewish merchant in India ordering a tiraz turban of
Dabiqi linen with his son's name embroidered on it as a gift for the latter (Westminster College
Cambridge Cair. Misc. f. 9, 11. Igf [IB 5o]).
16 In a contract of betrothal (Heb. shetar e^risn) from around the year IIoo, the groom
promises to give the bride a robe of honor (TS 8 J 9, f. 9: wa-an yadfa' lahd 'ind al-dukhil
khil'a).
17 Nassiri Khosrau, Sefer Nameh: Relation du Voyage, trans. Ch. Schefer (Paris, I88I),
p. III, where this fabric is called by its alternate name b6 qalamniun.

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 Medieval female attire in the Cairo Geniza manuscripts 583

were status symbols as well as valuable pieces of real property. Clothing formed
part-sometimes a considerable one-of a family's investment, being transmitted
from parents to children, to be converted into cash in case of emergency.18 Egyptian
society in the High Middle Ages-especially during the Fatimid and Ayyubid
periods-was on the whole, a prosperous, mercantile society. It is not overly
surprising, therefore, that we find that the bourgeoisie of the times (and not just
the ruling class) might indulge itself with many types of garments and choose from
a great selection of fabrics.
Clothing is a manifestation of society, no less than art, architecture, literature,
science, or industry. Fashion not only reflects aesthetic tastes, but also, in light of
what has been said above, social and religious mores and economic prosperity.
Fashions in dress, as in aesthetic and intellectual modes, tended to migrate within
the Islamic oikoltumene. This migration can be traced to some extent from Arabia,
and later Iraq, to Egypt, and thence to North Africa and Spain. The tenth-century
geographer al-Muqaddasi observed that the Maghrebis dressed in the Egyptian
fashion.19 In conservative North Africa, which was a provincial fringe area of the
Islamic world and less open to changes than Egypt, many garments from the High
Middle Ages have continued-albeit not without modification-down to the present
day. The Mamluks, and after them the Ottomans, introduced many innovations
in Egyptian fashion, more especially in men's attire than in women's.20 Women's
attire tended to change less rapidly due to the fact that they are less socially mobile
than men. The woman's basically secluded-or better, perhaps, protected-status
is reflected in the variety of enveloping wraps, mantles, head coverings, and veils,
all of which guard her modesty from the gaze of outsiders.
Many nineteenth-century scholars simply took it for granted that clothing worn
in the Middle East of their day was more or less the same as in the days of Hariun
al-Rashid.21 The facts simply do not support this once widely held assumption.
Perhaps among desert nomads styles of dress have remained rather constant, but
this is not the case among the more fashion-minded urban population. For where
the desert dweller leads a very conservative existence, the townsman, especially of
the middle and upper classes, is open to all sorts of influences from within and
without.

Keeping this caveat in mind, we have attempted to trace garments and names
of garments down through Islamic history to present-day use. In so doing, we
18 Goitein, Med. Soc., I, IOI.
19 al-Muqaddasi, Ahsan al-Taqdsim fi Ma'rifat al-Aqaliz, ed. M. J. de Goeje (Leiden,
I906), p. 239: za-bil-maghrib ruslfnihuLm misriyya. That rusuin refers here to custom in re-
gard to dress is clear from the continuation of the text.
20 See Mayer, Mamluik Costume, passim. The great Tunisian philosopher of history, Ibn
Khaldfin, who came to Egypt in 1382, apparently stood out with his distinctive Maghrebi dress.
This interesting fact is mentioned in Ibn Khaldfin's autobiographical work al-Ta'rif, cited by
M. Talbi, "Ibn Khaldfin," EI2 III, 828a.
21 See, e.g., Lane, Modern Egyptians, p. 30 n. I: "The fashion of their dress remains al-
most the same during the lapse of centuries."

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584 Yedida K. Stillmzan

have come to observe-not infrequently-that many names and styles have been
preserved in North Africa which was subject to less foreign influences in the
Middle Ages than was the Middle East.
Turning now from this brief introduction to the sources for the history of me-
dieval Islamic costume and from our survey of previous research, let us examine
in detail the contribution of the Cairo Geniza documents to this field of study, par-
ticularly to the history of female attire.

PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN GARMENTS, TEXTILES, AND PATTERNS

The Geniza has revealed to us the names and data for more than two doze
ments which were hitherto unknown. Among these are the jzikaniyya, inak
maqta', jalldva, qajija, 'aqbiyya or 'aqabiyya, 'ardi, kluwzra, mukallaf, radda,
wasat, and nisfiyya. In several instances, despite the fact that the color, fa
price of a garment may be provided, the function cannot be ascertain
example, with the qiwdda, thllth, 'uijaymiyya, or kahraidna. The Frenc
M. Gaudefroy-Demombynes has observed that "aucun vocabulaire n'est
stable que celui du costume."22 The disappearance of garment names ma
not only changes in fashion, but also political, social, and economic changes
In the majority of cases the function of these previously unknown garme
be determined, or at the very least, intelligently hypothesized on the basis o
panying data or even on the basis of the name itself. One way of ident
item is by its occurrence in an ensemble. The Geniza trousseaux freque
two-piece ensembles consisting of a robe (the farajiyya, for example) a
companying article of headgear (the mi'jar, a kind of turban, is the most c
often matching in fabric and color. One also finds three-piece outfits comp
robe, a belt or sash, and a veil or head covering. Thus unknown items may
fied by their appearance in common ensembles with known garments. T
for example, was most likely some sort of belt or cummerbund since it often
as part of a three-piece ensemble with a dress and a veil.24 The qajija is men
in no dictionary, medieval or modern, but can be identified with a fair deg
certainty as robe or dress owing to its frequent occurrence in the Geniza t
lists in combination with a belt and a veil.25
One of the most ubiquitous items in the Geniza trousseaux is the jukaniyya. A
sole literary reference to this garment has been found in Ibn al-Jawzi's Muntaaslm,
where under the heading for the year A.H. 441 (1049-50) a woman takes off a

22 M. Gaudefroy-Demombynes, Le pilerinage a la Mekke (Paris, 1923), p. I73.

23 See E. R. Lundquist, La miode et son vocabulaire (Goteborg, 1950), p. II.
24 See, e.g., Bodl. MS Heb. f 56, f. 53b, 1. 3; TS NS J 409 I, 11. 3 and 5.
25 For qajija with belt and veil: TS NS J 409 I, 1. 5; qajija paired with various headgear:
TS Box K 25, f. 269 I, 1. 25 (with an 'ar(di); TS NS J 409 I, 1. 9 (with a mindil)); TS Box
K 25, f. 269, I, 1. 23 (with a radda). The qajija appears in trousseaux from the Ayyubid and
Mamluk periods, but not in Fatimid lists.

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 Medieval female attire in the Cairo Geniza manuscripts 585

brocade jiukniyya that she was wearing and donates it to help pay for the construc-
tion of the gate for the Qalla'in Quarter in Baghdad.26 The jiukniyya seems to have
been a fine dress with sleeves (Ar. akmdm). 27 It was commonly worn by women
indoors-perhaps as Moroccan today often wear ornate qaftans even while doing
their daily housework. In more than one document this dress was distributed to
the poor.28 This, however, does not necessarily indicate that the garment was also
worn by men, but does indicate that it was a basic garment which came in a simple
as well as a luxury version.
The jzkaniyya was most often made of fine Dabiqi cloth (a high quality linen
manufactured in Dabiq, a town in Lower Egypt).29 It was also made of brocade
and various kinds of silk-Sicilian, Indian, Damascene, to name a few. The
jz^ikniyya. might be lavishly ornamented with a border of a different color (Ar.
ittshahhar), or with a simple border (Ar. mu'lam), or tassels (Ar. murayyash),
or decorated bands (Ar. muzsannar). The cloth might be gilded, or embroidered,
spotted, or with patterns, "new" or "washed." The most common colors were white,
blue, and green, but many more exotic hues were also popular, such as pomegranate
red and cloud blue.

The fabrics from which the garments were made are usually mentioned in the
Geniza documents. The manufacture of textiles was the most important industry in
the medieval Mediterranean world. R. B. Serjeant has collected no fewer than I66
names of textiles in the Arabic literary sources.30 In the Geniza documents more
than 60 fabrics are mentioned. Of these, 46 are in the trousseau lists. Many of the
textiles in the Geniza are known from the literary sources; some, however, are not.
Textiles frequently bear the name of their place of manufacture, but sometimes
such names become generic for a type of fabric which may be produced in many
places. Thus it is today with damask, muslin, and shantung. Some of the previously
unknown fabrics whose names recall geographic locations are: arfishi, ashraft,
badwall, lakhabi, and qdbisi. In some cases we know from the literary sources what
kind of fabric was produced in a certain city. Arjishi and ashraft were most likely

26 Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Muntazam fi ta' rkh al-miulilk zwa 'l-umam (Hyderabad, 1939-40), VIII,
141; E. Ashtor, Histoire des prix et des salaires dans I'Orient medieval (Paris, 1969), p.
153, notes this reference but does not give the context. Perhaps the name of this garment
should be read julzakaniyya indicating that it came from the small town of Juwakan in Persia.
See Yaqfit, Mu'jam al-Bulddn F. Wiistenfeld (Leipzig, 1866-70), II, 159.
27 TS 20.77, 1. 7: jfikdniyyat h.ariri mukiallalat al-akmdsm bi-lu' u1'.
28 TS NS J 239 (dated 1140), for example. See Goitein, Med. Soc. II, 444, 448, 456, and
459. Professor Goitein has jflkhdniyya, deriving the word from jilkh, a type of cloth (see his
discussion, ibid., pp. 131-132). There is, however, a dress called jukha (pl. jawukhin) which
is probably made of juikh. See, e.g., TS Io J 21, f. 4b, 1. 12, or PER H 20, 1. 9, where both
jikaniyya and jakha are listed together and must certainly be different items.
29 See G. Wiet, "Dabik," EI2 II, 72 f.
30 Serjeant, IslamJic Textiles, Index No. 3, pp. 242-263. Concerning the textile industry
in the medieval Mediterranean, see Goitein, Med. Soc. I, IOI ff.
31 The town of Arjish in Armenia was a cotton center during the Il-Khanid period. See
Serjeant, Islamic Textiles, p. 72. Cotton was one of the important products of Ashraf, a town

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586 Yedida K. Stillman

cottons,31 bawali and qabisi silks.32 Lakhabi is another case where the Geniza has
only left us with a name.33
Some new textiles mentioned in the Geniza bear the name of a caliph or
some other important personality. One such fabric, called hufizi, is named after
the Fatimid caliph al-Hafiz (113I-II49). Another is a khazz silk called sahibi. It
was apparently named after the Buwayhid vizier al-Sahib ibn 'Abbad (d. 995),
who is reported to have distributed khazz silk cloth.34
Some of the new fabrics mentioned in the Geniza are also the names of specific
garments, as for example, jalldya which was mentioned above. The jallaya as an
article of clothing was probably a robe of some sort. The name survives today
among the Yemenite Jews and the Palestinian Arabs, for whom it is in each case
a type of wedding robe.35 The exact nature of the fabric jallaya is not known. The
name is perhaps from the root j-l-zc' ("to polish," "to be clear") and may indicate
a shiny or glossy material. The only garment which is referred to as being made
from this cloth is the milhafa, a large outer wrap.36 The reverse of this example is
the case of maqta', a well-known fabric of linen and cotton. It is clear from several
Geniza documents, including four trousseaux, that, despite Dozy's opinion to the
contrary, the maqta' was a robe as well.37 It seems to have been more or less synony-
mous with the thawb.

In addition to new names of garments and textiles, the Geniza has provided a

in the Persian province of Mazandaran, south of the Caspian Sea. See R.M. Savory, "Ashraf,"
EI2 I, 701.
32 According to F. Steingass, Persian-English Dictionary (London, I963), p. I53a, Bawal
is the "name of a place famed for its silks." I have been unable to find any reference to it in
the geographical literature. For Gabes (Ar. Qabis) in Tunisia as a silk center, see the
literature cited in Serjeant, Islamic Textiles, pp. I80 f.
33 Perhaps this fabric came from al-Lakhaba, a town near Aden. For the location of this
town, see 0. Lofgren, Arabische Texte zsr Kentniss der Stadt Aden (Leipzig, I936), pp.
21, 24, and 54.
34 See Goitein, Mediterranean People (a selection of Geniza texts in translation), no. 48,
n. 9, in preparation.
35 The jallyiih or jalliyiih nmezahhar is a wide-sleeved, white brocade robe of honor worn
by Yemenite Jewish brides (and sometimes by the grooms as well). See E. Brauer, Ethnologie
der jemenitischen JudeCn (Heidelberg, I934), p. I5I, and J. Kafih, Jewish Life in Sana (Jeru-
salem, 1963), pp. II7, I31, and 134 (in Hebrew). The Palestinian jallayeh is an embroidered
wedding dress. See S. Weir, Palestinian Embroidery (London, 1970), p. io, and plates 2, 3,
7, II, 19, and 21, and Y. K. Stillman, Palestinian Costumne and Jewelry in the Museum of
International Folk Art, in preparation. The original signification of this garment may also
have been a wedding dress, since the formal unveiling of a bride before her new husband is
known as jilwat al-'arils (apparently from same root j-l-zv). See al-Zabidi, Taj al-'Ariis, X,
75; and for contemporary usage, Anis Frayho, Hadlra fi Tariq al-Zazcal: al-Qariya al-
Lubtnaniyya (Beirut, 1957), p, 116. I owe this last reference to Professor Sasson Somekh.
36 There are many examples of mialadhif of jalldya cloth. See, e.g., TS Misc. Box 29, f. 29,
1. 19; TS Box H 20, 1. 9; TS Box K I5, f. 65 I, 1. Ig; TS Box K I5, f. ioo I, 1. I9; TS Box
K 25, f. 42, 1. 9; TS Box K 25, f. 269 I, 1. 14.
37 BodI. MS Heb. d 66, f. 47 I, margin, 1. 8 (dated 1146); TS I6.85, 1. 17; TS 20.7, 1. 12
(dated 1050) ; TS 13 J 6, f. 9 Iv, 1. 21. Dozy (Vetements, p. I8I n. 2) states: "Je ferai ob-
server qu'a ma connaissance, le mot maqiti' n'est jamais employ6 dans le sens de robes."

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 Medieval female attire in the Cairo Geniza manuscripts 587

whole new vocabulary of patterns and adornments. I have been able to identify
some of these patterns with actual relics and with manuscript illustrations. As with
colors, patterns were extremely variegated. One finds garments that are mu.tayyar,
adorned with figures of birds. Some are nmitarraf, that is, with colored edges.38
This was the most commonly mentioned decoration for the wasat, a type of belt.
Another common pattern is referred to as 1lmutakhkhat (literally, "paneled").3
This may have been a kind of check similar to a plaid (as opposed to a large simple
checkered pattern called shatranji). In the al-Hariri manuscripts in the British
Museum (Or 9718 and ADD. 22114) some illustrations show garments with
this pattern. There is also a fragment of textile bearing this pattern in the Museum
of Islamic Art in Cairo (no. I875).
As we have already noted with garments and textiles, there are some instances
where we cannot identify with any certainty patterns mentioned in the Geniza.
There are a few garments in the Geniza trousseaux which are designated hamia'ili.
It clearly seems to be the name of the pattern since in two instances the fabric as
well is specified, that is, mia'raqa hlarzr haIna'ilz (a silk cap)40 and makkhtuma 'attabi
hamdi'ili (a silk taffeta dress).41 Perhaps hamad'ili indicates beltlike designs.42

NEW INFORMATION ON KNOWN GARMENTS

In addition to providing names and data for previously

Geniza trousseau lists provide new information con
known to Western scholarship. For example, these d
new chronology for some items. Due to the fact that th
goat wool (possibly a veil), is mentioned only in late
it was introduced into Egypt only after the Ottoma
trousseau dated I I7, however, it is clear that the sha
least four hundred years before the coming of Selim

38 According to al-Zabidi, Tdj al-'Arfls (Cairo, I888-1893)

is used to describe a horse whose head and tail are white and the rest of whose body is a
different color, or whose head and tail are black and the rest another color. Often a color
is mentioned with the designation mufitarraf which perhaps means that the two edges (Ar.
taraf) were of that color. E.g., wasat baydd mutarraf (TS 12.443, I. 5), or wasat azraq imutar-
raf (TS Box K 25, f. 269 I, 11. 12).
39 See Dozy, Supplement I, I42b.
40 Bodl. MS Heb. d 66, f. 47, 1. 29 (dated 1146). The same manuscript, 1. 25, mentions a
jubba hamna'ili (a coatlike outer garment).
41 Bodl. MS Heb. a 3(2873), f. 42, 1. 23.
42 Hatld'il is the plural of hanila or hanala, a sword belt. See al-Zabidi, Tdj al-'Arifs,
VII, 289. Ashtor, Prix et salaires, p. 165, citing Dozy, SuppleIment, p. 328, tries to connect
hamzi'ili with a type of ornamented belt worn by women. Dozy's only source, however, is A.
Cherbonneau, in Journal Asiatique I (1849).
43 Dozy, Vetements, pp. 226-229, and idem, Supplement, I, 763. For slha'ri as goat wool,
see Serjeant, Islamiic Textiles, p. I60.
44 Bodl. MS Heb. a 3 (2873), f. 42, 1. 22.

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588 Yedida K. Stillman

chronology has been pushed back is the qajija, itself a garment known to us from
the Geniza. On the basis of documents he studied, Eliyahu Ashtor believed that this
robe was restricted to the Mamluk period.45 Dated trousseau lists show conclusively
that it already was in use in late Ayyubid times.46
Some other views of Western scholars have to be revised in the light of new
data from the Geniza. The farajiyya, a long ample robe, slit or entirely open in front,
with long wide sleeves, is well known from many descriptions. Whereas it is always
cited in the Arabic literary sources in a masculine context, Western scholars have
thought it was only a man's gown.47 The occurrence of the farajiyya in the Geniza
trousseau lists from as early as i03I48 clearly indicates that it was also a woman's
robe. This seems to be further corroborated by an illustration in a manuscript of
al-Hariri's Maqdilat from the second quarter of the thirteenth century,49 where
a woman is portrayed wearing such a garment.
Some garments are, indeed, specifically noted in the Geniza documents as
"men's" (Ar. rijdli) or "women's" (Ar. nisdwi). An example of this is with the
thacwb which was the most basic and common item of clothing in the Islamic world.50
The thazwb was a large, loose chemise or gown, usually with very wide sleeves, but
sometimes without sleeves at all.51
The Geniza documents attest to the use in medieval Egypt of certain garments
which are known-be it from Arabic literary sources, European travelogues, or
modern-day usage-only from other Arab countries. For example, the safsdri and
the barrakdn, both mantles, have persisted only in the Maghreb from Tripoli west-
ward. It would seem, however, from their appearance in Maghrebi sources such as
al-Idrisi (twelfth century) and al-'Umari (fourteenth century) that these two
items were more fashionable in North Africa.52 In fact, the only mention of these
mantles in the Geniza is in a single manuscript.53 Another example is that of the

45 Ashtor, Prix et salaires, pp. 349 f.

46 TS NS J 231 II (dated 1225), and TS NS J 226 I (dated 1244).
47 Mayer (Mamluhl Costume, p. 50), mentions it only as a garment worn by members of
the 'iulama' and fuqahd'; Dozy, Ventements, pp. 327-334.
48 TS I6.73. The farajiyya is listed in other dated trousseaux from the eleventh and twelfth
centuries, e.g., Antonin 460, 1. IO (io65), and Bodl. MS Heb. a 3 (2873), f. 42, 1. 20 (I117).
In all, it is mentioned in twelve trousseau lists.
49 Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, MS Arabe 3929, f. I5I.
50 Thazcb nisdici: TS Box K 15, f. 99 II, 1. 17; thawb rijali: ULC Or Io8o J 142 I, 1. I3.
51 See Dozy, V temcents, pp. 21 f., and idem, Supplegment, I, i66a-b. See also Lane, Modern
Egyptians, p. 46, where it is called tob or sebleh.
52 Al-Idrisi, Nuzhat al-Mushtdq (Description de l'Afrique et de l'Espagne), ed. and trans.
R. Dozy and M. J. De Goeje (Leiden, I866), p. 59 (Arabic text) ; al-'Umari, Masalik al-
Absar fi Mamalik al-Amisdar, trans. M. Gaudefroy-Demombynes (Paris, 1927), p. I25. Dozy,
Vltcments, does not have an entry for safsdri, although he does in Supplement, I, 658a-b. The
large wrap worn by the nmistress of the house in the Baydd wa-Riyad manuscript illustra-
tions (Vat. Arabo 362, f. 26r) is probably either a safsdri or barrakdn.
53 ULC Or o080 J 77, 1. 25, where a safsdri and a barrakdn are ordered together. It is
interesting that one of Dozy's sources, Richardson, Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara, I
(London, I848), I, 5I, mentions both of these items together.

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 Medieval female attire in the Cairo Geniza manuscripts 589

badan, a short, sleeveless tunic. Both in medieval and modern sources it is men-
tioned only in regard to Arabia, which led Dozy to conclude: "Ce vetement, propre
a l'Arabie, ne semble pas avoir depasse les limites de ce pays."54 This garment
appears frequently in the Geniza trousseau lists, though, and must have been a
fairly common article of feminine attire in Egypt in the High Middle Ages.55 It
would seem that it did not remain in use into modern times, since Lane, who is
always extremely observant, makes no mention of it.
The jfibba, a long, coatlike outer garment, open in front, with sleeves that might
be narrow or extending down anywhere from the elbow to the wrist, seems to have
been more fashionable among ladies in Syria than in Egypt. In Geniza documents
from Egypt or Tunisia the juibba is only rarely mentioned, whereas it appears
frequently in Syrian marriage contracts.56
Some garments mentioned in early Islamic sources are ignored in the literature
from the High Middle Ages, but they appear in use in Egypt in the beginning of
modern times. One such item is the biird or butrda, a thick, striped woolen covering
which was worn from the time of the Prophet, apparently by both men and women.
After Mulhammad's time it came into vogue again under the Abbasids.57 The
Geniza trousseau lists indicate that the bulrd was worn by women in Egypt during
the Fatimid and Ayyubid periods and then went out of fashion entirely during the
lMamluk period. Yet, by the early nineteenth century it was being "worn by some
of the peasants in Egypt."58

CONCLUSION

This brief survey calls attention to the tremendo

Geniza documents-and, in particular, of the Geniz
costume history. The new information provided by
broader ramifications for the socioeconomic history
variety of garments, fabrics, colors, and patterns corro
picture we already have for the Fatimid and, to a lesse

State University of New York at Binghamton

54 Dozy, Veteiernts, pp. 56-58, and idem, Suppleiment, I, 8

55 E.g., see TS 12.763, 1. 6; TS Misc. Box 29, f. 29, 11. 14
f. 4, 1. 4; Bodl. MS Heb. a 3 (2873), f. 46, 1. I3.
56 See S. D. Goitein, "Four Ancient Marriage Contracts from the Cairo Geniza," Le-
shonctl, 30 (I966), 202.
57 See al-Bukhari, $Sa.thi (Les traditions islamiques) trans. W. Marcais and 0. Houdas
(Paris, 1903-1904), IV, IOI. The most famous burda is the one given by the Prophet to the
poet Ka'b b. Zuhayr. See R. Basset, "Burda," E12 I, I314. See also al-Qalqashandi, Subh. al-
A'shd (Cairo, I913-1919), III, 273 f.
58 Lane, Modern Egyptianls, p. 255, n. 5.

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