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This is a book about the economic and social realities of a world that existed in the Middle East up to our days, seen through the Kaleidoscope of one important town - Jerusalem. The reconstruction of all the guilds that functioned during the Ottoman period draws on the untapped archives of the local court of Muslim Jerusalem (XVIth-XVIIIth centuries) - but it includes a plethora of information on the Christians and Jews of that town who actively participated in its economic life.
About 50 different guilds are described: Goldsmiths and blacksmiths, tourist guides and undertakers, tailors and carpenters, soap makers and cotton weavers, beauticians and bookbinders. The modus operandi of each guild, and of the system as a whole, are analysed and presented for the first time as precursers of civil society.
The book holds also 19 original documents - facsimiles plus translations - illustrating the activity of several central guilds.
About the author
Amnon Cohen, Ph.D. (1971) in Philosophy, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is the Eliahu Elath Professor of the History of the Muslim Peoples. Presently also: Head, the Harry S. Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace. He has published extensively on Ottoman Palestine and Jerusalem.
