A History of Palestine, 634-1099
Moshe Gil; Ethel Broido
Cambridge University Press
9780521599849
0-521-59984-9
This is the first comprehensive history of Palestine from the Muslim conquest in 634 to that of the Crusaders in 1099. Against a backdrop of the political and military events of this period, Professor Gil portrays the everyday life of Palestine. He looks at its economic activities including agriculture, exports and tax, as well as the religious status of Jerusalem and the customs of the Christian populace. The author pays specific attention to the history of Palestinian Jews under Muslim rule and details, among other things, their topography and religious life, the Karaite and Samaritan communities and the role of the most prominent Jewish institution, the yeshiva.