From the Land of Sheba

From the land of sheba – S.D. Goitein

NEW AND REVISED EDITION
For this edition of the stories of the Jews of Yemen, Professor Goitein has written a lengthy new introduction concerning the history of Yemenite Jewry from ancient times to the present. The folk tales and life stories in this book — many collected first-hand by Professor Goitein — give a multifaceted picture of the people’s religion, social life, and relations with other groups. The freshness and charm of this material derives from a culture which is a unique fusion of the religious and ethica] tradition of Judaism with the folk attitudes of the Oriental peoples. Together with this persistent Jewishness, surviving as an island in an Islamic sea, there is a strong Oriental strain in these folk tales, akin to the romance and humor of the Arabian Nights.

S.D. Goitein is at present a member of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University. He has published widely in the fields of Islamic, Judaic, biblical, and Judeo-Arabic studies. His Jews and Arabs: Their Contacts Through the Ages (Schocken) is used extensively in colleges and adult courses.