gems, Arabic Mineralogy, ancient gems, ancient jewelry, Islamic jewelry, Islamic art, ancient commerce, gem trade, history of jewelry, Jewish

“So why in our world has it (=gemstones) been associated so constantly with woman, with her powers and her evil spells? It is because the husband very quickly delegated to his wife the job of showing off his own wealth—the wife provides poetic proof of the wealth and power of the husband. Except that, as always with human society, a simple pattern is quickly invested with unexpected meanings, symbols and effects. Thus the primitive showing-off of wealth has been invaded by a whole mythology of woman: this mythology remains infernal, because woman would give everything to own gemstones, and man would give everything to own that very woman who wears the gemstones that she has sold herself for; with gemstones as the link, woman gives herself up to the Devil, the husband to the woman, who has herself become a precious, hard stone.” This is how Roland Barthes interpreted the mythology of gemstones and jewelry in modern Western societies. The present article is an initial attempt to study the gendered perspectives of jewelry in the medieval Islamicate society, mainly through the lens of the rich documentation on jewels offered by the Cairo Geniza.