Joseph Sadan, Dept. of Arabic Language and Literature


Short Curriculum Vitae (highlights):

Born in 1939, J.S. completed his studies at the Hebrew University (Jerusalem) and the Sorbonne (Paris); worked as an assistant de recherche at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes. After returning to Israel, J.S. taught first at Haifa University and the Hebrew University. During the last 18 years J.S. has been teaching and conducting a range of studies at Tel Aviv University; appointed head of the Department of Arabic Language and Literature for 1995-1999. Since 1987, J.S. is a "Full Professor".


Major publications (books and major articles):

Muslim material life and civilization in the Middle Ages (a book in French on Furniture in Medieval Near East; won the "concours" of the CNRS; published by Brill, Leiden; a series of Articles on the tomb of Moses, on copyists and codicology, wine drinking and the production of beverages, a book on a new source on the Buyid period which depict the administration in the tenth century),

Medieval Islamic religious and cultural aspects (the sanctity of Jerusalem, cult of tombs, inimitability of sacred texts),

Jewish - Arab connections (several articles on the phenomenon of Genizah and Genizah-like "depots" in Jewish and Muslim circles; Yehuda al-Harizi as an Arab poet, the "latrines decree" imposed on the Yemenite Jews, messianism among Yemenite Jews; together with P. Sj. van Koningsveld and Q. Samarrai: a book on messianic movements among the Jews of the Yemen in the 17th century),

Arabic literature, mainly medieval (Wine literature, humor; a book in Arabic, published in Acre by the Tel Aviv University on humoristic literature in Arabic and the Arabic medieval literary genre of anecdotes on boring persons...; the Arabian Nights).


A more detailed list of publications is available through J.S.'s fax (see infra).


Areas of current research interest:

J.S. is preparing now a study on some phenomena in the Hikayat genre and the Arabian-Night-like tales, collecting such tales from various neglected manuscripts; a collection of such tales rendered to Hebrew will be published by the Am Oved publishing house and will also contain a section dedicated to the research aspects and a translation to a European language will probably follow; an Arabian Nights course on computer is being prepared for the Educational Technical Institute.


Additional points of contact (office/home telephone, fax,etc.):

J.S. will be glad answer any question concerning his activities, as well as the Department he is directing.

Home fax and telephone (same line): 972 [0]3 6050232

Telephone at work: 972 [0]3 6409723
Fax at work: 972 [0]3 6409457 (=faculty fax; please add at the head of the fax: for J. Sadan).


You Can mail Joseph Sadan by pressing here