maqama

Obviously infected by misogyny (hatred of women) and misogamy (the propaganda against marriage) is the Hebrew maqama literature that flourished in the thirteenth century.

Medieval Hebrew Literature: Portrayal of Women. 2009

A woman’s voice, clear and assertive, is heard in al-Harizi’s maqama (no. 41), fashioned as a debate between a Man and a Woman about the issue of women’s worth.

Medieval Hebrew Literature: Portrayal of Women. 2009

Judah al-Harizi’s sixth maqama “The Wedding” written (circa 1220), in florid rhymed prose, tells about a man persuaded by a shrewish female matchmaker to marry a beautiful wife.

Medieval Hebrew Literature: Portrayal of Women. 2009

She is in the image of Death Angels, resembling the Scape-Demon” (al-Harizi’s sixth maqama).

Medieval Hebrew Literature: Portrayal of Women. 2009

In a maqama by Immanuel of Rome, a poetic contest is held between a lady’s husband and her two suitors.

Medieval Hebrew Literature: Portrayal of Women. 2009

This “maqāma”—an Arabic genre of writing often focusing on a traveling “trickster”—was written by the poet and historian, Ibn al-Wardi in 1348/9 in Aleppo but was later mistaken for a factual description of the plague’s movement.

Myths about rapid spread of the Black Death influenced by single “literary tale”, experts show Kerra Maddern 2025