Al-waṭwāṭ’s description of Jewish festivals – Probing the sources of his knowledge

Abstract

The Egyptian historian Jamāl al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm b. Yaḥyā.al-Kutubī, known as al-Waṭ- wāṭ (1235 – 1318 CE), in his Mabāhij al-Fikar wa-Manāhij al-ʿIbar, describes seven Jewish festivals. This paper references these descriptions and attempts to trace their provenance. It is found that many of his descriptions are sourced to two earlier Muslim scholars. Some apparent analogies and allusions, however, are found between al-Waṭwāṭ’s accounts and a broad array of Jewish sources.