Article Title

Of Scorpions, Vipers, and the Assassin’s Drug

Authors

D. Morgan Davis

Keywords

learning, culture, Cairo, Jewish congregation

Abstract

Twelfth-century Cairo was a vibrant place. The legendary Saladin, who had recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187, had established himself there and was actively transforming it from a royal resort into a cosmopolitan center of power, commerce, learning, and culture. A pious Muslim, Saladin chose for his physician at court a Jew who had been twice exiled—first from his hometown of Cordoba, Spain (Andalusia), and then again from Fez, Morocco (al- Maghreb)—by the fanatical Almohad regime of Northwest Africa.

Recommended Citation

Davis, D. Morgan (2009) "Of Scorpions, Vipers, and the Assassin’s Drug," Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship: Vol. 29: No. 3, Article 3.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/insights/vol29/iss3/3