Editorial notes
EDITOR’S NOTES
Preface
EDITOR'S NOTE—Alroy. Name assumed by Menahem b. Solomon, evidently a corruption of al-Dūjī, his family name in Arabic.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Seljukian Sultans. Dynasty of Turks (1038-1157). Seljuk’s territory was divided by two of his grandsons, Toghril and Chaghri, whose son Alp Arslan (r. 1063-72) and grandson Malikshah (r. 1072-92) led the empire to its heights of secular and religious achievement. After the deaths of Malikshah and his vizier Nizam al-Mulk, the Seljuk state grew progressively more decentralized, until, by the mid-twelfth century, the dynasty’s rule continued only locally, with Sanjar (r. 1097-1157); other lines were in Rum (i.e., Anatolia, 1077-1307), Syria (1078-1117), Iraq (1118-1194), and Kerman (1041-1186).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Commander of the Faithful. Amir al-mu’minin, traditional name of the caliphs; first attributed to Umar, who assumed the caliphate in 641.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Kings of Karasmé. Khwārazm, Iranian region at the Oxus River, south of the Aral Sea. Although in the eleventh century, Khwārazm came into Seljuk hands, the local shahs gradually turned against the Seljuks, whom they defeated decisively in 1181, thereby ending Seljuk rule in Persia.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Hamadan. Ancient Ecbatana, city in western Iran, west south west of Tehran.
EDITOR'S NOTE—the burial-place of Esther and Mordecai. More accurately, the traditional place of burial, there being no evidence of the actual location of their graves.
Part I
EDITOR'S NOTE—Bostenay. Bustenai ben Haninai (c. 618-670), the first exilarch under Islam. Supposedly married to Izdundad, one of the captive daughters of Chosroes II, king of Persia. According to tradition, the exilarch (Resh Galuta), scion of the House of David, was, among other things, guardian of orphans and illegitimate children.
EDITOR'S NOTE— the visit of Sheba unto Solomon. See 1 Kings 10.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Caleb. Son of Jephunneh, the Kenezite; besides Joshua, the only one of those who left Egypt, also to enter Canaan (Joshua 14:13-14).
EDITOR'S NOTE—the blast before Jericho. See Joshua 6.
EDITOR'S NOTE—the great shout in the camp when the ark returned. See 1 Samuel 6.
EDITOR'S NOTE—as David in the wilderness of Ziph. See 1 Samuel 23:14, 15, 24; 26:2.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Engedi. Located on the western shore of the Dead Sea, Ein Gedi was the chief city of the Essenes.
EDITOR'S NOTE—dirhems. Dirham, Arabic, from the Latin drachma, a subdenomination of the dinar.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Moctador. Al-Muqtadir, caliph from 908 to 932.
EDITOR'S NOTE—a stiff-necked race. See Deuteronomy 31:27.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Samarcand. Also known as Maracanda, a city in east Uzbekistan.
EDITOR'S NOTE—The Ishmaelite, the accursed child of Hagar. See Genesis 21:1-21.
EDITOR'S NOTE—cherubim would guard again the ark. See 1 Kings 6:23-8.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Miriam. Sister of Moses who watched him when he was set afloat in the Nile (Exodus 2:4); also, said to be a prophetess (Exodus 15:20).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Passover. Spring festival commemorating the exodus from Egypt.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Alschiroch. Possibly an ironic allusion to Shīrkūh I b. Ayyūb Abū Salāh al-Din (Ayyūbīd(e), “the lion of the mountain”; c. 1169), uncle of Saladin. According to Malcolm’s History of Persia, Saladin and his uncle were forced to flee to Egypt when Shīrkūh slew a high-born man who had insulted an unprotected female (1:379).
EDITOR'S NOTE—cadi. Q’adi; a civil judge among the Turks, Arabs and Persians, usually the judge of a town or a village
EDITOR'S NOTE—Mustapha. Common Muslim name.
EDITOR'S NOTE—santon. European designation for a kind of monk or hermit among the Muslims; also, the chapel or shrine of a santon.
EDITOR'S NOTE—‘THE BRICKS ARE FALLEN. . . ’. Isaiah 9:10.
EDITOR'S NOTE—‘YET AGAIN I WILL BUILD THEE, . . . ’. Jeremiah 31:4-5.
EDITOR'S NOTE—‘O VINE OF SIBMAH! . . .’. Jeremiah 48:32.
EDITOR'S NOTE—‘I am here.’ Possible allusion to Abraham’s response to God in the sacrifice of Isaac (see Genesis 22:1).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Why, this is my Goliath! See 1 Samuel 17.
EDITOR'S NOTE— Elah. Valley of Terebinth, where David slew Goliath (see 1 Samuel 17.2, 19; 21:9).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Beruna. Not a biblical name, though possibly a variation of the Arabic Baroni, son of Aaron.
EDITOR'S NOTE—‘ALL THIS HAS COME UPON US, . . .’. Psalms 44:17.
EDITOR'S NOTE—‘BEHOLD, BEHOLD, A RAM IS CAUGHT . . .’. Genesis 22:13.
Part II
EDITOR'S NOTE— Elburz. Mountain chain in Northern Iran, parallel with the southern shore of the Caspian Sea. See Author’s Note 8.
EDITOR'S NOTE—As thou didst feed Elijah. See 1 Kings 17:8-16.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Jabaster. Not found in biblical or Jewish history; possibly a neologism based on the root יבש (yavash), “dry up, make ashamed.”
Part III
EDITOR'S NOTE—Marvan. Marwānids, dynasty of Kurdish origin defeated by the Saljuks.
EDITOR'S NOTE—when Saul led forth our fighting men against the Philistine. See 1 Samuel 13.
EDITOR'S NOTE—when Joab numbered the warriors of my great ancestor. See 2 Samuel 24:1-9.
EDITOR'S NOTE— And, lo! a mighty chariot now appeared, . . . Disraeli’s description here is reminiscent of Merkavah Mysticism, the branch of Kabbalism that developed around mystical interpretations of Ezekiel’s chariot. According to some interpretations, the figure seated on the chariot was said to be the Messiah.
Part IV
EDITOR'S NOTE—Kourds. Kurds, pastoral and agricultural people who inhabit a plateau region in adjoining parts of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, as well as the Armenian and Azerbaidzhan parts of the Caucasus.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Scherirah. Possibly based on Sherira ben Hanina Gaon (c. 906-1006), head of the academy at Pumbadita from 968-1006, who believed that the exilarchs all descended from Bustenai, from whom he claimed descent.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Kisloch. Possible derivative of the word kishlak, referring to winter quarters, often in warmer, low-lying areas, of pastoral nomads in Inner Asia, and thence to those regions like Persia and Anatolia into which Turksmen and others from central Asia infiltrated.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Its foot is cloven. Disraeli has the dietary laws backwards. According to Deuteronomy (14:6), in order to be Kosher, an animal must have cloven hooves and chew its cud.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Guebre. Adherent of an ancient Persian religion; a Zoroastrian, fire-worshipper, or Parsee.
EDITOR'S NOTE—the great golden figure with carbuncle eyes. Reference to a representation of Siddhartha Guatama of the Sakyas (c. 560-c. 480 B.C.), founder of Buddhism.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Calidas. Possible reference to Khalid ibn al-Walid, a convert to Islam who became a great commander, later to be known as “the Sword of Islam.”
EDITOR'S NOTE—Giaour. Term of reproach applied by Turks to non-Muslims, especially Christians.
EDITOR'S NOTE—fane. Flag, banner, pennant; also temple.
Part V
EDITOR'S NOTE—Allah-illah, Allah-hu. Allah-illah, Allah-hu. From the Arabic root, ’allaha (=he deified), which is denominated from ilāh (=god).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Bezestein. Bezesteen, an exchange, bazaar or market-place in the East.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Abdallah. “Servant of Allah”; name of Muhammed’s father, and an Abbasid commander; Arabic for the Hebrew Obadiah.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Bastinado. See Author’s Note 21.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Circassian. Member of a group of peoples of the Caucasus or Caucasian race, but not of Indo-European speech.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Dongola. Name of a province in the Sudan.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Sennaar. Sennar; region east of Sudan, chiefly between the White Nile and the Blue Nile; an ancient kingdom.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Brusa. Bursa, also called Burusa by the Ottomans after the ancient city of Prusa, on the northern foothills of the Mysian Olympus. Became the main capitol of the Ottoman state between 805 and 1402; known for its silk trade.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Honain. Possible allusion to Hunayn (d. 873), a multilingual Syrian who translated a number of Greek scientific works into Arabic; or Hunayn ibn Ishaq (d. 874), the first physician to translate Greek medical works into Arabic.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Fatima. Daughter of Muhammed.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Hadgee. Hajji, pilgrim; one who has completed the fifth devotional duty, a pilgrimage to Mecca.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Analschar. Possibly derived from ansār, “helpers,” those men of Medina who supported Mohammed.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Sadducee. Sect of the latter half of the Second Temple period, formed around 200 B.C., that included primarily the wealthier elements of society.
EDITOR'S NOTE—vizir. Originally a porter, hence one who bears the burden of government, a minister or lieutenant of a king.
EDITOR'S NOTE— land of milk and honey. Biblical epithet for Palestine (for example, see Exodus 3:8).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Haroun. Fairly common Persian name, possible reference to Hārūn al-Rashīd (see Author’s Note 34).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Morgargon. Of unknown derivation; possible corruption of Gorgon?
EDITOR'S NOTE—cameleopard. Camelopard, giraffe.
EDITOR'S NOTE—muezzin. Crier who summons Muslims to daily prayers.
EDITOR'S NOTE—caique. A light skiff used on the Bosporus; a Levantine sailing vessel.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Schirene. According to Malcolm, a woman named Shereen, the beloved of royal chieftains, became synonymous “with all that is beautiful and delightful in the female sex” (1:162).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Mighty Solomon! he wedded Pharaoh’s daughter. See1 Kings 11:1.
Part VI
EDITOR'S NOTE—Frank. Group of Germanic nations that conquered Gaul in the sixth century, and from whom France received its name. Generically, a name given by the nations bordering on the Levant to an individual of Western nationality.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Zimri. Literally, “my strength or protection (is the Deity)”; name of two biblical figures. The first (Numbers 25) became symbol of the worst rebellion against God and his Word; the second Zimri, who reigned as king for only seven days (1 Kings 16), symbolized the slave who turned against his master.
EDITOR'S NOTE—offer next Sabbath in the synagogue more dirhems. Disraeli projects a Protestant custom onto the Jews, who do not handle money on the Sabbath.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Rabbi Maimon. Possible allusion to the Maimon family—Maimon ben Joseph (d. 1165/1170) and his son Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides; 1135-1204). Both were outstanding and influential scholars, in this context significant for their argument that conversion to Islam is preferable to martyrdom. Maimonides is Disraeli’s ostensible source for his account of Alroy’s death (see Author’s Note 82).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Captivity. Reference to the Babylonian Exile of 586 B.C.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Moses Hallevy. Reference to Moses ha-Levi b. Nethanel, head of the academy in Egypt from 1138-60.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Abarbanel. Abrabanel or Abravanel, family name of prominent Jews in fifteenth-century Spain who, during the time of the Forced Conversion of 1497, were baptized, but in the seventeenth century, reverted to Judaism and revived the name. Records indicate that members of the family emigrated to Amsterdam, London and America, as well as Poland and southern Russia. Disraeli’s reference to Abarbanel, of Babylon, is likely a fanciful anachronism, both in terms of time and place.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Gemara. Commentary on the Mishnah, forming the second part of the Talmud.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Rabbi Akiba. See Author’s Note 10.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Aaron Mendola, of Granada. Possibly a play on Raphael Meldola (1754-1828), one of the rabbis involved in the dispute between Isaac D’Israeli and the Jewish community.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Shimei, of Damascus, on ‘Effecting Impossibilities.’ Possible reference to Joseph ben Judah ibn Shim’on (twelfth-thirteenth centuries), physician, poet, and philosopher, contemporary of Maimonides, who wrote a theological-philosophical treatise on the creation of the world, A Treatise as to Necessary Existence (English translation, J. L. Magnes, 1904).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Ichabod. “The glory has departed from Israel!” (see 1 Samuel 4:21).
EDITOR'S NOTE—the initial letter of every section is a cabalistical type. Allusion to notaricon, a form of kabbalistic numerology (gematria), in which the initial letters of words in a phrase are used to create mystical acrostics.
EDITOR'S NOTE—not of cedar and ivory, but it is still a temple. Reference to the Temple of Solomon (see 1 Kings 6:1-38).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Now know ye what our father Abraham said when Nimrod ordered him to worship fire? Reference to the aggadic midrash on the book of Genesis, Genesis Rabbah, 38:13.
EDITOR'S NOTE—pipkin. A small earthenware or metal pot, usually with a horizontal handle.
EDITOR'S NOTE—hopeful Eliezer. See Ezra 8:16.
EDITOR'S NOTE—afrite. On afrite and dive, see Author’s Note 50.
EDITOR'S NOTE—ghoul. A legendary evil being that robs graves and feeds on corpses.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Kedron. Kidron, biblical name for the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
Part VII
EDITOR'S NOTE—Hassan. As clarified later, this reference is to Hasan-i Sabbāh, a Persian leader who rebelled against both the Seljuk sultanate and the Abbasid caliphate around 1090. A charismatic leader, Hasan organized a secret society whose members would be known as Assassins, their mission being to eliminate the enemies of what they considered to be the true faith.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Imra. Possibly based on Imrah (“refractory”), a chief of Asher (1 Chronicles 7:36).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Bathsheba. When David fell in love with Bathsheba, he sent her husband Uriah into mortal combat. Bathsheba was the mother of Solomon (see 2 Samuel 11-12).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Turkman. Turkoman or Turcoman, member of a group of East Turkic peoples living chiefly in Turkmen, Uzbek, and Kazakh.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Abner. Cousin of Saul and commander-in-chief of his army, who betrayed Ishbosheth, Saul’s successor, to David. Abner was killed by Joab and Abishai (see 2 Samuel 3).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Shelomi. “Pacific”; father of Ahihud (Numbers 34:27).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Philistines. A people of Aegean origin occupying the south coast of Palestine.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Canaan. The land promised by God to the Israelites (see Genesis 17:8; Exodus 6:4).
EDITOR'S NOTE—‘Lo! I will defend this city. . .’ See 2 Kings 19:34-35.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Targum. An Aramaic translation or paraphrase of a portion of the Old Testament.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Sennacherib. King of Assyria and Babylonia (705-681 B.C.); great warrior and builder, assassinated by one of his own sons in a temple of Nineveh.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Ophir. Region from which Solomon obtained gold in Tyrian ships, by the way of Eziongeber (see 2 Chronicles 8:18).
EDITOR'S NOTE—mollah. Variant of mullah; title given among Moslims to one learned in theology or sacred law.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Oglu. Oghul, Turkish title for princes of the blood.
EDITOR'S NOTE—caracole. A half turn to right or left executed by a mounted horse.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Sisera. On Deborah’s and Barak’s defeat of Sisera, see Judges 4.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Amalek. Son of Eliphaz, grandson of Esau, and a Sheik of Edom (Genesis 36).
EDITOR'S NOTE—‘slain your thousands. . .’ As said about David (1 Samuel 18:7).
EDITOR'S NOTE—minaret. A slender lofty tower attached to a mosque and surrounded by one or more projecting balconies from which the summons to prayer is cried by the muezzin.
EDITOR'S NOTE—a gorgeous ark. Modeled after the Ark of the Covenant (see Exodus 25:10-22).
EDITOR'S NOTE—robes from the surrounding priests. On the priestly vestments, see Exodus 28:1-43; and on the ordination of priests, Exodus 29:1-46.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Media. Ancient country and province of the Persian Empire, southwest Asia in northwest modern Iran.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Nehauend. Nihawand, or Nihāvand, town in the Zagros Mountains of western Persia, site of “the battle of battles,” where, in 642, the Arabs defeated the Persian Empire.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Atabek. Atabeg, a kind of regent charged with the education of an under-aged prince’s education, and the administration of his province. Kermanshah. City in western Iran.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Louristan. Luristān, “land of the Lurs,” region in the southwest of Persia.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Togrul, the Turkish Sultan of Persia. Possible reference to Toghrïl b. Muammad (d. 1134), though more likely Toghrïl b. Arslan, whose death in 1194 signalled the end of the Saljuk dynasty.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Nishabur. Nishāpūr, administrative capital of Khurāsān, region in northeast Iran.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Rhey. City northeast of Tehran, about forty miles away. Also known as Rhé, Rey, Rhages, Europa, and Arsacia.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Bactiari. Bactria, or Bactriana, ancient country in southwest Asia between Hindu Kush and the Oxus River; modern Balkh, district in northern Afghanistan corresponding closely to ancient Bactria.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Chrosroes. Apparent reference either to Khusrau-Shāh (d. 1160), or his son Khusrau-Malik, last of the Ghaznavids, the dynasty founded by Abū Mansūr Sebük-Tegin (d. 997) who oversaw the Turkishization of Khwārazm. The Ghaznavids were overthrown by the Saljuks.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Haroun Alraschid. Hārūn al-Rashīd, Haroun “the Just,” caliph from 786-809, known in the West as an ally of Charlemagne.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Euxine. Black Sea, from the ancient Pontus Euxinus, or Pontus Sea between Europe and Asia, connected with the Aegean Sea through the Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, and Dardanelles.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Malek, the Grand Sultan of the Seljuks. Malek Shāh (1055-92), son of Alp Arslan.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Asriel. “Vow of God”; son of Gilead (see Numbers 26:31).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Kerrund. Possibly a derivation of kārwān, “caravan.”
EDITOR'S NOTE—Pharez. “A breach”; twin son with Zerah of Judah (Genesis 38:29).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Ithamar. Youngest son of Aaron (Exodus 28:1).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Cappadocia. Ancient kingdom in Asia Minor, now part of Turkey.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Benaiah. “God-built”; of those biblical figures with this name, the most appropriate seems to be the Pirathonite who served as one of David’s thirty valiant men (1 Chronicles 11:31).
EDITOR'S NOTE— A kingdom for a draught of water! Compare, “A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!” (Richard III. 5.4.7).
EDITOR'S NOTE—atar. Persian for perfume, usually a fragrant essential oil; gul. Persian for “rose.”
EDITOR'S NOTE—Ormuz. Hormuz, ancient town in southern Iran on the Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula, connecting the Persian gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Cashmere. Kashmir, a mountainous region in northern India, west of Tibet and southwest of Sinkiang.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Bornouz. Burnous, a mantle or cloak with a hood, an upper garment extensively worn by Arabs and Moors.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Benomi. Possible reference either to Benammi (“son of my kindred”), son of the younger daughter of Lot (Genesis 19:38), or Benoni (“son of my sorrow”), name given by Rachel to her son Benjamin (Genesis 35:18).
EDITOR'S NOTE—sin of Ahab. Reference to Elijah’s rebuke of Ahab for having been influenced by Jezebel to commit idolatry (see 1 Kings 18:18).
EDITOR'S NOTE—I bear a charmed life. Allusion to Macbeth, 5.8.12.
Part VIII
EDITOR'S NOTE—Rise, Rachel, from thy wilderness. See Jeremiah 31:15-17.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Abidan. “Father of the judge”; chief in Benjamin, son of Gideoni (Numbers 1:11).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Medad. One of the elders chosen by Moses to help him govern (Numbers 11:26-29).
EDITOR'S NOTE—at length I am alone. Compare, “Now I am alone” (Hamlet. 2.2.533).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Pharaoh’s daughter yielded her dusky beauty. Reference to Solomon (1 Kings 11:1).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Ye shall utterly destroy. See Deuteronomy 12:2-3.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Am I as tall as Adam? According to kabbalistic legend, Adam was said originally to have been of enormous stature, which he lost as a result of the Fall.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Delilah may shear thy mystic locks. See Judges 16.
EDITOR'S NOTE— ‘I am what I am.’ Exodus 4:14.
EDITOR'S NOTE—ritual of the baker and the bath. On dietary laws, see Leviticus 7, 11, and 17, and Deuteronomy 14; and on ablution, Leviticus 15.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Solomon built Tadmor in the wilderness. See 2 Chronicles 8:4.
EDITOR'S NOTE—gold from Ophir. See 1 Chronicles 29:4.
EDITOR'S NOTE—‘Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin.’ Reference to Belshazzar’s feast (see Daniel 5).
EDITOR'S NOTE— Kufic. Kafiri, the Dard language of the Kafir, a people of the Hindu Kush in northeastern Afghanistan.
EDITOR'S NOTE—pannier. A large basket carried on the back of an animal or the shoulders of a person.
EDITOR'S NOTE—plane-tree. Tree of the genus Platanus. The Oriental Plane, native to Persia and the Levant, is commonly planted as an ornamental tree in European and British parks.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Schiraz. City in southwest Iran.
EDITOR'S NOTE— Peri. A supernatural being in Persian folklore descended from fallen angels and excluded from paradise until penance is accomplished; also, a beautiful and graceful girl.
Part IX
EDITOR'S NOTE—the shower of Sodom. See Genesis 19:24.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Zalmunna. A king of Midian slain by Gideon (see Judges 8:5-21).
EDITOR'S NOTE—How looked the prophet when the stiff-necked populace forsooth must have a king! See 1 Samuel 8.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Gideon. “Destroyer”; the fifth Judge (see Judges 6-8).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Would a king have kept his awful covenant like solemn Jephtha? Son of Gilead and a concubine, Jephtha (“he will open”) sacrificed his daughter in compliance with a vow that in exchange for victory against the Ammonites, he would sacrifice the first thing to greet him upon his homecoming (see Judges 11:29-40).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Sanhedrim. Sanhedrin, supreme council and tribunal of post-exilic Jewry, headed by a High Priest and having religious, civil and criminal jurisdiction.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Satrap. Governor of a province in ancient Persia; henchman.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Shall this kid be seethed even in its mother’s milk?. Reference to biblical dietary laws (see Exodus 23:19, 34:26, and Deuteronomy 14:21).
EDITOR'S NOTE— sparry. Rich in spar, a crystalline mineral of lustrous appearance.
EDITOR'S NOTE— cygnet. A young swan.
EDITOR'S NOTE—ortolan. A small bird, a species of bunting, found in most European countries, and northern Africa and western Asia, highly esteemed for its delicate flavor.
EDITOR'S NOTE—a traitor’s head. See Salome’s request for the head of John the Baptist (Matthew 14:8; Mark 6:24-25).
Part X
EDITOR'S NOTE—Mozul. Mosul, city in northern Iraq on the Tigris.
EDITOR'S NOTE— donative. A special gift or donation.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Would that the earth would open and swallow all!. Reference to Korah’s revolt against Moses (see Numbers 16:20).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Adoram. King Rehoboam’s envoy who was stoned to death by the rebelling Israelites (see 1 Kings 12:18).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Get thee behind me, tempter! See Matthew 16:23.
EDITOR'S NOTE—A woman worked his fall. Reference to the punishment of David for having caused Uriah’s death for the sake of Bathsheba (see 2 Samuel 11-12).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Ibrahim. Common Muslim name; possible allusion to the thirteenth Umayyad caliph who, upon being acclaimed Caliph in 744, was defeated by Marwan II, who forced Ibrahim to renounce his rights to the caliphate.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Ali. Muhammed’s cousin and son-in-law, among the early believers in Islam. Ali became caliph in 656.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Fakreddin. Fakhr al-Dīn, name of two Lebanese amirs at the time of the Ottoman conquest of Syria.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Osman. ‘Uthmān, Ottoman. Effendi. Efendi, Ottoman title generally designating members of scribal and religious, as opposed to military, classes.
EDITOR'S NOTE—imam. Religious leader.
EDITOR'S NOTE—eblis. Iblis, the devil in Islam.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Daoud. Dā’ūd, or Dāwūd, Arabic for David.
Author’s Notes
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 1. We shall yet see an ass mount a ladder. “If an ass can ascend a ladder, knowledge can be found among launderers” (translation found in Alexander Altmann, “The Ladder of Ascension,” in Studies in Mysticism and Religion presented to Gershom G. Scholem on his Seventieth Birthday by Pupils, Colleagues and Friends, ed. E. E. Urbach et. al. (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, 1967), 31.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 2. The feast of the Tabernacle. Autumn festival, commemorating the harvest of the crops.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 3. Robert Ker Porter, Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, Ancient Babylonia . . . during the Years 1817, 1818, 1819, and 1820 (2 vols.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orne, and Browne, 1821-22).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 6. Simoom. A hot dry sand-laden wind from Asian and African deserts.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 7. Marten-cat. Any of several semi-arboreal slender-bodied carnivorous mammals larger than the related weasels.
EDITOR'S NOTE— Note 9. Sefer ha-Peli’ah and Sefer ha-Kanah are anonymous late medieval commentaries about the earliest kabbalistic treatise, the Sefer Yezirah, an anonymous text written between the third and sixth centuries. The Sefer ha-Bahir is a pseudonymous treatise of the second half of the twelfth century, attributed to the first-century mystic Nehunia ben haKana. Disraeli’s choice of texts seems to have derived from William Enfield’s History of Philosophy. (p. 404; see Note 10).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 10. William Enfield. The History of Philosophy from the Earliest Periods: Drawn up from Brucker’s Historia Critica Philosophiæ (2 vols.; London, 1791). In the 1837 edition, see Book IV, chapter 2: "Of the State of the Jewish Philosophy from the Destruction of Jerusalem to Modern Times" (pp. 402-8), and chapter 3: "Of the Jewish Philosophy, Exoteric and Cabbalistic" (pp. 408-18).
Disraeli’s note is a mixture of fact and folklore. Rabbi Akiva (c. 50-135 C.E.), one of the greatest scholars of his age, and Simeon bar Yohai (mid-second century C.E.), one of Akiva’s most prominent pupils, did hide out in a cave for twelve years, in fear of Roman retaliation against the Jewish insurgence led by the zealot Bar Kokhba (d. 135 C.E.). However, the overlay of cabbalistic lore is a later accretion. The Zohar, the central treatise of Jewish mysticism, was probably written by Moses de Leon, in the late thirteenth century; and on the Sefer Yezirah, see Note 9. The error here is not Disraeli’s; he merely repeats inaccurate information contained in Enfield.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 10. Vide Enfield, vol. ii, p. 219. Enfield, The History of Philosophy, 4.3.409.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 10. See Calmet, art. Cabala. Augustin Calmet, An Historical, Critical, Chronological and Etymological Dictionary of the Holy Bible, trans. Samuel D'Oyly and John Colson (3 vols.; London, 1732), rev. ed. Calmet's Great Dictionary of the Holy Bible: Historical, Critical, Geographical, and Etymological, edited by C. Taylor (3 vols.; London: C. Taylor, 1797-1801). Here, too, Disraeli repeats the distortions found in his source. Calmet refers only to Gematria, numerological practices which comprise only one aspect of Kabbalah.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 10. Lightfoot, vol. ii. p. 371. John Lightfoot, “Parergon concerning the Fall of Jerusalem, and the Condition of the Jews in that Land After,” in The Whole Works, ed. John Rogers Pitman, 13 vols. (London, 1822), 3:400.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 10. Vide Basnage, vol. v. p. 384, &c.. Jacques Basnage, The History of the Jews, from Jesus Christ to the Present Time: Containing their Antiquities, their Religion, their Rites, the Dispersion of the Ten Tribes in the East and the Persecutions this Nation has Suffer’d in the West. Being a Supplement and Continuation of the History of Josephus, trans. Tho. Taylor (London, 1708). The discussion of Kabbalism starts in Book III, Chapter 10, “The Sixth Order of the Jewish Doctors, the Cabbalists. A general Idea of the Cabbala, taken from the Zohar, and from the Explication of the Mercava, or Chariot of Ezechiel” (p. 184), and ranges through Chapter 28, “Of the Use that may be made of the Cabbala” (p.255), with sporadic references throughout the text.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 11. ‘The modern Jews,’ says Basnage, ‘have a great idea of the influence of the stars.’ Vol. iv. p. 454.. I cannot locate Disraeli’s specific passage in Basnage.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 11. Celestial Alphabet. Basnage discusses the celestial alphabet in Book III, Chapter 25, “Of the Alphabet of the Heavens” (pp. 243-5).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 12. Lightfoot, vol. i. pp. 485, 486. John Lightfoot, “The Harmony of the Four Evangelists, among Themselves, and with the Old Testament” (The Whole Works, 3:400). Urim and Thumim were priestly devices for obtaining oracles. After the era of prophecy ended, bat kol remained the sole direct source of communication with God. Often perceived in dreams or as the sound of a reverberation, bat kol, literally “daughter of a sound,” designates a small voice, as distinguished from the normal tone.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 12. Consult also the learned Doctor, vol. ii. pp. 128, 129. This citation is inappropriate for the 1822 edition, and Disraeli does not provide enough information to locate the reference.
EDITOR'S NOTE— Note 13. Anneh. ‘Āna, in the Middle Ages also ‘Ānāt, and in Turkish official usage ‘Āna; town of modern Iraq, situated on the right bank of the Euphrates River.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 13. Seleucidæ. A Macedonian dynasty, established in Syria, Mesopotamia and other areas, which laid claim to Palestine; flourished from the fourth to second centuries B.C.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 16. Caaba. The sacred edifice at Mecca, which contains the venerated “black stone,” the Holy of Holies of Islam.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 18. Jerreed. Jerid, a wooden javelin about five feet long, used in games by Persian, Turkish and Arabian horsemen.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 19. Sandys. George Sandys, A Relation of a Journey begun An. Dom. 1610. Foure Bookes. Containing a Description of the Turkish Empire, of Ægypt, of the Holy Land, of the Remote Parts of Italy, and Ilands Adjoyning, 2nd ed. (London, 1615), Book I, p. 66.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 20. Almeh of Egypt. Alma, Egyptian dancing girl.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 20. Nautch of India. East Indian exhibition of dancing, performed by professional dancing girls.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 24. Mehemet Ali. Muhammad ‘Alī Pasha (late 1760s-1849), Ottoman governor general and effective ruler of Egypt from 1805-1848; at the time known as Mehmed ‘Alī Pasha.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 26. John Malcolm, Sketches of Persia, from the Journals of a Traveller in the East (2 vols., London: Murray, 1828). Elchee. Envoy of the Persians.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 27. Cardonne. Denis Dominique Cardonne (1720-83), French Orientalist whose Miscellany of Eastern Learning. Tr. From the Turkish, Arabian, and Persian Manuscripts, in the Library of the King of France, was published in 1771 (2 vols., London).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 27. Decline and Fall, vol. x, p. 39. Chapter LII, 750-960. “Magnificence of the Caliphate, Its Consequences on private and public Happiness,” of Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 3rd. ed. by J. B. Bury, ed. (7 vols.; London: Methuen, 1907), 6:25.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 28. Gibbon, vol. x, p. 38, from Abulfeda. Abulfeda. Abū al Fidā (1273-1331), Syrian prince, historian and geographer (Gibbon, 6:25).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 29. Mahmoud the Gaznevide. Mamūd of Ghazna, Mamūd b. Sebük-Tegin, Abu’l-Qāsim (998-1010), scion of the Ghaznavid dynasty.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 31. Gibbon, vol. x, from Cardonne. Gibbon 6:25.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 34. Haroun Alraschid. Harun al-Rashid, 764?-809, caliph of Baghdad (786-809).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 36. The gate of Sion. Zion Gate, actually part of the wall built by Suleiman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century. The southern portion of the wall contains the Zion Gate, that is, the Gate of the “Prophet” David, since it is located near “David’s Tomb,” on Mount Zion.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 37. King Pirgandicus. I have been unable to locate the specific Talmudic reference to King Pirgandicus, though Moses Gaster includes a comparable story in his edition of the second volume of Ma’aseh Book: Book of Jewish Tales and Legends. (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1934). See #250, “Story of the Wicked King Frederick Who Beguiled Eleven of the Wisest Sages of Israel to Drink Wine with Him” (2:651-54).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 39. Asmonean princes. The Hasmonean family, a group of pietists, led by Mattathias, and his sons Judas, Jonathan and Simon, who defeated the Seleucids. Biblical accounts of their tales can be found in the Books of Esther, Daniel and Maccabees.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 39. Dr. Clarke. Edward Daniel Clarke, Travels in Various Countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa (6 vols.; London, 1810-23), Part II, chapter 17.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 40. Rabbi Hillel. First century B.C.; greatest of the Pharisees, the faction of the Hasmonean kingdom that opposed the Temple cult of the Sadducees, in favor of synagogue worship. Hillel and his contemporary, Shammai, were the first leaders of the rabbinic movement.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 40. Shephatiah, the son of Abital, David’s wife. See 2 Samuel 3:4.
EDITOR'S NOTE— Note 40. Shemiah and Abtalion. Great sages who lived and worked in the first century B.C.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 40. Lightfoot, vol ii. p. 2008. John Lightfoot, "The Prospect of the Temple" (The Whole Works, 9:344-5).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 41. Sandys. On Sandys, see Note 19; I cannot locate the specific passage Disraeli refers to.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 44. Valley of Jehoshapat. Area between Scopus and Olivet and Jerusalem, named after King Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20). Historically, the Valley resonates among the three Middle Eastern religions. Not only is this the area where Jehoshapat demonstrated his faith, but Christians believe it to be the place where the faithful will gather for Christ’s Second Coming (Acts 1:11), and Moslems, the location where all souls pass in judgment.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 44. Tombs of Zachariah and Absalom. Reference to monuments located in the Kidron valley which date from the Hellenistic or Roman periods, with no connection to the biblical burial places.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 45. Siloah. Site of natural springs within a circle of ten miles around Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 3:15); also, the location where Jesus gave the blind man back his sight (see John 9:1-12).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 47. Benihassan. Beni Hasan, area in the el-amarna region of Middle Egypt.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 48. Temple of Dendera. Dandarah or Denderah (ancient Tentyra), a village in central Egypt on the west bank of the Nile River, opposite the city of Qinā. Dandarah is famous for the temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Hathor, begun in the first century B.C.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 50. Afrite. Afreet, evil demon or monster of Muslim mythology.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 50. Dives. Deev, devil.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 52. Caryatides. Draped female figures supporting entablatures.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 52. Ipsambul in Lower Nubia. Abu Simbel, or Ipsambul, locality in southern Egypt on the left bank of the Nile, 140 miles southwest of Aswân; site of two rock temples.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 52. Rameses the Second. Ruled Egypt from 1292-1225 B.C.; known for expanding Egypt’s power through the conquest of Syria and Palestine; most likely the pharaoh mentioned in Exodus for enslaving the Jews and forcing them to build Pithom and the city of Raamses.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 56 Mamlouks. Mameluke, military body originally composed of Caucasian slaves; ruled Egypt from 1254-1517.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 56. Janissaries of the Sultan. Shock troops of the Ottoman Empire, founded at the end of the fourteenth century, suppressed by force, including a massacre in 1826. During the occupation, many Albanians were recruited to become Janissaries.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 57. Feast of Ramadan. Communal celebration honoring the completion of the fast during the month of Ramadan.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 60. Tatar. Native inhabitant of the region of central Asia extending eastward from the Caspian Sea; Tartar is the Latinate form.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 61. Atabek. Atabeg, chief minister of the Seljuk rulers.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 61. Yanina or Ioannina. City in northwest Greece, in northern Epirus.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 62. It is the Sabbath eve.. The text for the entire note comes from Lightfoot, “Of Adoration: The Eighth Article” (The Whole Works 3:55-6). The reference to the tractate Shevith from the Jerusalem Talmud is erroneous—Lightfoot had used it to document a passage not quoted by Disraeli. The reference to Luke, also from Lightfoot, is cited correctly. The quotation, ‘as wool was not put to dye, unless it could take colour while it was yet day,’ is cited by Lightfoot, but not quoted. It derives from the Mishnah, and is quoted in the tractate Sabbath (18a), in the Babylonian Talmud.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 71. Rocnabad. Ruknābād (or Āb-i Ruknī, the waters of Rukn al-Dawla), a subterranean canal running from a mountain about six miles from Shīrāz.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 72. Roc. A legendary bird of great size and strength believed to inhabit the area around the Indian Ocean.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 78. ‘Rites and Ceremonies.’ David Levi, A Succinct Account, of the Rites, and Ceremonies of the Jews. (London, 1782), pp. 22-6. Italics in the quotation are Disraeli’s.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 80. Ameniph the Second. Aakheperure Amenophis II (r. 1425-1401 B.C.), son and successor of Tuthmosis III. Medeenot Abuh—“Town of Habu”; modern name for the site occupied by the temple of Rameses III; also refers to the Christian community established within the precincts of the temple.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Note 82. Germen Davidis of Ganz. David Ben Solomon Gans (1541-1613), chronicler, astronomer and mathematician, the first part of whose Żema David (Offspring of David, Prague, 1592), contains a history of the Jews through the sixteenth century. Disraeli’s reference is to Ganz’s Chronologia Sacra-Profana A Mundi Conditu ad Annum M.5352 vel Christi 1592, dicta צמח דוד German Davidis, trans. Guilielmum Henric Voustium (1644), pp. 300-1, and 303):
According to R. Maimonides, when the Sultan asked what a messiah was and what sign there was of his reign, Alroy responded that if his head were cut off, he would be restored to life. The king then ordered that he be decapitated, and was obeyed; but Alroy had made the claim only to avoid the torment of torture.
Seven years before the above-mentioned incident, the Israelites themselves had cut short their own Beliel, who had pretended to be their messiah. At his ascension, though, which they had welcomed, he turned the Jews against each other, and it is said, they petitioned for the destruction of their own messiah. His cursed name was David El-David, or Alroy. He came from the city of Amadia, where there was a large settlement of around 1000 wealthy, important, honest and fortunate families. Indeed, this group basically lived together near the river Sambation, and were more like a large community. This was at the border of Mede, where they spoke in the language of the Targum. From there, however, they extended to the region of Golan, a distance of fifty days, an area under the imperial rule of Persia, which demanded an annual tribute from all men over the age of fifteen. There was one man, David El-David, who studied under Chisdai, Head of the Captivity, and at the excellent academy of Baghdad, where he became learned in Talmud and esoterica, including books of divine and Chaldaic magic. This David audaciously and arrogantly provoked an uprising against the king, gathering the Jews who lived in the Chafton mountains, and persuading them to fight against all nations. Ostensibly, there were signs which these ignorant men, easily persuaded by magic and prestidigitation, believed. They consecrated him as a great man of God, praising and extolling him as their Messiah.
When that certain Jew was declared Messiah, he prospered greatly, drawing many of the Israelites in the Persian Empire towards him. Hearing about this man and his power, the king proposed that he come speak with him. He sent a message to the Jewish congregation in this region, saying: “Unless this man is restrained and immediately turned over to me, all of your children and women will be killed.” The entire Israeli population gathered to argue with this man. They supplicated, cried and wailed, asking him to return to his private life, so that all of these afflictions might be averted. This same king had sent an emissary with his merciless soldiers, who were believed to have suppressed all of the Persians. Alroy responded: “Let your servants come, without flinching. Why should I be afraid? What does my heart consist of? No matter what this Persian king and his soldiers do, I will still be restored.” They asked him what sign he had that he was the Messiah. He responded: “The good fortune to be revived. Indeed, the Messiah has no other sign.” He responded in this manner to many similar questions, that his only prosperity was his fate. Thus, in this manner he proudly avoided their indignities. (Translation mine)
Dedication and Preface from the first edition
EDITOR'S NOTE—Sorrow should dim the radiance of thy smile. Reference to the death of William Meredith, Sarah’s fiancé and Benjamin’s traveling companion, who died of smallpox in Cairo, in July 1831.
Sources
EDITOR'S NOTE—Zachai Hanassi. R. Zakkai (b. Azariah b. Solomon). Joseph, surnamed the Seer, Burhan Alpelech—R. Joseph, Burhan al-Falak. Zinaldin—Zein al-Dīn.
Reviews
EDITOR'S NOTE— Southey’s versification in “Thalaba” and the “Curse of Kehuma.” References to Thalaba (1801), a narrative poem, and The Curse of Kehama (1810), by Robert Southey (1774-1843).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Anastasius. Novel written by Thomas Hope (?1770-1831) in 1819; possible influence on later cantos of Byron’s Don Juan.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Pistol. Character in Shakespeare’s The Second Part of Henry IV and The Merry Wives of Windsor.
EDITOR'S NOTE— ‘The Loves of Mesjouin,’ (we are not certain of our orthography) and ‘Delilia.’ “Mejnoun and Leila, A Persian Romance,” a tale from Isaac D’Israeli’s Romances of 1799.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Byron’s Dogs of Corinth. The Siege of Corinth (1816).
EDITOR'S NOTE—“Caliph Vathek,” the “Epicurean,” “Beckford,” “Moore,” and still more perhaps Chateaubriand. Vathek, an Arabian Tale, by William Beckford (1759-1844), published in English in 1786; Thomas Moore (1779-1852), author of Lalla Rookh. (1817); François Auguste René, Vicomte de Chateaubriand (1768-1848), French writer and statesman, a pioneer of the romantic movement.
EDITOR'S NOTE—‘mistaken . . . for prose.’ Reference to Molière’s play, Le bourgeois gentilhomme (The Would-Be Gentleman, 1670).
Criticism
EDITOR'S NOTE—Monypenny. William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle, The Life of Benjamin Disraeli Earl of Beaconsfield, 6 vols. (London: John Murray, 1910-20).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Centenary edition of “Vivian Grey.” Ed. Lucien Wolf, 1904.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Rev. Michael Adler’s able article in the “Jewish Encyclopedia.” Michael Adler, “Alroy, or Alrui, David (called also El David and Menahem ben Suleiman ibn Al-rui),” The Jewish Encyclopedia (New York and London: Funk and Wagnalls, 1901).
EDITOR'S NOTE—Mr. Zangwill, in his “Dreamers of the Ghetto.” Israel Zangwill (1864-1926), English-born Jew whose novel, Dreamers of the Ghetto, comprises a series of sketches about historical figures, including Benjamin Disraeli and Shabbetai Zevi, who were forced to mediate between their lives as Jews and the external world.
EDITOR'S NOTE— Sabbatai Zevi. Shabbetai Zevi (1626-1676), failed messiah who apostatized to Islam in 1666.
EDITOR'S NOTE—Graetz. Heinrich Graetz (1817-1891), Jewish historian and Bible scholar.
EDITOR'S NOTE—The source for Basnage’s account is Solomon ibn Verga, Shevet Yehudah (Adrianople, 1553).
EDITOR'S NOTE—As can be seen, the earliest version of this passage is suffused with what has been interpreted as Alroy's possibly incestuous love for his sister; in later versions, Disraeli suppresses the praise, thereby focusing more sharply on the hero's messianic mission.
