Original version

BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

Radio 3

The Essay Podcast

The Essay

Discussion & Talk

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond, themed across a week - insight, opinion and intellectual surprise.

The Essay: Life in Fragments: Stories from the Cairo Genizah

The Essay: Life in Fragments: Stories from the Cairo Genizah: Episode 4: Three Lives

Factual: History

Life in Fragments: Stories from the Cairo Genizah

Episode 4

Episode 4: Three Lives

Three Lives

BBC Radio 3 - The Essay, Life in Fragments: Stories from the Cairo Genizah, Three LivesClose menu

Daniel Davies describes the private papers of three very different medieval Egyptians.

Daniel Davies describes the private papers of philosopher Maimonides, leader Solomon ben Judah and merchant Abraham ben Yiju to shed light on three very different medieval lives.

Daniel Davies of the Genizah Research Unit sheds light on three very different lives by reading the private documents of the legendary philosopher Maimonides, community leader Solomon ben Judah and Indian Ocean trader Abraham ben Yiju,

They are all from the Genizah papers. The Cairo Genizah is a treasure trove of manuscripts from the Ben Ezra synagogue in Old Cairo that portrays over 800 years of community life. Rediscovered in the 19th century, this vast communal paper-bin contained hundreds upon thousands of scraps of rag-paper and parchment - an unedited archive of prayers, letters, poems, magical spells, alchemical recipes, children's exercise books, divorce deeds and pre-nuptial agreements that paints a lively and intimate picture of daily medieval life in Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean.


Produced by Michele Banal and Miranda Hinkley.

First broadcast in May 2013.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Series about the Cairo Genizah, a collection of documents from the synagogue in Old Cairo

Series focusing on the Cairo Genizah - a collection of documents from the synagogue in Old Cairo that is thought to be one of the most signficant bodies of medieval texts being researched today

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Essay

Life in Fragments: Stories from the Cairo Genizah

Episode 4: Three Lives

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC Radio 3

About BBC Radio 3