The Sword and the Red Hat: the Dress of Jewish Physicians Throughout the Ottoman Empire

The Jewish sources that describe the non-medical dress and accessories of physicians are few. The current article focuses on the attire of Jewish physicians in the Ottoman Empire in the 16th-19th centuries. Two major issues regarding clothing items worn by Ottoman Jewish physicians are conspicuous i...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Shemesh, Abraham Ofir
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)
Repositorio:Arquivo Maaravi: Revista Digital de Estudos Judaicos da UFMG
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:periodicos.ufmg.br:article/47629
Acceso en línea:https://periodicos.ufmg.br/index.php/maaravi/article/view/47629
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:História do vestuário
Médicos judeus
Império Otomano
History of clothing
Jewish physicians
Ottoman Empire
Descripción
Sumario:The Jewish sources that describe the non-medical dress and accessories of physicians are few. The current article focuses on the attire of Jewish physicians in the Ottoman Empire in the 16th-19th centuries. Two major issues regarding clothing items worn by Ottoman Jewish physicians are conspicuous in the halakhic historical literature: the hat worn by physicians and the practice of carrying a sword. Written testimonies and illustrations indicate that unlike other Jewish men who wore a yellow hat, Jewish physicians wore a red or blue hat, colors considered more prestigious. The elongated hat they wore was, however, shaped differently than that of Muslim physicians such that they could be discerned from their colleagues.