Publisher's Synopsis
Devar Sephathayim is a Hebrew historical chronicle from the "Tulip Epoch" in the Ottoman Empire composed by R. David Lekhno, a Jewish-Rabbanite sage from the Crimean Khanate. The treatise covers events in the Ottoman Empire, the Khanate of the Crimea, Muscovy, what is now Ukraine, Poland-Lithuania and Saffavid Iran between 1680-1730. It is based on different sources, mostly oral, and presents versions of the historical events as comprehended by mid-level officials in the Crimean Khanate and their Jewish acquaintances. The events mentioned in the composition are generally political and not of specific Jewish interest, but there are also many references to local Jewish history in the Crimea, Istanbul and Ukraine. This chronicle presents another layer in Ottoman-Jewish historical writings and breaks some academic prejudices regarding the medieval Jewish historical consciousness. This volume includes an annotated English translation, an edition of the Hebrew original and a short introduction.
