THE REVENUE OF THE HARBOR OF ALEXANDRIA, 1175–1512, AND THE SECULAR FLUCTUATION OF MEDITERRANEAN COMMERCE

Benjamin Z. Kedar*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

The debate whether an overall economic depression took place in the later Middle Ages has largely focused on evidence from European countries. The present article re-examines and corrects the crucial series of prices at which the Commune of Genoa farmed out the right to collect customs duties in the city’s harbor. It then juxtaposes these often-used data with five estimates of the revenue of the harbor of Alexandria and points to the congruity of the Genoese and Alexandrian series. This congruity may be taken to exemplify key fluctuations of Mediterranean commerce in medieval times.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationJerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam
PublisherThe Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Pages181-207
Number of pages27
StatePublished - 2023

Publication series

NameJerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam
Volume54
ISSN (Print)0334-4118

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Alexandria
  • Benjamin of Tudela
  • economic depression
  • Genoa
  • harbor
  • Ibn Khaldūn
  • Petrarch
  • revenues

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