Table of Contents

Acknowledgements, Note on the translated quotations, Introduction, 1 Dream and interpretation: ‘Two blacks, hideous to see’, 2 Sources of the symbol: ‘I am black but comely’, 3 In the Bible: ‘The children of Cush’, 4 In the literature of the Sages: ‘Ugly and black’, 5 In the cultural world of Islam: ‘Speech in its least developed form’, 6 In the Latin–Christian cultural world: ‘Beasts in all their ways’, 7 In the wake of exploration: ‘Naked and awash in lust’, Afterword, Notes, Bibliography, Index of sources, Subject index

About the Author

Dr Abraham Melamed is a Professor in the Department of Jewish History and Thought at the University of Haifa, Israel. His expertise is medieval and early Modern Jewish philosophy, especially political thought and intellectual history. In recent years, Dr Melamed has been working on issues of gender and the attitudes towards the 'other' in the history of Jewish culture. Dr Melamed has published and lectured widely in these fields.