Professor Alison Salvesen in conversation with Dr Robert Simpson

Professor Alison Salvesen was in conversation with Dr Robert Simpson about the newly published volume of essays Israel in Egypt, of which she is a co-editor. In his Jews of Egypt, Joseph Mélèze Modrzejewski famously stated that ‘From time immemorial, Egypt has exercised a singular power of attraction over the Jews’. Israel’s larger and more powerful neighbour represented both religious danger and a place of safety and prosperity. Through essays from scholars in fields ranging from biblical studies and classics to papyrology and archaeology, the volume 'Israel in Egypt' explores what can be known of the attitudes and lived experiences of Jewish communities in Egypt, using both documentary and literary evidence, from biblical times to the medieval period.