276 r Amnon Shiloah
established themselves as an independent kingdom, fixing their capital in
Toledo. In the second half of the eleventh century, one of their descen-
dants, al-Ma’mūn, ruled there and was known for the glory he endowed
to his court and for having fostered a brilliant Islamic cultural revival.
Famous in particular is the impressive banquet marking the celebration
of his grandson’s circumcision. An eyewitness described this event with
great details that have been fully reported by the Adalusian Arab author
Ibn Bassām (d. 1147) in his work al-Dhakhīra. During the long hours of
eating, drinking, and rejoicing, an ensemble of musicians performed be-
hind a curtain. They were led by the Jew Dhay al-Isrā’ilī [another version
Dānī], who is described as a musician superior to the famous Ibrāhīm
al-Mawsilī (d. 804), who was one of the greatest musicians in the court of
the caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd in Baghdad and the father of the legendary
musician Ishāq al-Mawsilī (d. 850). The text tells that the host, al-Ma’mūn,
was highly excited while hearing the music that night, and what the Jew
performed was a song expressing sadness.^12 It is worth mentioning that
the celebrated scholar Levi-Provençal has published a French paraphrase
of the aforementioned description.^13
From Spain to Morocco
Alexis Chottin, who was the head of the National Conservatory of Arab
Music in Rabat, mentions in his Tableau de la musique Marocaine the
remarkable fact that when Hebrew texts are adapted to replace the origi-
nal, they maintain the Arab metric and prosody, which, he points out, is
not a translation. In his chapter on synagogue music, he argues that Jews
are supportive of Andalusian music because “after a lengthy vacuum to
religious bans, when a new sultan was eager to return to tradition of the
ancient caliphs by reconstituting a sitāra, he often recruited new musi-
cians and new dancers from the mellah.”^14
The famous French painter Eugène Delacroix, who attended a Jewish
wedding in Tangier in 1832, wrote in his diary that the Jewish musicians
of Mogador were the best in Morocco.^15
A well-known tale is illustrative of the presence of Jewish musical
groups in the royal courts and the positive attitude of the rulers toward
them. On the ninth of the month of Av, the sultan wanted to hear the
songs and music of a Jewish group who ordinarily performed at his court.