Giv‘at lôṭ, non Colle «di Lot» ma «delle querce»: rilettura del toponimo nella ketubbah di Caltabellotta

Burgaretta, Dario (2013) Giv‘at lôṭ, non Colle «di Lot» ma «delle querce»: rilettura del toponimo nella ketubbah di Caltabellotta. Sefer yuḥasin ספר יוחסין | Review for the History of the Jews in South Italy | Rivista per la storia degli ebrei nell’Italia meridionale, 1. pp. 89-109. ISSN 2281-6062

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Abstract

[IT] Il nome ebraico della città di Giv‘at lôṭ, riportato nel contratto matrimoniale ebraico siciliano datato alla metà del XV secolo e noto come Ketubbah di Caltabellotta, è stato fino a oggi interpretato dagli studiosi come “Collina di Lot”, come ripreso nella prima edizione completa del documento, pubblicata dall’autore di questo articolo nel 2005. Come ben noto, il nome Caltabellotta deriva dall’arabo Qal‘at al-ballûṭ, che significa “Rocca delle querce”. Il raro termine dell’ebraico biblico loṭ è stato reso con svariati significati dai commentatori medievali. La tradizione esegetica ebraica orientale e sefardita ha adottato il termine per rendere la parola araba ballûṭ. Ciò è documentato anche in Italia, dove un’antica versione ebraica del Canon Medicinae di Avicenna utilizza regolarmente loṭ per la parola araba ballûṭ. Alla luce di tutto ciò, questo articolo offre una nuova interpretazione del nome Giv‘at lôṭ, che l’autore sostiene essere non una mera assonanza, ma l’esatta resa ebraica del toponimo arabo. Giv‘at lôṭ: not Hill «of Lot», but «Hill of Oaks»: A New Reading of the Toponym in the Ketubbah of Caltabellotta The Hebrew name of the town of Giv‘at lôṭ, reported in a Sicilian Jewish prenuptial agreement dated in the mid-15th century and known as Ketubbah of Caltabellotta, has been so far understood by scholars as “Lot’s Hill”, as in the first complete edition of the document, published by the author of this article in 2005. As is well-known, the name Caltabellotta actually originates from Arabic Qal‘at al-ballûṭ, meaning “Fortress of the Oaks”. The rare Biblical Hebrew word loṭ received many different meanings by medieval commentators. The Jewish Eastern and Sephardic exegetical tradition adopted the term to render the Arabic word ballûṭ. This is also documented in Italy, where an early Hebrew version of Avicenna’s Canon Medicinae regularly uses loṭ for the Arabic word ballûṭ. In the light of the above, this article offers a new interpretation of the name Giv‘at lôṭ, which the author believes to be, not a simple assonance, but the exact Hebrew rendering of the Arabic toponym. / [EN] Giv‘at lôṭ: not Hill «of Lot», but «Hill of Oaks»: A New Reading of the Toponym in the Ketubbah of Caltabellotta The Hebrew name of the town of Giv‘at lôṭ, reported in a Sicilian Jewish prenuptial agreement dated in the mid-15th century and known as Ketubbah of Caltabellotta, has been so far understood by scholars as “Lot’s Hill”, as in the first complete edition of the document, published by the author of this article in 2005. As is well-known, the name Caltabellotta actually originates from Arabic Qal‘at al-ballûṭ, meaning “Fortress of the Oaks”. The rare Biblical Hebrew word loṭ received many different meanings by medieval commentators. The Jewish Eastern and Sephardic exegetical tradition adopted the term to render the Arabic word ballûṭ. This is also documented in Italy, where an early Hebrew version of Avicenna’s Canon Medicinae regularly uses loṭ for the Arabic word ballûṭ. In the light of the above, this article offers a new interpretation of the name Giv‘at lôṭ, which the author believes to be, not a simple assonance, but the exact Hebrew rendering of the Arabic toponym

Tipologia del documento:	Articolo in rivista
Soggetto:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D111 Medieval History B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BM Judaism
Depositato il:	22 Ago 2026 13:24
Ultima modifica:	22 Ago 2026 14:28
URI:	https://www.rmoa.unina.it/id/eprint/9182

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