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The above document tells of a Jewish man of unknown name selling lottery (piyango) tickets in Mersin in 1905 to raise money for a Jewish orphan school and hospital in Izmir. As the man began to distribute fliers on this matter, one of the copies fell into the hands of a police official, who raised questions, as police are wont to do, about jurisdiction. Although the lottery had been approved in Aydin, Izmir's province, the official wondered whether sales ought to be permitted in Mersin and the matter reached all the way to the governor of Adana province's desk apparently.
Beyond these squabbles, the document provides some insight into the networks and mechanics of charity fundraising in the waning years of the Ottoman Empire. The police official's objection over jurisdiction points to the geographic breadth of this particular fundraising effort; Mersin and Izmir are rather far apart. Moreover, the explicitly defined Jewish identity of the institution and the lottery ticket seller point to a degree of religious confessionalism that characterized such charitable institutions.
But alongside what might appear to be an effort by a single religious community to establish an institution to care for its own, the lottery clearly attempted to appeal to a broad range of groups. The documents below would seem to be the announcements distributed in Mersin. The first two pages are in Ottoman Turkish, the third a mix of Hebrew and French, and the final page Armeno-Turkish. This linguistic diversity underscores the fact that in the late Ottoman Empire there were many ways to say jackpot, just as there were many ways to be Ottoman.
Click here to see these lottery tickets in full
The above document tells of a Jewish man of unknown name selling lottery (piyango) tickets in Mersin in 1905 to raise money for a Jewish orphan school and hospital in Izmir. As the man began to distribute fliers on this matter, one of the copies fell into the hands of a police official, who raised questions, as police are wont to do, about jurisdiction. Although the lottery had been approved in Aydin, Izmir's province, the official wondered whether sales ought to be permitted in Mersin and the matter reached all the way to the governor of Adana province's desk apparently.
Beyond these squabbles, the document provides some insight into the networks and mechanics of charity fundraising in the waning years of the Ottoman Empire. The police official's objection over jurisdiction points to the geographic breadth of this particular fundraising effort; Mersin and Izmir are rather far apart. Moreover, the explicitly defined Jewish identity of the institution and the lottery ticket seller point to a degree of religious confessionalism that characterized such charitable institutions.
But alongside what might appear to be an effort by a single religious community to establish an institution to care for its own, the lottery clearly attempted to appeal to a broad range of groups. The documents below would seem to be the announcements distributed in Mersin. The first two pages are in Ottoman Turkish, the third a mix of Hebrew and French, and the final page Armeno-Turkish. This linguistic diversity underscores the fact that in the late Ottoman Empire there were many ways to say jackpot, just as there were many ways to be Ottoman.
Click here to see these lottery tickets in full
Source:BOA DH-MKT 944/1 28 M 1323
Amazing find! One small correction: the Hebraic characters on the ticket are Judeo-Spanish, not Hebrew. In 1905, it would have still been unusual to find actual Hebrew on something so profane as a lottery ticket - especially in Anatolia. Anyway, love the podcast and keep em coming!
ReplyDeletevery interesting blogs !
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