Anthropology is the study of humans, both human societies and cultures and their development (social anthropology) and human biology (physical anthropology). Ethnography is a method of research used within social anthropology to study cultures through observing and participating in them. Ghosh’s interactions with rural Egyptian villagers reflects an ethnographic approach, as he seeks to contrast their lives with the lives of individuals during the era of the medieval Indian Ocean trade route.

A fellah (fellaheen in the plural) is the Arabic word used to describe a farmer or agricultural laborer. In Egypt, it carries with it the connotation of being indigenous to ancient Egypt and therefore one of the “true” Egyptians. Traditionally, a fellah would wear the jallabeyya, a loose-fitting cotton robe. Throughout In an Antique Land, Ghosh speaks to many fellaheen and takes pains to show the lives of these, usually anonymous, “peasants.”

A Geniza (Genizah) is a special chamber of a Synagogue designed to hold important texts before they would be buried in a cemetery. This rite was to avoid accidentally destroying the name of God in a text. The contents of a Geniza would be periodically removed. However, in the 19th century the Cairo Ben Ezra synagogue was found to still contain some 300,000 fragmentary manuscripts, which revolutionized the study of medieval Jewish history.