Hasdai ibn Shaprut - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Hasdai ibn Shaprut (Hebrew: חסדאי אבן שפרוט) born about 915 at Jaén

Jaén, Spain

Jaén is a city in south-central Spain, the name is derived from the Arabic word Jayyan, . It is the capital of the province of Jaén. It is located in the autonomous community of Andalusia....

; died about 975 at Córdoba

Córdoba, Spain

-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...

in Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, was a Jewish scholar, physician, diplomat, and patron of science.

His father, Isaac ben Ezra

Isaac ben Ezra

Isaac ben Ezra Isaac ben Ezra Isaac ben Ezra (full name: Abu Hasdai Yitzhak ben Ezra ibn Shaprut; also known as Isaac ibn Shaprut was a rabbi active in Jaén during the early tenth century CE...

, was a wealthy and learned Jew of Jaén. Hasdai acquired in his youth a thorough knowledge of Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

, Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

, and Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

, the last-named language being at that time known only to the higher clergy of Spain. He also studied medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

, and is said to have discovered a universal panacea, called Al-Faruk. Appointed physician to the caliph

Caliph

The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...

Abd ar-Rahman III-- (912-961), he, by his engaging manners, knowledge, character, and extraordinary ability, gained his master's confidence to such a degree that he became the caliph's confidant and faithful counselor. Without bearing the title of vizier

Vizier

A vizier or in Arabic script ; ; sometimes spelled vazir, vizir, vasir, wazir, vesir, or vezir) is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in a Muslim government....

he was in reality minister of foreign affairs; he had also control of the customs and ship-dues in the port of Córdoba. Hasdai arranged the alliances formed by the caliph with foreign powers, and he received the envoys sent by the latter to Córdoba. In 949 an embassy was sent by Constantine VII

Constantine VII

Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos or Porphyrogenitus, "the Purple-born" was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 913 to 959...

. to form a diplomatic league between the hard-pressed Byzantine empire and the powerful ruler of Spain. Among the presents brought by the embassy was a magnificent codex of Dioscorides

Pedanius Dioscorides

Pedanius Dioscorides was a Greek physician, pharmacologist and botanist, the author of a 5-volume encyclopedia about herbal medicine and related medicinal substances , that was widely read for more than 1,500 years.-Life:...

' work on botany, which the Arabic physicians and naturalists valued highly. Hasdai, with the aid of a learned Greek monk named Nicholas, translated it into Arabic, making it thereby the common property of the Arabs and of medieval Europe.

As minister

Hasdai rendered important services to the caliph by his treatment of an embassy headed by John of Gorze

John of Gorze

Saint John of Gorze was a Lorraine-born monk, diplomat, administrator, and monastic reformer....

, sent to Córdoba in 956 by Otto I. The caliph, fearing that the letter of the German emperor might contain matter derogatory to Islam, commissioned Hasdai to open the negotiations with the envoys. Hasdai, who soon perceived that the letter could not be delivered to the caliph in its present form, persuaded the envoys to send for another letter which should contain no objectionable matter. John of Gorze said that he had "never seen a man of such subtle intellect as the Jew Hasdeu" ("Vita Johannis Gorziensis," ch. cxxi., in G. H. Pertz, Monumenta Germaniæ, iv. 371).

Hasdai secured a great diplomatic triumph during the difficulties which arose between the kingdoms of Leon

Kingdom of León

The Kingdom of León was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in AD 910 when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their capital from Oviedo to the city of León...

and Navarre

Navarre

Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...

, when the ambitious Queen Toda sought the aid of 'Abd al-Rahman in reinstating her deposed grandson Sancho

Sancho I of León

Sancho I , called the Fat, was the son of King Ramiro II of León. He succeeded his half-brother Ordoño III in 956 and reigned until his death, except for a two year interruption from 958 to 960, when Ordoño the Wicked usurped the throne...

. Hasdai was sent to the court of Navarre; and he succeeded after a long struggle in persuading the queen to go to Córdoba with her son and grandson, in order to prostrate herself before the caliph, her old enemy, and implore the aid of his arms (958). The proud Navarrese allowed herself to be vanquished by Hasdai – as a Jewish poet of the time expressed himself, "by the charm of his words, the strength of his wisdom, the force of his cunning, and his thousand tricks."

Hasdai retained his high position under 'Abd al-Rahman's son and successor, Al-Hakim

Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah

Abu ‘Ali Mansur Tāriqu l-Ḥākim, called Al-Hakim bi Amr al-Lāh , was the sixth Fatimid caliph and 16th Ismaili imam .- History :...

, who even surpassed his father in his love for science.

Jewish activity

Hasdai was very active in behalf of his co-religionists and Jewish science. Allegedly, When he heard that in Central Asia there was a Jewish state with a Jewish ruler, he desired to enter into correspondence with this monarch; and when the report of the existence of the state of the Khazars

Khazars

The Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people who established one of the largest polities of medieval Eurasia, with the capital of Atil and territory comprising much of modern-day European Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, large portions of the northern Caucasus , parts of...

was confirmed by two Jews, Mar Saul and Mar Joseph, who had come in the retinue of an embassy from the Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

n king to Córdoba, Hasdai entrusted to them a letter, written in good Hebrew addressed to the Jewish king, in which he gave an account of his position in the Western state, described the geographical situation of Andalusia and its relation to foreign countries, and asked for detailed information in regard to the Khazars, their origin, their political and military organization, etc. See also the Khazar Correspondence

Khazar Correspondence

The Khazar Correspondence was an exchange of letters in the 950s or 960s between Hasdai ibn Shaprut, foreign secretary to the Caliph of Cordoba, and Joseph, Khagan of the Khazars. It is one of the few documents known to have been authored by a Khazar, and one of the very few primary sources on...

.

Hasdai sent a letter to Empress Helena of Byzantium in which he pleaded for religious liberty to be granted to the Jews of Byzantium. He pointed to his own warm relations with the Muslim Caliph in Córdoba as well as his benevolent attitude towards the Christians of Spain. See http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/Taylor-Schechter/exhibition.html, T-S J2.71.

Hasdai sent rich presents to the yeshiva

Yeshiva

Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...

of Sura

Sura (city)

Sura was a city in the southern part of ancient Babylonia, located west of the Euphrates River. It was well-known for its agricultural produce, which included grapes, wheat, and barley...

and that of Pumbedita

Pumbedita

Pumbedita was the name of a city in ancient Babylonia close to the modern-day city of Fallujah....

, and corresponded with Dosa, the son of Saadia Gaon

Saadia Gaon

Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon was a prominent rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.The first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Arabic, he is considered the founder of Judeo-Arabic literature...

. He was also instrumental in transferring the center of Jewish theological studies from Babylonia

Babylonia

Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...

to Spain, by appointing Moses ben Hanoch

Moses ben Hanoch

Moses ben Hanoch or Moses ben Enoch was a medieval rabbi who inadvertently became the preeminent Talmudic scholar of Spain. He died about 965....

, who had been stranded at Córdoba, director of a school, and thereby detaching Judaism from its dependence on the East, to the great joy of the caliph, as Abraham ibn Daud

Abraham ibn Daud

Abraham ibn Daud was a Spanish-Jewish astronomer, historian, and philosopher; born at Toledo, Spain about 1110; died, according to common report, a martyr about 1180. He is sometimes known by the abbreviation Rabad I or Ravad I. His mother belonged to a family famed for its learning...

says (Sefer ha-Kabbalah p. 68). Ibn Abi 'UKaibia writes of him: "Hasdai b. Isaac was among the foremost Jewish scholars versed in their law. He opened to his coreligionists in Andalusia

Andalusia

Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...

the gates of knowledge of the religious law, of chronology, etc. Before his time they had to apply to the Jews of Baghdad

Baghdad

Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...

on legal questions, and on matters referring to the calendar and the dates of the festivals" (ed. Müller, ii. 50).

Hasdai marks the beginning of the florescence of Andalusian Jewish culture, and the rise of poetry and of the study of Hebrew grammar among the Spanish Jews. Himself a scholar, he encouraged scholarship among his coreligionists by the purchase of Hebrew books, which he imported from the East, and by supporting Jewish scholars whom he gathered about him. Among the latter were Menahem ben Saruq

Menahem ben Saruq

Menahem ben Saruq was a Spanish-Jewish philologist of the tenth century CE. He was a skilled poet and polyglot. He was born in Tortosa around 920 and died around 970. Menahem produced an early dictionary of the Hebrew language...

of Tortosa

Tortosa

-External links:* *** * * *...

, the protégé of Hasdai's father, and Dunash ben Labrat

Dunash ben Labrat

Dunash ha-Levi ben Labrat was a medieval Jewish commentator, poet, and grammarian of the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain. He was, according to Moses ibn Ezra, born in Fes. In his youth he travelled to Bagdad to study with Saadia Gaon.Dunash is called the founder of Spanish Hebrew poetry...

, both of whom addressed poems to their patron. Dunash, however, prejudiced Hasdai to such a degree against Menahem that Hasdai caused Menahem to be maltreated.

Personal life

We have no record of a wife. The Sephardic Jewish family originating from Turkey that has the surname Chiprut claims descent from Hasdai.
In addition several families throughout the Jewish Diaspora carry variations of the Hasdai name which came about when moving from one country to another [i.e.: Hazday, Hazdai, Hasday]

When Hibat Allah
Hibat Allah Abu'l-Barakat al-Baghdaadi
Abu'l-Barakāt Hibat Allah ibn Malkā al-Baghdādī was an Islamic philosopher and physician of Jewish-Arab descent from Baghdad, Iraq. Abu'l-Barakāt, an older contemporary and father-in-law of Maimonides, was originally known by his Hebrew birth name Nathanel before his conversion from Judaism to...

converted to Islam, Isaac ibn Ezra (Abu Hasdai Yitzhak ibn Ezra ibn Shaprut) converted too. Isaac ibn Ezra (son of Abraham ibn Ezra ibn Shaprut), had a son named Hasdai ben Isaac ibn ezra bn Shaprut (Abu Yusuf ben Yitzhak bin Ezra ibn Shaprut). Some Jewish scholars view Hasdai ibn Shaprut's father (the apostate previously known as Isaac bin Ezra) as the primary driver for enticing the heads of Jewish Academies, in Babylon, to come to Spain. The goal, as speculated among scholars, was to debase Jewish centers of learning, erode the power base of the Exilarchate, and help bring the fall of the Radhanite

Radhanite

The Radhanites were medieval Jewish merchants. Whether the term, which is used by only a limited number of primary sources, refers to a specific guild, or a clan, or is a generic term for Jewish merchants in the trans-Eurasian trade network is unclear...

trade network; thereby shifting economic power plus intellectual and political authority to al-Andalus.