The great-grandfather of the present generation was Salman al-Maaytah al-Tamimi. Himself belonging to a lineage of scribes and book traders, he is credited with founding the first incarnation of what would become al-Jahith's Treasury in Karak in the 1890s, where it was known as Maṣṭabat al-Karak (the Gathering-Place of Karak). In those days, he would migrate with the rest of the al-Maaytah clan between Karak, Jerusalem, Nablus, and Hebron. He brought his books with him on these migrations, and he eventually settled in Jerusalem, where the bookstore became known as Maktabat Ḥā'iṭ al-Burāq (Bookstore of the Wall of Buraq) due to its location near the Wall of Buraq. Salman's son Khalil, who fought in the Great Arab Revolt during World War I, inherited the trade when his father died.