Samuel Ben Hofni Gaon and His Cultural World
Subtitle: Texts and Studies (Etudes Sur Le Judaisme Medieval , No 18)
Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
Published: August 1997
Language: eng; jrb
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 408
ISBN-13: 9789004103023
Subjects: Asian / Middle Eastern history: c 500 to c 1500; Cultural studies; Other prose: classical, early & medieval; Rabbis; Jewish scholars; General; Samuel ben Hophni,; Philosophers; Philosophy Of Law; Philosophy Of Religion; Biography & Autobiography; Biography / Autobiography; Jewish - General; Biography/Autobiography; d. 1013; Iraq; Intellectual life; Interior Design - General; Samuel ben Hophni; Jews; Biography; Babylonia
Description: Samuel ben Hofni Gaon was head of the Yeshiva of Sura in Baghdad during the cultural renaissance which characterized the Buyid period. His writings reflect the impact of Arabic literature on Jewish intellectuals at this time. The first part of this volume presents the known details of his life and extensive writings and describes the dynamics of contemporary, tenth-century Jewish culture: the decline and temporary restoration of the yeshivot and the intellectual activity outside of them.

Additionally, some of the basic concepts of his thought, strongly influenced by Mu'tazilite Kalam, are explained. The book provides the Judeo-Arabic text and annotated English translation of two of his works on legal theory, his Treatise on the Commandments and Ten Questions, reconstructed from manuscript fragments from the Cairo Geniza.