Ishtori Haparchi (1280-1355), also Estori Haparchi and Ashtori ha-Parhi ( he, אשתורי הפרחי) is the pen name of the 14th-century
Jewish
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
,
geographer, and traveller, Isaac Ha
Kohen
Kohen ( he, , ''kōhēn'', , "priest", pl. , ''kōhănīm'', , "priests") is the Hebrew word for "priest", used in reference to the Aaronic priesthood, also called Aaronites or Aaronides. Levitical priests or ''kohanim'' are traditionally b ...
Ben Moses.
[''Encyclopedia Judaica'' Keter, Jerusalem, 1972, "Estori Ha-Parchi," vol. 6, p.918. Yeshurun vol. 21 p. 855]
Pen name
HaParchi is commonly known by the title ''Kaftor va-Ferach'' taken from the name of his work,
the expression being additionally a pun on his surname.
''Ish Tori'', as he refers to himself in his book, may mean "Man of
Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...
", the capital of the medieval
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
county of Touraine,
[Ronald L. Eisenberg]
Essential Figures in Jewish Scholarship
p. 72, ''Eshtori (Ishtori) ha-Parchi (France, 1280-1355)''. Accessed 8 October 2018. though according to other opinions "Ishtori" was simply his personal name, a single word.
Biography
Ishtori Haparchi was born in
Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
in 1280. Haparchi was descended from a line of sages and rabbis of fame. His father was Rabbi
Moshe HaParhi, a distinguished Talmudical scholar. His grandfather was Rabbi
Nathan of Trinquetaille
Nathan or Natan may refer to:
People
* Nathan (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name
* Nathan (surname)
*Nathan (prophet), a person in the Hebrew Bible
*Nathan (son of David), biblical figure, son of King David a ...
, author of ''Shaar HiTefisa''.
His great-grandfather was
Meir ben Isaac of Carcassonne, author of the ''Sefer ha-'Ezer''.
When the Jews were
expelled from France in 1306, he travelled to Spain and Egypt, and then settled in the
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine (see also Isra ...
(Eretz Yisrael in Hebrew). He worked as a physician in
Bet She'an
Beit She'an ( he, בֵּית שְׁאָן '), also Beth-shean, formerly Beisan ( ar, بيسان ), is a town in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below se ...
, where he died in 1355.
Writings
In 1306, while in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, Ishtori Haparchi made a Hebrew translation of the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''Tabula antidotarii'' of
Armengaud Blaise
Armengaud Blaise (died 1312) was a physician, translator and author active in the Crown of Aragon and Papal Avignon. He mainly translated Arabic medical works into Latin, but he also made one translation from Hebrew with the help of a Jewish frien ...
.
Ishtori Haparchi was the author of the first Hebrew book on the geography of the Land of Israel, ''Sefer Kaftor va-Ferach'' ( he, ספר כפתור ופרח), literally "Book of Bulb and Flower",
or "Knob and Flower," written in 1322 in the Land of Israel and published in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
in 1549.
"Knob and Flower" is a Hebrew idiom meaning "work of art," and is derived from the description of the
menorah in . In the context of the book it refers to the
agrarian law
Agrarian laws (from the Latin ''ager'', meaning "land") were laws among the Romans regulating the division of the public lands, or ''ager publicus''. In its broader definition, it can also refer to the agricultural laws relating to peasants and hu ...
s practised by the nation of Israel. Haparchi lists the names of towns and villages in the Land of Israel and discusses the topography of the land based on first-hand visits to the sites. He describes its fruits and vegetables, and draws upon earlier rabbinic commentaries, such as the commentary compiled by Rabbi
Isaac ben Melchizedek of
Siponto
Siponto ( la, Sipontum, grc-gre, Σιπιούς) was an ancient port town and bishopric in Apulia, southern Italy. The town was abandoned after earthquakes in the 13th century; today the area is administered as a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' ...
.
Modern scholarship relies heavily upon the 180 ancient sites he identified and described in relation to other sites, among them
Usha,
al-Midya
al-Midya ( ar, المدية) is a Palestinian village in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the western West Bank, located west of Ramallah. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of over 1, ...
and
Battir.
Editions
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haparchi, Ishtori
1280 births
1355 deaths
Jewish explorers
French topographers
Holy Land travellers
14th-century French rabbis
14th-century French physicians
French people of Spanish-Jewish descent
Medieval Jewish physicians of France
Jewish refugees
Medieval Jewish travel writers
14th-century rabbis from the Mamluk Sultanate
Kohanim writers of Rabbinic literature
People from Northern District (Israel)
People from Beit She'an
Jewish agrarian laws
14th-century travelers