Hezekiah Gaon or Hezekiah ben David ( he, חזקיה בן דוד) was the last
Gaon of the
Talmudic academy in
Pumbedita
Pumbedita (sometimes Pumbeditha, Pumpedita, or Pumbedisa; arc, פוּמְבְּדִיתָא ''Pūmbəḏīṯāʾ'', "The Mouth of the River,") was an ancient city located near the modern-day city of Fallujah, Iraq. It is known for having hosted t ...
from 1038–40.
Hezekiah ben David was a member of the
House of Exilarchs, his father David was the son of Zakkai. Some scholars believe Hezekiah was great-grandson of David ben Zakai (not the grandson of David).
Hezekiah was elected to the office of principal after the death of
Hai Gaon
Hai ben Sherira (Hebrew: האי/י בר שרירא) better known as Hai Gaon (Hebrew: האי/י גאון, חאיי גאון), was a medieval Jewish theologian, rabbi and scholar who served as Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita during the ...
at the age of 99, but was denounced to a fanatical government of the
Buyid dynasty
The Buyid dynasty ( fa, آل بویه, Āl-e Būya), also spelled Buwayhid ( ar, البويهية, Al-Buwayhiyyah), was a Shia Iranian dynasty of Daylamite origin, which mainly ruled over Iraq and central and southern Iran from 934 to 1062. Cou ...
, who then imprisoned and tortured him to death. However, the Jewish Quarterly Review mentions that Hezekiah was liberated from prison, and became head of the academy, and is mentioned as such by a contemporary in 1046. With him ended his family except two sons who escaped to the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
, where they found a home with
Joseph ibn Naghrela
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
,
son of
Samuel ibn Naghrillah
Samuel ibn Naghrillah (, ''Sh'muel HaLevi ben Yosef HaNagid''; ''ʾAbū ʾIsḥāq ʾIsmāʿīl bin an-Naghrīlah''), also known as Samuel HaNagid (, ''Shmuel HaNagid'', lit. ''Samuel the Prince'') and Isma’il ibn Naghrilla (born 993; died 1056 ...
.
The death of Hezekiah ended the line of the
Geonim
''Geonim'' ( he, גאונים; ; also transliterated Gaonim, singular Gaon) were the presidents of the two great Babylonian Talmudic Academies of Sura and Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders o ...
, which had begun four centuries earlier (see
Hanan of Iskiya), and with it,
Pumbedita Academy
Pumbedita Academy or Pumbedita Yeshiva ( he, ישיבת פומבדיתא; sometimes ''Pumbeditha'', ''Pumpedita'', ''Pumbedisa'') was a yeshiva in Babylon during the era of the Amoraim and Geonim sages. It was founded by Judah bar Ezekiel (220� ...
. The Spanish poet,
Hiyya al-Daudi Hiyya al-Daudi (born circa 1085 in Babylonia, died Kingdom of Castile, 1154) ( he, חייא אלדאודי) was a prominent rabbi, composer, and poet of Andalusia. His hymns are still used in Sephardic congregations throughout the world.
Hiyya al-D ...
(d. 1154), ancestor of the
Ibn Yahya family descended from David ben Hezekiah, who had escaped the Buyyids with his brother. In addition,
Abraham bar Hiyya
Abraham bar Ḥiyya ha-Nasi (;
– 1136 or 1145), also known as Abraham Savasorda, Abraham Albargeloni, and Abraham Judaeus, was a Catalan Jewish mathematician, astronomer and philosopher who resided in Barcelona.
Bar Ḥiyya was active in tr ...
was said to be a descendant of Hezekiah.
References
* It has the following bibliography:
*Rabad, Sefer ha-Kabbalah;
*Zacuto, The book of Lineage;
*Gans, Ẓemaḥ Dawid, i.;
*Grätz, Gesch. v. 428;
*Jost, Gesch. der Juden und Seiner Sekten, ii. 287.
Geonim
11th-century rabbis of Al-Andalus
Rabbis of Academy of Pumbedita
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