Ishtori Haparchi (1280–1355), also Estori Haparchi and Ashtori ha-Parhi () is the pen name of the 14th-century
Jew
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
ish
physician
A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
,
geographer
A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...
, and traveller, Isaac Ha
Kohen
Kohen (, ; , ، Arabic كاهن , Kahen) is the Hebrew word for "priest", used in reference to the Aaronic Priest#Judaism, priesthood, also called Aaronites or Aaronides. They are traditionally believed, and halakha, halakhically required, to ...
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.
Another scholarly opinion suggests that the name HaParchi refers to his birthplace,
Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
, which translates to "Perach" (Flower) in Hebrew.
''Ish Tori'', as he refers to himself in his book, may mean "Man of
Tours
Tours ( ; ) is the largest city 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 inhabita ...
", the capital of the medieval
French
French may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France
** French people, a nation and ethnic group
** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices
Arts and media
* The French (band), ...
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
Jewish Provence in 1280. Haparchi was descended from a line of sages and rabbis of fame. His father was
Moshe HaParhi, a distinguished Talmudic scholar. His grandfather was
Nathan ben Meïr of
Trinquetaille, the author of ''Shaar HiTefisa''.
His great-grandfather was
Meir ben Isaac of Carcassonne, author of ''Sefer ha-'Ezer''.
He studied Torah with his father and grandfather and later with Eliezer ben Yosef of
Chinon
Chinon () is a Communes of France, commune in the Indre-et-Loire Departments of France, department, Centre-Val de Loire, France.
The traditional province around Chinon, Touraine, became a favorite resort of French kings and their nobles beginn ...
, who was burned at the stake as a martyr. Subsequently, he continued his studies in
Montpellier
Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...
under
Jacob ben Machir ibn Tibbon
Jacob ben Machir ibn Tibbon (; – ), also known as Prophatius, was a Jewish astronomer. He was a member of the Ibn Tibbon family.
Biography
He was probably born in Marseille in and died in Montpellier in . He was a grandson of Samuel ben Ju ...
of the renowned
ibn Tibbon
Ibn Tibbon () is a family of Jewish rabbis and translators that lived principally in Provence in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Prominent family members
Prominent members of the family include:
* Judah ben Saul ibn Tibbon (1120–after 1190), ...
family. There are also references suggesting that he studied with
Asher ben Jehiel
Asher ben Jehiel (, or Asher ben Yechiel, sometimes Asheri) (1250 or 1259 – 1327) was an eminent rabbi and Talmudist best known for his abstract of Talmudic law. He is often referred to as Rabbenu Asher, “our Rabbi Asher” or by the Hebrew ...
.
He had a broad education in both religious and secular studies, as well as in
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
,
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, and
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
.
When the Jews were
expelled from France in 1306, he traveled to Spain and then
Bahri Sultanate-ruled Egypt, settling in Bahri-ruled Palestine. When he first arrived in the Land of Israel, he settled in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
, but he left after a year because he disliked his neighbors. He then moved to Besan, now
Beit She'an
Beit She'an ( '), also known as Beisan ( '), or Beth-shean, 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 sea level.
Beit She'an is believed to ...
, explaining his choice by saying that it "sits by abundant waters, tranquil streams, a cherished and blessed land, full of joy. like the Garden of the Lord, it yields its bread and opens the gate to paradise".
He worked as a physician in there, where he died in 1355.
Writings
In 1306, while in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...
, Ishtori Haparchi made a Hebrew translation of the
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
''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 fri ...
.
Ishtori Haparchi was the author of the first Hebrew book on the geography of the Land of Israel, ''Sefer Kaftor va-Ferach'' (), literally "Book of Bulb and Flower",
or "Knob and Flower," written in 1322 in the Land of Israel and published in
Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
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 Roman law, laws among the Ancient Rome, Romans regulating the division of the public real property, lands, or ''ager publicus''. In its broader definition, it can also refer to the agric ...
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
Isaac ben Melchizedek (; also known by the acronym Ribmaṣ ; c. 1090–1160), was a rabbinic scholar from Siponto, Italy, and one of the first medieval scholars to have composed a commentary on the Mishnah, of which only his commentary on '' Sede ...
of
Siponto
Siponto (, ) was an ancient port town and bishopric of Magna Graecia 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'' of Manfredonia, in t ...
.
In his work, there are various factual accounts that contribute to the elucidation of contemporary geographical-historical issues. His contribution is so significant that modern scholars have bestowed upon him the title "The First Among the Researchers of the Land of Israel". Modern scholarship relies heavily upon the 180 ancient sites he identified and described in relation to other sites, among them
Usha (one-time seat of the
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Middle Aramaic , a loanword from , 'assembly,' 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was a Jewish legislative and judicial assembly of either 23 or 70 elders, existing at both a local and central level i ...
),
al-Midya
al-Midya () is a Palestinian people, 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 ove ...
(the
ancient Modiʿin of the
Maccabees
The Maccabees (), also spelled Machabees (, or , ; or ; , ), were a group of Jews, Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea, which at the time was part of the Seleucid Empire. Its leaders, the Hasmoneans, founded the Hasmonean dynasty ...
) and
Battir
Battir (, Hebrew: ביתר) is a Palestinian village in the Bethlehem Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the West Bank, 6.4 km west of Bethlehem, and southwest of Jerusalem. In 2017, the village had a population of 4,696.
Battir h ...
(the ancient
Betar
The Betar Movement (), also spelled Beitar (), is a Revisionist Zionism, Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky. It was one of several right-wing youth movements tha ...
of
Bar Kokhba
Simon bar Kokhba ( ) or Simon bar Koseba ( ), commonly referred to simply as Bar Kokhba, was a Jewish military leader in Judaea (Roman province), Judea. He lent his name to the Bar Kokhba revolt, which he initiated against the Roman Empire in 1 ...
fame).
Editions
*
*
Memorialization
Ishtori Haparchi was Memorialized in the
State of Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
by naming streets after him in major cities such as Jerusalem and
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
. In the
Beit She'an area, several sites are named after him: ''Ein Kaftor'' and ''Ein Perach'' are two springs located between
Tirat Zvi
Tirat Zvi (, lit. ''Zvi Castle'') is a religious kibbutz in the Beit She'an Valley, ten kilometers south of the city of Beit She'an, Israel, just west of the Jordan River and the Israel-Jordan border. It falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of ...
and
Ein HaNatziv
Ein or EIN may refer to: Science and technology
* Ein function, in mathematics
* Endometrial intraepithelial neoplasia, a lesion of the uterine lining
* Equivalent input noise, of a microphone
* European Informatics Network, a 1970s computer netw ...
; near
Beit She'an
Beit She'an ( '), also known as Beisan ( '), or Beth-shean, 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 sea level.
Beit She'an is believed to ...
, there is ''Tel'' ''Ishtori'', as well as a spring named ''Ma'ayan'' ''Ishtori''.
In 2015, a book was published compiling scholarly articles in Hebrew focusing on the life and legacy of Ishtori HaParhi; the book is titled ''Rabbi Ishtori HaParhi: A Pioneer in the Study of the Land of Israel''. The volume was edited by
Israel Rosenson and
Shlomo Glicksberg and was published by
Efrata College of Education in Jerusalem.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haparchi, Ishtori
1280 births
1355 deaths
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 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