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Biography of Saadia ben Joseph al-Fayumi
Name: Saadia ben Joseph al-Fayumi
Birth Date: 882
Death Date: 942
Place of Birth: Egypt
Nationality:
Gender: Male
Occupations: scholar
Saadia ben Joseph al-Fayumi
The Jewish scholar Saadia ben Joseph al-Fayumi (882-942) ranks as the most important medieval Jewish scholar of literature and history.Little is known of the early life of Saadia ben Joseph except that he was born in Egypt, lived for sometime in Palestine, and finally settled in the Jewish communities of Babylonia. Saadia became affiliated with the academy at Sura, Babylonia, and became the gaon (head) of the academy in 928. Deposed in 930, he again became gaon in 936, holding this office until his death in 942. During this period the academy became the highest seat of learning among the Jews.Saadia's numerous works were written for the most part in Arabic, which had become the vernacular and literary language of eastern Jews. When the Babylonian schools ceased to function in the middle of the 11th century and the Jews were expelled from Spain, Saadia's works ceased to be widely known until the late 19…showed first 150 words…
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…showed last 150 words…continual controversies which surrounded his leadership of the Sura Academy, and he died in 942. His importance can be measured by the fact that without his extant works there would be no direct knowledge of the inner development of Judaism and Jewish literature between the 7th and the 10th century. Further Reading David Druck, Saadya Gaon: Scholar, Philosopher, Champion of Judaism (trans. 1942), and Solomon Leon Skoss, Saadia Gaon: The Earliest Hebrew Grammarian (1955), are biographical studies. Various aspects of Saadia's life and career are discussed in two studies published on the thousandth anniversary of his death by the American Academy for Jewish Research, Saadia Anniversary Volume, edited by Boaz Cohen (1943), and by the Jewish Quarterly Review, Saadia Studies, edited by Abraham A. Neuman and Solomon Zeitlin (1943). Background information is in Heinrich H. Graetz, History of the Jews (trans. 1891-1898), and the highly technical work by Paul Ernst Kahle, The Cairo Geniza (1947; 2d ed. 1959).
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