Dunash ibn Tamim
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Dunash ibn Tamim (
His first name seems to have been native to northern
Details concerning Ibn Tamim's life and activities have been gathered principally from his Sefer Yetzirah commentary.
In this commentary, which was written in 955–956 CE, Saadia Gaon is mentioned as no longer living. The author refers, however, to the correspondence which was carried on when he was about twenty years of age between his teacher, Isaac Israeli ben Solomon, and Saadia, before the latter's arrival in Babylonia, consequently before 928; hence Tamim was born about the beginning of the tenth century.
Like his teacher, he was physician in ordinary at the court of the
Another of his astronomical works, prepared for Hasdai ben Isaac ibn Shaprut, the Jewish statesman of Cordova, consisted of three parts: (1) the nature of the spheres; (2) astronomical calculations; (3) the courses of the stars. The Arabian author
The Arabic original of Ibn Tamim's commentary on the Sefer Yetzirah no longer exists. In the Hebrew translations the manuscripts are widely dissimilar, and contain varying statements regarding the author. In several of these manuscripts Ibn Tamim is expressly referred to as the author; in one instance he is named again, but with his teacher, while in another Jacob ben Nissim is named, who lived in Kairouan at the end of the Tenth century.
It appears that Isaac Israeli, who is mentioned elsewhere as a commentator on the Sefer Yetzirah, actually had a part in the authorship of the work. But the majority of the statements contained in the commentary itself justify the assumption that Ibn Tamim was the author. He must, therefore, have selected the commentary of his teacher as his basis, while the finishing touch must have been given by Jacob b. Nissim. A short recension of the commentary (Bodleian MS. No. 2250) was published by Manasseh Grossberg, London, 1902.
Ibn Tamim as Grammarian
In the history of Hebrew philology Ibn Tamim ranks as one of the first representatives of the systematic comparison of Hebrew and Arabic.[1] In his "Moznayim" (Preface) Abraham ibn Ezra mentions him between Saadia Gaon and Judah ibn Ḳuraish, and speaks of him as the author of a book "compounded of Hebrew and Arabic."
In adding, "We have obtained this principle from the Danites, who havecome to us from the land of Israel," he certainly alludes to the well-known Eldad ha-Dani.
References
- ^ public domain: Abrahams, Israel (1911). "Dunash". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 668. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
External links
- Langermann, Y. Tzvi (2007). "Dunash ibn Tamim". In Thomas Hockey; et al. (eds.). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York: Springer. p. 315. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0. (PDF version)