Natan b. Shemuʾel he-Ḥaver
Description / Bio
Prolific court scribe and judge who was active in Fusṭāṭ ca. 1128–1164 CE. The timing of his death, by early 1164, can be estimated through the comparison of his son Mevorakh's patronymic nomenclature in BL OR 5524.6 (ס׳׳ט) and BL OR 5524.7 (ז׳׳ל): the latter is dated 5 January 1164 CE (Information from Oded Zinger). Some secondary sources list Natan b. Shemuʾel he-Ḥaver's active dates as beginning in 1122, based on Goitein's early estimate of 1122–1153 (e.g. Med. Soc. Vol. I, p. 364). However, the earliest definitive references to his legal career only begin to appear in dated documents from 1128 CE onwards.