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Saʿīd b. Marḥab

Metadata

Gender
Male
Dates
Active dates
25 January 1156–11 January 1187 CE
Social role
  • Jewish communal official
Other name
סעיד בן מרחב

Description / Bio

"Saʿīd b. Marḥab apparently served as the community's rabbi in Aden, since he declares that he clarified the background of the sea tragedy in the presence of the entire congregation on two Sabbaths ([IB II,71 ]verso, lines 3-5). He functioned as court scribe and wrote and signed VI, 51-53. [...] Saʿīd b. Marḥab is one of the earliest known Yemenite Jewish poets and perhaps the first. At least eight of his poems have been preserved, among them the panegyric that opens [IB II,71]." (Goitein & Friedman, India Book, p 530)

Sasha Batz Stern, Alan Elbaum, and Pratima Gopalakrishnan, "Saʿīd b. Marḥab," available online through the Princeton Geniza Project at https://geniza.princeton.edu/people/said-b-marhab/, accessed June 3, 2026.
https://geniza.princeton.edu/people/said-b-marhab/