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(Abū l-Bishr) Mevassēr Ben Yijū

Metadata

Gender
Male
Dates
Active dates
1145–1154 CE
Social role
  • Jewish community member
Other names
Abū l-Bishr b. Abū l-Surūr
Mevassēr b. Peraḥya
מבשר בן פרחיה בן יגו

Description / Bio

A brother of the India trader Avraham Ben Yijū. Like their brother Yosef, Mevassēr received financial help from Avraham at least once in the mid-1140s--in Mevassēr's case to the tune of forty Malikī dinars. Born and raised in al-Mahdiyya, he left Tunisia alongside his siblings Yosef and Berākhā (and their families) following Roger II of Sicily's conquest in 1148. Eventually, he settled in Messina, Sicily. Mevassēr was irresponsible and troublesome, at least according to his brother Avraham ("indolent, possessed of a hard heart") and Avraham's trading partner Maḍmūn b. Ḥasan ("a 'good-for-nothing'"). While we do not know the full context, it is notable that although at least one of several letters from Avraham, newly in Aden, successfully reached Mevassēr in Messina in 1149/50, Mevassēr never passed it on to Yosef, nearby in Mazara, to whom it was also addressed. This lapse extended the gap in communication between Avraham and Yosef by at least a year. In the interim, Mevassēr traveled to Aden to see his newly-returned brother. Avraham alleged that during this visit, he had exerted himself beyond his means for Mevassēr (see PGPID 4727). --SBS (Information from Goitein & Friedman, India Book, pg. 71-73, 80-81)

Sasha Batz Stern, Alan Elbaum, and Marina Rustow, "(Abū l-Bishr) Mevassēr Ben Yijū," available online through the Princeton Geniza Project at https://geniza.princeton.edu/people/mevasser-ben-yiju/, accessed August 16, 2026.
https://geniza.princeton.edu/people/mevasser-ben-yiju/