Back to People

Netanʾel b. Shemarya ha-Shishi

Metadata

Gender
Male
Dates
Active dates
17 November 1134 CE
Social role
  • Jewish community member

Description / Bio

Jewish community member, a relative of the mid-twelfth century nagid Shemu'el b. Ḥananya. His father, Shemaryahu, was 'the sixth' in the hirarchy of the Palestinian yeshiva. His grandfather, Shemuel, was also a ḥaver of the yeshiva. Shemaryahu's grandson, Shemuel b. Ḥananya, was the nagid in Egypt, which makes Netan'el the nagid's uncle, although his name does not appear in the genealogical lists of the nagid. Netan'el was also the recipient of a letter from Ascalon, probably from the 1130's, and a witness in a legal document from Fusṭāṭ from 1134. His name appears in an ownership colophon of a Judeo-Arabic interpretation of the Pentatuech "נתנאל השר הנכבד גדול הישיבה ביר שמריהו הששי בחבורה זל".

Alan Elbaum and Moshe Yagur, "Netanʾel b. Shemarya ha-Shishi," available online through the Princeton Geniza Project at https://geniza.princeton.edu/people/netanel-b-shemarya-ha-shishi/, accessed March 10, 2026.
https://geniza.princeton.edu/people/netanel-b-shemarya-ha-shishi/