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Shemuʾel b. Ḥananya (Nagid)

Metadata

Gender
Male
Dates
Active dates
1140–1160 CE
Social role
  • Jewish communal official

Description / Bio

Served as Nagid from late 1140 – early 1160 CE. The earliest document attesting to his Nagidate is T-S NS J475 (dated October 1040 CE). The latest is T-S 10J7.6 (dated May/June 1159 CE). The predecessor of Shemuʾel b. Ḥananya was Moshe b. Netanʾel ha-Shishi ha-Levi, who held the title Gaʾon in Elul of 1140 CE (August/September) when Yehuda ha-Levi arrived in Egypt and composed a poem in his honor. There may have been a gap in Shemuʾel's tenure, as ENA 4020.53 (dated 1143/44 CE) was written under the reshut of a certain Yehoshuaʿ. The successor of Shemuʾel b. Ḥananya was the Gaʾon Netanʾel b. Moshe b. Netanʾel ha-Levi, who was in office as early as January 1160 CE.

Sasha Batz Stern, Alan Elbaum, Marina Rustow, and Moshe Yagur, "Shemuʾel b. Ḥananya (Nagid)," available online through the Princeton Geniza Project at https://geniza.princeton.edu/people/shemuel-b-hananya/, accessed June 2, 2026.
https://geniza.princeton.edu/people/shemuel-b-hananya/