Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World

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Maimonides, Moses
(3,581 words)

Moses ben Maimon, generally referred to as Maimonides or by the Hebrew acronym Rambam, was born in Cordova in 1137/38. He was the son of the scholar Maimon ben Joseph, and the scion of an illustrious succession of sages which he traced back seven generations (Kraemer, p. 421). A popular tradition relates that he was a descendant of R. Judah ha-Nasi, redactor of the Mishna, thereby having his genealogy go back to King David. Maimonides, however, makes no mention of this in his writings, and we may regard it as legendary. Not…

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Joel L. Kraemer, “Maimonides, Moses”, in: Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, Executive Editor Norman A. Stillman. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1878-9781_ejiw_COM_0014370>
First published online: 2010



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