The Banū Waqqāṣa, or Ruqqāṣa, were a Jewish family in Fez whose members served the Marīnid dynasty in Morocco between 1286 and 1310. The first Banū Waqqāṣa courtier, Khalīfa b. Ḥayyūn, began as a boon companion to Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf (r. 1286–1307). He soon became the sultan’s chamberlain (Ar. ḥājib), according to Ibn Khaldūn's Kitāb al-ʿIbar, our main source, and after he eliminated his Muslim rivals his power extended throughout the Marīnid state. He was present at every meeting of court officials with the tribal chiefs on whose military prowess the …