person · P0279
Rav Nehemiah bar Kohen Tzedek רב נחמיה בר כהן צדק
Gaon of Pumbedita whose contested rise split the academy: Sherira — then av beit din — "did not go before him," accepting the gaonate only at Nehemiah's death in 968. The last head before the Iggeret's own author.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- רב נחמיה בר כהן צדק
- Era
- geonim
- Parents
- Rav Kohen Tzedek Kahana bar Yosef
II. When
- Traditional
- gaon of Pumbedita 4720–4728 AM
- Academic
- gaon 960–968 CE
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈68 years
- Precision
- approximate
III. Where
- Places
- Pumbedita
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Mar Rav Nehemiah bar Mar Rav Kohen Tzedek disputed against him [Aharon]... after Mar Aharon died, some of the scholars returned before Mar Nehemiah, but we and our many scholars did not go before him... and we did not accept the gaonate until Mar Rav Nehemiah died" — whereupon Sherira was installed in the year 1279 (968 CE). | tradition | ★★★★☆ | |
| No source names his teacher; his father Rav Kohen Tzedek bar Yosef — himself a head of the academy per the Iggeret — stood at the head of his formation. Kinship the Iggeret states; reception it does not — recorded as inference one remove from attestation.
Derived by era-and-institution (and household) inference, not attested.
|
reconstruction | ★★☆☆☆ |