person · P0285
Rav Tzemach bar Chaim רב צמח בר חיים
Gaon of Sura for seven years, brother of Nachshon Gaon; his is the famous responsum to Kairouan weighing the strange reports of Eldad HaDani.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- רב צמח בר חיים
- Era
- geonim
II. When
- Traditional
- gaon of Sura c. 4639–4646 AM
- Academic
- gaon c. 879–886 CE
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈61 years
- Precision
- approximate
III. Where
- Places
- Sura
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| "After him Mar Rav Tzemach bar Mar Rav Chaim, the brother of Mar Rav Nachshon the gaon, seven years" — placed c. 879–886 CE in the standard rosters.
The Iggeret gives tenure lengths without absolute anchors for Sura's geonim; CE anchoring follows the Sura Academy roster.
|
tradition external | ★★★☆☆ | |
| No source names his teacher. Per this atlas's succession roster, Rav Sar Shalom bar Boaz and Rav Natronai bar Hilai held the headship of his academy during his formative window (c. 4600–4620 AM), making reception from them the likeliest reconstruction.
Derived by era-and-institution inference, not attested. The formative window is computed from this entry's schematic dates, hence the low confidence.
|
reconstruction | ★☆☆☆☆ |