person · P0375

Rav Menachem bar Yosef מר רב מנחם גאון בריה דמר רב יוסף גאון

Gaon of Pumbedita in a year and a half of schism — the elite of the scholars with him, the rest with Matityahu — resolved only by his death in 860.

I. Who

Hebrew
מר רב מנחם גאון בריה דמר רב יוסף גאון
Era
geonim
Parents
Rav Yosef bar Chiya

II. When

Traditional
gaon of Pumbedita 4619–4620 AM (in schism)
Academic
gaon 859–860 CE (in schism)
Lifespan (traditional)
≈51 years
Precision
approximate

III. Where

Places
Pumbedita

V. How do we know

ClaimEvidenceConfidenceSources
"And after him there was a dispute between Mar Rav Menachem the gaon, son of Mar Rav Yosef the gaon bar Rav Chiya, with the choicest of the scholars beside him, a year and a half, and Mar Rav Matityahu... and Mar Rav Menachem died in the year [1]171" (860 CE).
Tenure spans the schism, closed by his death.
tradition ★★★★☆
No source names his teacher; his father Rav Yosef bar Chiya — himself a head of the academy per the Iggeret — stood at the head of his formation, and Rav Yitzchak bar Chananya held the chair through his formative window (c. 4584–4604 AM). 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 ★★☆☆☆