person · P0452
David ben Zakkai דוד בן זכאי
The most documented of the exilarchs, because he picked the most documented of fights: having installed Saadia (Saadia Gaon) as gaon of Sura in 4688, he deposed him over a probate ruling Saadia refused to endorse — each then installed a rival against the other (Yosef bar Satya at Sura, a rival exilarch against David) — until Baghdad's elders reconciled them c. 937. Saadia later raised David's orphaned grandson in his own house.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- דוד בן זכאי
- Also known as
- David b. Zakkai
- Era
- geonim
II. When
- Traditional
- c. 4640–4700 AM (exilarch c. 4681–4700)
- Academic
- exilarch c. 921–940 CE
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈60 years
- Precision
- approximate
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| David ben Zakkai raised Saadia to the gaonate of Sura (928 CE) over the warning that Saadia "fears no man"; when Saadia would not sign the exilarch's probate division, each deposed the other — David installing Yosef bar Satya as gaon, Saadia's party naming David's brother Yoshiyahu (Hasan) exilarch — and the caliphal court was drawn in, until the two were reconciled and Saadia restored (c. 937). The fullest account is Natan HaBavli's report.
See Saadia Gaon (Saadia) and Rav Yosef bar Yaakov (bar Satya) for the same quarrel from the academy's side.
|
tradition external | ★★★★☆ | |
| The AM band maps the conventional dates (exilarch c. 921–940 CE) onto the atlas timeline; his death preceded Saadia's, who then cared for his grandson. | reconstruction | ★★☆☆☆ |