View source for Shemariah of Negropont

'''Shemariah ben Elijah Ikriti of Negropont''' (born c. 1275, died c. 1355)<ref>Studies in Bibliography and Booklore. Library of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. 1980.</ref> ([[Hebrew]]: '''שמריה בן אליהו האיקריטי''') was a [[Romaniote Jews|Greek-Jewish]]<ref>Sackson, A. "Joseph ben Moses Qilti: Preliminary Study of a Greek-Jewish Philosopher", JQR 2014.</ref> philosopher and [[Biblical exegete]], contemporary of [[Dante]] and [[Immanuel the Roman]].
==Life==
He was born probably at [[Rome]], the descendant of a long line of [[Roman Jews]]. His father, in his youth, went as rabbi to [[Crete]], whence his surname, "Ha-Yewani" (="the Greek"), or "Ha-Iḳriṭti" (= "the Cretan"). Shemariah had a critical mind, and knew [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Latin language|Latin]], and [[Greek language|Greek]]. Up to 1305 he studied the [[Bible]] exclusively; then he took up [[Talmudic]] [[aggadah]] and philosophy. The earliest ''Tractatus'' version in Hebrew was translated by Shemariah and presented as his own work, titled ''Sefer ha-Hihhayon''.<ref>Gad Freudenthal (2011). Science in Medieval Jewish Cultures. Cambridge University Press. pp. 128–. {{ISBN|978-1-107-00145-9}}.</ref>
His reputation was such that he was called to the court of [[King Robert of Naples]] (who acted as his patron), where he devoted himself chiefly to Biblical studies and wrote commentaries on [[Tanakh|Scripture]]. By 1328 he had completed philosophic commentaries on the [[Pentateuch]] (especially the story of the Creation), the [[Book of Job]], and the [[Song of Songs]]. He aimed at bringing about a union between [[Karaite (Jewish sect)|Karaites]] and [[Rabbinites]]; the Karaites, in fact, recognized and honored him. Shemariah addressed an ''Epistle on the Creation of the World'' to Robert in 1328. Shemariah of Negroponte also dedicated a commentary on the [[Song of Songs]] to the King, comparing the latter to [[King Solomon]].<ref>Colette Sirat (30 November 1990). A History of Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press. pp. 330–. {{ISBN|978-0-521-39727-8}}.</ref>
The death of a son (1330) interrupted his work for a time, but he soon took it up again. In 1346 he wrote his ''Sefer ha-Mora,'' a refutation of the philosophical views on the Creation. Believing that he had placed Rabbinism on a sure foundation, Shemariah undertook, in 1352, a journey to [[Castile (historical region)|Castile]] and [[Andalusia]], in order to convert the Karaites. He is said to have pretended to be the [[Jewish Messiah]], and was reviled to such an extent that the government arrested him. He died in prison. Like most of his contemporaries, he was scientifically an epigone of the great philosophers and exegetes. He also wrote ''Elef ha-Magen'' (a commentary on the [[aggadah]] in the treatise [[wikt:megillah|Megillah]]), some [[piyyuṭim]], and poems.
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{JewishEncyclopedia|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=93&letter=I|title=Shemariah of Negropont}} Its bibliography:
*[[Leopold Zunz|Zunz]], ''Literaturgesch.'' p.&nbsp;367;
*[[Heinrich Grätz]], Gesch. vii.277 et seq.;
*[[A. Geiger]], in ''[[He-Halutz (magazine)|He-Ḥaluẓ]],'' ii;
*[[S. D. Luzzatto]], in ''Oẓar Neḥmad,'' ii;
*[[Hermann Vogelstein]] and [[Paul Rieger]], ''Gesch. der Juden in Rom,'' i.446-450.
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[[Category:1275 births]]
[[Category:14th-century deaths]]
[[Category:Byzantine Jews]]
[[Category:14th-century Greek philosophers]]
[[Category:13th-century Greek philosophers]]
[[Category:Romaniote Jews]]
[[Category:Medieval Jewish philosophers]]
[[Category:14th-century Italian philosophers]]
[[Category:14th-century philosophers]]