Yahia Ben Rabbi

Yahia Ben Rabbi (c.1145 – 1222) (pronounced YAH-hee-yah) was a Portuguesenobleman. He was reputed to be a direct descendant of the Hebrewexilarchs of ancient Babylonia (Iraq) that claimed direct descent from the Biblical King David^[1] and was the eponymous progenitor of the Ibn Yahya family.^[2]

Ben Rabbi was the son of Yaish Ibn Yahya (born between 1120 and 1130,^[3] died 1196) and grandson of Hiyya al-Daudi (born between 1080 and 1090,^[3] died 1154), who was a prominent rabbi, composer, and poet and served as advisor to Afonso II of Portugal. He was also said to be the son of Châmoa Gomes de Pombeiro,^[4][5] though there is little evidence to support this. Ben Rabbi was also known as Yahia o Negro (Yahia "the Black" in Portuguese), it being a cognomen he inherited from his father, who himself gained it from being made Lord of the town of Aldeia dos Negros, near Óbidos.^[6]

Ben Rabbi had five sons with his wife:

• Yaish Ben (Ibn) Yahya, the father of three sons, Yosef (Jucef), Shlomo (fl. 1255), and Moshe (died 1279).
• Yakov Ben Yahya, the father of Hiyya, the father of Eli
• Yosef Ben (Ibn) Yahya (born c. 1210,^[3] died 1264), the father of Shlomo Ha-Zaken (died 1299),^[3] the father of three sons, who were: Yosef (Jucef), Gedaliah (the father of David, Dan(iel) Ha-Rav and Yonah, called Paloma in Spanish, mistress of Fadrique Alfonso, Lord of Haro), and Hiyya
• Yehuda (Judah) "Sar" Ben Yahya, father of Yahya (father of Yakov, father of Hiyya) and Yosef
• Yahia Ben Yahi, father of Shlomo, Joseph, and Bakr Ben Yahya

References

1. King David Dynasty [see note 78]
2. Origins of the Yahya family name
3. "Jdische Familienforschung (Berlin, Germany : 1924-1938)". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
4. "Chamoa Gomes". geni_family_tree. 1120. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
5. "Family tree of Chamoa Gomes". Geneanet. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
6. Dubov, Kalman (2023). History of the Iberian Peninsula: Portuguese Rule From Expulsion & Inquisition to Citizenship; Review & Analysis, Volume Two. p. 35.