Kirkisani, Abu Yusuf Yakub

He received the nickname Kirkisani in the area of ​​Karkasan, near Baghdad ^[2] , and he wrote in the 20s and 30s of the X century; thus, he was a younger contemporary of Saadia Gaon . From the circumstances of his life, we only know that he traveled a lot not only in Iraq (Babylonia), but also visited Persia and India and everywhere observed the customs of the countries and used his observations to explain the Holy Scriptures . For example, to explain why Mordechai did not want to bow to Aman , Kirkisani cited the custom of the Indians to depict idol gods and their shrines on their upper dresses, as he saw in India. “Probably,” says Kirkisani, “Gaman also wore a dress with such images.” ^[3]

The main purpose of Kirkisani's travels was to familiarize locally with the religious condition of their co-religionists, the Karaites, who at that time were divided into many small sects and senses. He reports, as an eyewitness, about the Karaites in Jabal (ancient Medes), Baghdad , Basra, Isfahani, Tuster (Schuster), Khorasan, etc. With great respect to the person of Anan and recognizing his merits as the founder of the Karaite faith, Kirkisani, however, it very often criticizes the interpretation of Holy Scripture and religious decrees, which are contained in the Ananian “Book of Laws” (or otherwise, “The Book of Prescriptions”), as well as the opinions of the Ananites ^[3] .

Kirkisani is considered the author of the following works written in Arabic: “Kitab al-Anwar val-Marakib” (כתאנ אלאנואר ואלמראקנ, “Book of the Suns and Observation Points”), “Kitab al-Riad val-Hadaik” (כתאנ אלריאי ול gardens and flowers ”, interpretations of places of the Pentateuch that are not related to laws),“ Tafsir Ayub ”(תפסיר איונ, commentary on the Book of Job ),“ Tafsir Kogelet ”(תפסיר קהלת, commentary on the book of Ecclesiastes ),“ Kitab al-Tawhid ”(כתנ אלתוחיד, Book of Monotheism), “Kitab fi al-Qaul ala al-Tarjama” (כתאנ פי אלקול עלי אלתרגמה, “Book on the Translation of the Holy ennogo Scriptures Hebrew into other languages ") ^[3] .

The author’s first and most important essay, The Book of the Suns, is divided into 13 sections: the first section is an introduction consisting of 19 chapters (this section, which includes an overview of all Jewish sects known to the author, is published in Notes of the Eastern Department of the Archaeological Society, Volume VIII ); the second section consists of 28 chapters and interprets the need for research and criticism in religious matters; the third section includes 25 chapters and contains objections to various heterodox sects; the fourth - 68 chapters, which talk about ways to achieve knowledge of laws (on nomocanonical rules); fifth - 40 chapters on the laws of circumcision and the Sabbath; sixth - 104 chapters, about the rest (except the Sabbath commandment) of the nine commandments; seventh - chapter 21, on the laws relating to the new moon and the time of ripening of bread plants (abib, אנינ); the eighth - 15 chapters, on the feast of Pentecost and on determining the time of the inter-supper; the ninth - 24 chapters, about all other holidays; the tenth - 66 chapters, about the Levitical impurity of animals and people; eleventh - on forbidden marriages and on levirate marriage (marrying a widow of a childless brother); twelfth - 42 chapters, on prohibitions relating to food, clothing, and sowing, and tzitzit (brushes on the edges of clothing); the thirteenth, and the last, is 14 chapters on the laws of inheritance ^[3] .

Under each law, Kirkisani gives the opinion of the Rabbanites, his predecessors from the Karaites, starting with Anan, and the opinion of various apologists and as impartially as possible for the Karaite, debates about them; thanks to this, it is easy to see that the indicated work is a real treasure for the history of legislation, exegetics and dogmatic theology of not only Karaites, but also other ancient and medieval religious movements. That is why some Jewish scholars who knew about Kirkisani, speaking of Karaite authorities, put him in the forefront after Anan. Thus, the historian Abraham ibn-Daoud in Sefer Ha-Kabbalah says: “ Neither Anan, nor Karkasani, the heads of heresy ” ^[4] , as well as an Egyptian rabbi, a younger contemporary of r. Joseph Caro, p. Jacob Castro, in his responses: “ Of the two authoritative posk (decisors) that the Karaites rely on, Anana and Karkasani ” ^{[3] [5]} .

Kirkisani often polemicizes with ancient rabbis, especially emphasizing agadic sayings and mystical works, and with contemporaries, Saadiah Gaon and Jacob ben Efraim from Palestine, a commenter on the Jerusalem Talmud . Some of Saadia’s objections to the nameless Karaite writers are apparently directed against Kirkisani. Due to the fact that the Byzantine, and later Egyptian Karaite authors mistakenly called Kirkisani Joseph instead of Jacob, he was often mixed with Joseph al-Basir (Garoe), who lived a century later. There is an extract from the two named works of Kirkisani in the manuscripts of the Imperial Public Library , compiled by a certain Moses ben Solomon Gasikni ^[3] .

• “Notes of the Eastern Branch of the Archaeological Society,” VIII, 247–321;
• Appendix to the Hebrew translation of Grez, vol. III; from hand. Brit. Museum'a Hirschfeld reported a passage in a Jewish-Arabic anthology; from there S. Poznansky reported excerpts from the Festschr. Steinschneider, 195-21, in Kohut Mem. Vol., 435-462 and other places;

• ḲIRḲISANI, ABU YUSUF YA'ḲUB // “ Jewish Encyclopedia ” (English)