Mash??ir?, Al-
MASH??IR?, AL-
MASH? ?IR?, AL -, family in Iraq. The al-Mash??ir? family members in Babylonia during the 13th century included some distinguished personalities who occupied important positions in the state. They are mentioned by *Eleazar b. Jacob in his poems (see Divan R. Eleazar b. Jacob ha-Bavli, Jerusalem, 1935). They included: isaac muhadhdhib al dawla ibn al-mash??ir? and his sons, eleazar, eliezer, and obadiah (poem 8); and eleazar am?n abu (or ibn) man??r ibn al-mash??ir? and his sons, ezekiel, yeshu'ah, and isaac (poem 185). The nature of their public positions is unknown. In the Arabic chronicle of Ibn al F???, a Jewish state official named mahadhdib al-dawla na?r mash??ir? is mentioned. In 1284 during the rule of the *Mongol governor Argh?n (1284–91), he was appointed adviser in affairs of the state to the government d?w?n. In 1289, when *Sa?d al-Dawla ibn al-??fi became vizier of the Mongolian Empire, he, in turn, appointed Muhadhdhib al-Dawla Na?r as commissioner of Babylonia. Muhadhdhib occupied this position until his assassination in 1291. Some scholars believe that he is the same person as the above-mentioned Isaac Mahadhdhib al-Dawla.
bibliography:
Mann, Texts, 1 (1931), 268, 300, 304; Fischel, Islam, 95, 104, 115; idem, in: Tarbiz, 8 (1936/37), 234–5; A. Ben Jacob, Yehudei Bavel (1965), 38–39, 63–64; idem, in: Zion, 15 (1949/50), 59–61.
[Abraham David]