AARON BEN AMRAM

AARON BEN AMRAM (ninth–tenth centuries), court banker in Baghdad. Having built up a position of wealth and influence as private bankers, Aaron and his partner Joseph b. Phinehas were eventually accorded the official position of jahbadh, whose functions involved the collecting of state revenues, the issue of bills of exchange on behalf of the government, and long-term loans to the caliph's administration. At the same time, Aaron and his firm acted as private bankers for the vizier and other high officials, who transacted through them their sometimes shady business. The firm attracted the patronage of Jewish merchants, both in Baghdad, where there was a special banking quarter, and from the provinces of the Islamic empire, and beyond. Their banking transactions involved them deeply in international trade. The contributions of Diaspora communities to the upkeep of the talmudical academies in Babylonia were conveyed by letters of credit drawn on such banking houses as that of Aaron b. Amram and his partner. The influence which Aaron and his friends commanded in the Jewish community was commensurate with his position at court and in the economic life of the caliphate. Aaron sided with *Aaron b. Meir, the gaon in Ereẓ Israel, in his controversy with *Saadiah b. Joseph, over the supremacy of the Palestinian authorities in proclaiming the religious feasts. His sons and heirs, who inherited his official position and influence, enjoyed the confidence of Saadiah, who made use of their services in dealing with the government.

bibliography:

A. Harkavy, Teshuvot ha-Ge'onim, 4 (1887), nos. 423, 548, 552; L. Ginzberg, Geonica, 2 (1909), 87–88; Fischel, Islam, 6–44.

[Walter Joseph Fischel]