Mashāʿirī, Al-
MASHĀʿIRĪ, AL-
MASHĀ ʿIRĪ, AL -, family in Iraq. The al-Mashāʿirī 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-mashĀʿirĪ and his sons, eleazar, eliezer, and obadiah (poem 8); and eleazar amĪn abu (or ibn) manṢŪr ibn al-mashĀʿirĪ 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 Fūṭī, a Jewish state official named mahadhdib al-dawla naṢr mashĀʿirĪ is mentioned. In 1284 during the rule of the *Mongol governor Arghūn (1284–91), he was appointed adviser in affairs of the state to the government dīwān. In 1289, when *Saʿd al-Dawla ibn al-Ṣāfi became vizier of the Mongolian Empire, he, in turn, appointed Muhadhdhib al-Dawla Naṣr 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]