nship and skill in affairs. In the
service of the caliphs were politicians who were also doctors, poets,
philosophers, men of science. Possession of culture was, indeed, a sure
credential for employment by the state. It was to Moorish Spain that the
centre of Judaism shifted after the death of Saadiah. It was in Spain
that the finest fruit of Jewish literature in the post-Biblical period
grew. Here the Jewish genius expanded beneath the sunshine of Moorish
culture. To Moses, the son of Chanoch, an envoy from Babylonia, belongs
the honor of founding a new school in Cordova. In this he had the
support of the scholar-statesman Chasdai, the first of a long line of
medieval Jews who earned double fame, as servants of their country and
as servants of their own religion. To Chasdai we must now turn.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

SAADIAH.

Graetz.--III, 7.

Schiller-Szinessy.--_Encycl. Brit._, Vol. XXI, p. 120.

M. Friedlaender.--_Life and Works of Saadia_. _J.Q.R._,
Vol. V, p. 177.

Saadiah's Philosophy (Owen), _J.Q.R._, Vol. III, p. 192.

Grammar and Polemics (Rosin), _J.Q.R._, Vol. VI, p. 475;
(S. Poznanski) _ibid._, Vol. IX, p. 238.

E.H. Lindo.--_History of the Jews of Spain and Portugal_
(London, 1848).

CHAPTER IX

DAWN OF THE SPANISH ERA

Chasdai Ibn Shaprut.--Menachem and Dunash, Chayuj and
Janach.--Samuel the Nagid.

If but a small part of what Hebrew poets sang concerning Chasdai Ibn
Shaprut be literal fact, he was indeed a wonderful figure. His career
set the Jewish imagination aflame. Charizi, in the thirteenth century,
wrote of Chasdai thus:

In southern Spain, in days gone by,
The sun of fame rose up on high:
Chasdai it was, the prince, who gave
Rich gifts to all who came to crave.
Science rolled forth her mighty waves,
Laden with gems from hidden caves,
Till wisdom like an island stood,
The precious outcome of the flood.
Here thirsting spirits still might find
Knowledge to satisfy the mind.
Their prince's favor made new day
For those who slept their life away.
They who had lived so long apart
Confessed a bond, a common heart,
From Christendom and Moorish lands,
From East, from West, from distant strands.
His favor compassed each and all.
Girt by the shelter of his grace,
Lit by the glory of his face,
Knowledge held their heart in thrall.
He showed the source of wisdom and her springs,