Yahia Ben Rabbi

Who was Yahia Ben Rabbi?

Yahia Ben Rabbi, also known as Yahya Ha-Nasi, Yahya Ibn Yaish, Dom Yahia "o Negro", and said to be a direct descendent of the Exilarchs of Babylon, was the eponymous ancestor of the ibn Yahya family.

He resided in Lisbon and was held in high esteem among the Jews as well as by King Afonso I of Portugal who honored him for his courage and presented him with an estate that had belonged to the Moors, wherefore he assumed the nickname "Negro".

He was the son of Yaish Ibn Yahya and grandson of Hiyya al-Daudi, who was a prominent Rabbi, composer and poet, and served as Advisor to Portugal's first King Afonso I.

He had five sons by his wife:

⁕Yaish Ben Yahya, the father of three sons, namely, Yosef, Shlomo, and Moshe, had issue

⁕Yakov Ben Yahya, the father of Hiyya, the father of Eli

⁕Yosef Ben Yahya, the father of Shlomo Ha-Zaken

⁕Yehuda "Sar" Ben Yahya, father of Yahya and Yosef

⁕Yahya Ben Yahya, father of Shlomo and Bakr Ben Yahya