Manasseh ben Abraham Ibn Qazzāz

Merchant and governor

Manasseh ben Abraham Ibn Qazzāz (also known as Menashe b. al-Farrar), was a Jewish silk trader in Damascus. He was appointed by the Fatimid caliph al-ʿAzīz (975–96) as deputy to the Coptic Christian vizier ʿĪsā b. Nestorius (995–96), whose seat was in Cairo. Manasseh and vizier made use of their positions for the benefit of their coreligionists. The discontented Muslims complained to the caliph, and he imprisoned the two officials and their subordinates. After some time the Christian vizier was reinstated but the fate of Manasseh is unknown. From a poem discovered in the genizah it is known that Manasseh supported the Palestinian geonim and the exilarchs.