Dunash

Dunash, the name of two Jewish scholars of the 10th century.

1. Dunash Ben Labraṭ, grammarian and poet, belonged to the brilliant circle attracted to Cordova by Ḥasdai, and took a large share in promoting the Jewish “Golden Age” under the Moors in Andalusia. Dunash not only helped in the foundation of a school of scientific philology, but adapted Arabian metres to Hebrew verse, and thereby gave an impulse to the neo-Hebraic poetry, which reached its highest level in Spain.

2. Dunash Ibn Tamim was, like the preceding, a leader in the critical study of language among Arabic-speaking Jews. Professor Bacher says of him: “In the history of Hebrew philology, Ibn Tamim ranks as one of the first representatives of the systematic comparison of Hebrew and Arabic.” The philological researches of the 10th century were closely associated with the Spanish-Moorish culture of the period.