JOSIAH BEN SAUL BEN ANAN (late eighth to ninth century), Karaite authority, presumed grandson of *Anan b. David, the titular founder of the sect, and son of *Saul b. Anan. His writings have not been preserved. Judah *Hadassi (in Eshkol ha-Kofer, 258, letter ק) refers to Josiah as a "shining light of knowledge" and reports that he ruled that, in the case of inheritance, the brothers of the deceased should have an equal share with the dead man's sons. *Elijah b. Abraham, author of Ḥilluk ha-Kara'im ve-ha-Rabbanim, mentions him as "Josiah, crown of the Torah"; *Aaron b. Elijah (Gan Eden, 144b) and Elijah *Bashyazi (Adderet Eliyahu, 80b) refer to him as "Prince Josiah" and quote his opinion on the preconditions necessary for entrance into matrimony. Only in the genealogical tables and the "chain of tradition" of the later Karaite authors is Josiah mentioned definitely as a grandson of Anan.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Markon, in: Jeschurun, 14 (1927), 25ff.; Mann, Texts, 2 (1935), 128–30.

Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.

Josiah ben Saul ben Anan