ZACUTO, ABRAHAM

The astronomer Abraham Zacuto (1452-c.1515) served at the court of Salamanca, and following the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, became court astronomer in the service of King John II of Portugal. Zacuto’s astrolabe, tables and maritime charts were instrumental in Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama’s 1496 voyage to India. Upon the expulsion of the Jews from Portugal in 1497, Zacuto took up residence in Tunis. There, he worked on his history, Sepher Yuchasin. Zacuto often differs with the findings of his predecessors, R. Sherira Gaon, Abraham ibn Daud Halevi (author Sepher ha-Kabbalah), and Maimonides. Though the work takes the reader from Adam to the author’s day, scholars have noted that the main contribution of the author is his original - and at times controversial - interpretation of several events during the Second Temple and Talmudic eras. See EJ, Vol. XVI, cols. 903-906. Seder Olam Zuta (“The Small Seder Olam”) - not to be confused with Seder Olam Rabbah (“The Great Seder Olam”), composed by the Mishnaic Tanna Yosé ben Chalafta - is an historical record that traces successive generations of Babylonian exilarchs from the year 166 (counting from the destruction of the Second Temple) until the year 452 when Mar Zutra migrated to the Land of Israel and became head of the Sanhedrin. There is much dissension among scholars when this invaluable chronicle was penned. See EJ, Vol. XIV, col. 1093