ABD AL-MĀLIK IBN MĀRWAN°

ABD AL-MĀLIK IBN MĀRWAN° (ruled 685–705), umayyad caliph who restored the unity of the young Arab Empire after years of civil wars. ʿAbd al-Mālik built the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqṣā Mosque in the Temple area in Jerusalem. The building of the Dome was an act of propaganda for the Muslim faith, partly directed against the still strong Christian community, as is proved by the inscriptions inside the Dome. The restoration of the Temple site to a state of splendor impressed mystically inclined Jewish circles. There is no information about the general situation of the Jews under ʿAbd al-Mālik's rule. According to the majority of sources the armed rising of the Jewish pseudo-messiah Abū ʿIsā of Isfahan was suppressed during his reign. The Jew Sumayr was master of the mint in Iraq during the monetary reforms of ʿAbd al-Mālik. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: S.D. Goitein, Studies in Islamic History and Institutions (1966), 135–48; idem, in: Zion, 1 (1935), 80–81; Hirschberg, in: Rocznik Orientalistyczny, 17 (1951–52), 314–50. ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: EIS2, 1 (1960), 70–71, bibl. (Shelomo Dov Goitein) ABDON ABDON (Heb. עַבְדּוֹן), a name occurring in the Bible in several different contexts. (1) Abdon the son of Hillel, a minor judge, who came from a town in Ephraim, possibly to be identified with the village Faraʿata southwest of Shechem (Judg. 12:13–15). He "judged" Israel for eight years. The Bible states that "he had 40 sons and 30 grandsons, making 70 descendants who rode on 70 donkeys." This statement may be intended to indicate that Abdon and his descendants had widespread influence and wealth. (2) Abdon the son of Micah (II Chron. 34:20), probably corrupt for achbor the son of Micaiah (II Kings 22:12–14). (3) A Benjamite family (I Chron. 8:12, 30; 9:36). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Y. Kaufmann, Sefer Shofetim (1962), 234; M.Z. Segal, Sifrei Shemu'el (1964), 88; Noth, Personennamen, index; Hertzberg, in: Theologische Literaturzeitung, 79 (1954).