One of the most ancient and prominent Jewish families of Toledo. The oldest member known is Joseph Na?mias, son-in-law of Joshua ben Isaac ibn Saidum, who was living in 1112. In 1211 another of the same name is met with in the same city. In 1231 Abu al-?ajjaj Joseph ben Isaac ibn Na?mias was a scribe of Arabic codices; and in the latter part of the same century lived Todros ibn Na?mias, whose daughter was famed for her many excellent qualities.
The best-known of this family is Joseph ben Joseph (Jose) Na?mias of Toledo, pupil of Rabbi Asher ben Jehiel. Between 1330 and 1350 he wrote the following works: an astronomical work in Arabic, still in manuscript, and entitled "Nur al'Alam" (Light of the World), which was translated by an anonymous scholar of the fourteenth century into Hebrew; a commentary on the Pentateuch; a commentary on Pir?e Abot; a commentary on Proverbs. He may be identical with Joseph b. Abraham ibn Na?mias, mentioned below; he was a contemporary of Joseph ben Joseph ibn Na?mias, who also lived at Toledo, was a colleague of Judah and Jacob ben Asher, and wrote a commentary on Esther in 1326 or 1327.
Other members of the family are David ben Joseph Na?mias, who, together with his three sons, died during the plague in Toledo (Tammuz, 1349); Moses Na?mias, the colleague of R. Judah ben Asher, and whose son Judah also died of the plague at the age of twenty-seven (1350); and Joseph ben Abraham Na?mias, who transliterated into Hebrew part of the commentary, written in Arabic characters, of Solomon ibn Ya'ish on Avicenna's "Canon."
In places other than Toledo lived the following members of the family (given in chronological order):
Isaac Na?mias: Judge in Cordova, and later rabbi of Fez (c. 1420).
Abraham b. Joseph ibn Na?mias: Translator; lived about 1490 at Oca�a, Castile. Na?mias studied philosophy and advised his coreligionists to learn it from the Christians. Of his Hebrew translation of Thomas Aquinas' commentaries on Aristotle's "Metaphysics" only the preface has been published ("Kerem ?emed," 8:110 et seq.). Albertus Magnus' sketch of physical philosophy, "?i??ur ha-Filosofia ha-?ib'it," was translated into Hebrew not by Na?mias, as Zunz assumes and F�rst asserts, but by his contemporary Abraham Shalom b. Isaac of Catalonia.
David Na?mias (d. 1511) and his son Samuel (d. c. 1522), who in 1505 established a Hebrew printing-office in Constantinople.
Abraham Na?mias: Talmudist, died as a martyr (c. 1529). He, as well as Jacob ibn Na?mias, is quoted by Jacob Berah and by Joseph Caro.
Abraham ibn Na?mias: Physician; born in Lisbon; lived in Constantinople about 1530. He was the author of the medical works known as "Sifre Refu'ah," two of which, respectively, on the method of treating hematemesis and on the use of cold water in inflammatory fevers, were translated from Hebrew into Latin (Venice, 1591, 1604). Another medical work, still in manuscript, has been ascribed to him, but the authorship is doubtful.
A third Abraham ibn Na?mias lived about 1600 in Salonica, being a contemporary of Aaron Shulam; while a fourth Abraham ibn Na?mias, famous for his piety, was a pupil of Abraham Motal, and lived about 1640 at Constantinople, in which city he died.
Isaac Na?mias: Burned at the stake in Ancona in 1556.
David Na?mias, lived in Salonica (mentioned by ?ayyim Shabbethai in "Torat ?ayyim," Salonica, 1715), and Eliezer ben Hadriel Na?mias in Constantinople; both of them prominent rabbis in 1573.
Isaac Na?mias and his son David, who were prosperous merchants in Salonica in 1611. The father is perhaps identical with Isaac ben David, praised for his bounty by Lonzano ("Shete Yadot").
Joseph ibn Na?mias: Lived in 1625. Leon of Modena dedicated to him his "'En Ya'a?ob."
Immanuel Na?mias: Poet; was born in Amsterdam in 1632.
Between 1630 and 1660 lived Abraham, Israel, and Jacob Na?mias (the last-named was perhaps Delmedigo's teacher in Cabala in Constantinople); Levi Na?mias (of Sidon?) in Hebron; and David Na?mias (of Salonica) in Jerusalem (c. 1652).
Solomon ben Moses ibn Na?mias: Judge in Monastir in 1643.
Samuel ben David ibn Na?mias: Born in Salonica; went to Venice, where, together with his son David and his brother Joseph, he turned Catholic (1649), and became known as "Giulio Morosino." He was made librarian of the Vatican and, later, lecturer in the College de Propaganda Fide. He was the author of the voluminous work (3 vols., containing 103 chapters and 1,453 pages) "Derek Emunah: Via Della Fede Demonstrata" (Rome, 1683), attacking the Jews.
The latest members of the Na?mias family met with are Samuel Na?mias of Ipsala; R. Joseph Na?mias of Rhodes (1660), and the latter's son, who was living in 1695.