Source of "Prester John"
The influence of Eldad's narrative extended beyond Jewish circles. It was the source of the apocryphal letter of the so-called "Prester John," which appeared in the twelfth century. Intending to refute Eldad's assertion of the existence of independent Jewish states — an assertion contrary to the teaching of the Roman-Catholic Church— the Christian writer told of a priest who ruled over the great kingdom of Ethiopia, to which were subject some Jewish tribes, including the Bene Mosheh who dwelt beyond the River Sambation. However, many writers of the Middle Ages expressed doubts as to the genuineness of Eldad's narrative and his halakot, most explicitly Abraham ibn Ezra (Commentary to Exodus ii. 22) and Meïr of Rothenburg (Responsa, No. 193).
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