Moses, a celebrated rabbi, called by the Jews the Eagle of the Doctors, was descended of an illustrious family at Cordova in Spain in 1131. The early part of his education was undertaken by his father, who afterwards placed him under the tuition of Rabbi Joseph, the son of Megas, a person on whose profound learning he has bestowed the highest praise; and, according to Leo Africanus, he had also amongst his tutors the learned Arabians Ibn Thophail and Averroes. He is commonly named Moses Egyptianus, because he settled in Egypt, where he spent his whole life in quality of physician to the sultan. Here he opened a school, which was soon filled with pupils from all parts, especially from Alexandria and Damascus, and their proficiency under his tuition spread his fame all over the world. He was no less eminent in philosophy, mathematics, and divinity, than in medicine. Casaubon affirms of him, as Pliny said of Diodorus Siculus, that he was the first of his tribe who ceased to be a trifler. It would be tedious to enumerate all the works of Maimonides; some of them were originally written in Arabic, but are now extant only in Hebrew translations. Those who desire to learn the doctrine and the canon law contained in the Talmud, may read Maimonides's compendium of that collection, entitled Yad, written in good Hebrew; and in which they will find great part of the fables and absurdities in the Talmud entirely discarded. But the More Nevochim is the most valued of all his works, being designed to explain the obscure words, phrases, metaphors, and allusions in Scripture, which, when literally interpreted, have no meaning, or appear to have an absurd one. Besides the Yad and the More Nevochim, he wrote Perushim, or Commentaries on the Misna, and a great many tracts upon theology, philosophy, logic, and medicine, some of them in Arabic, and others in Chaldaic or in Greek.