Babylonian and Greco Roman Diasporas

Roman Judean Times
By September 13, 2016 Read More →

Roman Judean Times

The Roman Judean period was a period of ultimate crisis for the Jews. There’s been no period like this first century after the Temple was destroyed. Prof. Steven Fine, Yeshiva University, Produced by Down Low Pictures for COJS

Jews in Ancient Rome
By September 12, 2016 Read More →

Jews in Ancient Rome

We don’t know a lot about what the Jews were like in ancient Rome in the second century BCE, when Jews and Romans had a mutual enemy known as the Seleucid Greeks. Prof. Steven Fine, Yeshiva University, Produced by Down Low Pictures for COJS

Mishnah Yevamot 16-7- The Tannaitic Tradition  in Babylonia
By March 23, 2016 Read More →

Mishnah Yevamot 16-7- The Tannaitic Tradition in Babylonia

Rabbi Akiva met a tanna in Babylonia, Nehemiah of Bet Deli, who had been a student of Rabban Gamliel I in the Land of Israel. He was still able to transmit traditions from his teacher that were not known in the Land of Israel. Rabbi Akiva said, “When I went down to Nehardea (133) to […]

Mask of Shapur II
By March 15, 2016 Read More →

Mask of Shapur II

A mask of the Sassanian king Shapur II ruled 241-272 CE, known in rabbinic sources as “Shapur Malka.”

Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 32b – The Great Tannaitic Sages
By March 6, 2016 Read More →

Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 32b – The Great Tannaitic Sages

Later traditions recognized the importance of Rabbi Judah ben Bathyra I’s teachings in Babylonia as can be seen from his presence in this list with the great figures of tannaitic tradition and their centers of learning. “Righteousness, righteousness, pursue!” (Deut. 16:20) Go after the sages to the academy, after Rabbi Eliezer to Lud, after Rabbi […]

Jerusalem Talmud Yevamot 12-1 (12c)- The Tannaitic Movement in Babylonia
By March 6, 2016 Read More →

Jerusalem Talmud Yevamot 12-1 (12c)- The Tannaitic Movement in Babylonia

Already in the tannaitic period, Rabbinic sages were to be found in Babylonia. Most prominent among them was Rabbi Judah ben Bathyra I (mid-first century C.E.) settled in Nisibis before the destruction of the Temple. Rabbi Yose said, “Once I visited Nisibis, (128) and I saw an old man there, and I said to him, […]

Rock Relief Portraying the Sassanian King Shapur II
By March 2, 2016 Read More →

Rock Relief Portraying the Sassanian King Shapur II

King Shaµpuµr receives tribute from the Roman emperors Valerian (253–260), who bows before him, and Philip the Arab (244–249), who stands in the background, offering his arms to the mounted king. Shaµpuµr, who called himself “King of Kings of Iran and Non-Iran,” ruled over the Persian Sassanian empire from 241–272. The rapid spread of Manichaeism […]

Wall painting by Pompeii
By November 18, 2015 Read More →

Wall painting by Pompeii

Wall painting of a procession of a guild of carpenters, Pompeii. Procession through the streets of Pompeii that is illustrated in a preserved wall painting that decorates a carpentry shop in Pompeii.

Hagia Sophia
By November 17, 2015 Read More →

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia is the supreme masterpiece of Byzantine architecture. Hagia Sophia is a former Christian patriarchal basilica, later an imperial mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Neo-Babylonian Empire, 585 BCE
By October 23, 2008 0 Comments Read More →

The Neo-Babylonian Empire, 585 BCE

Werner Keller. The Bible as History. Bantam Books. New York. 1982. p.310.