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
Babylonian and Greco Roman Diasporas
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Werner Keller. The Bible as History. Bantam Books. New York. 1982. p.310.