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Sura (city)
Sura ( syr, ܫܘܪܐ) was a city in the southern part of the area called by ancient Jewish sources Babylonia, located east of the Euphrates. It was well-known for its agricultural produce, which included grapes, wheat, and barley. It was also a major center of Torah scholarship and home of an important yeshiva - the Sura Academy - which, together with the yeshivas in Pumbedita and Nehardea, gave rise to the Babylonian Talmud. Location According to Sherira Gaon, Sura ( arc, סורא) was identical to the town of Mata Mehasya, which is also mentioned in the Talmud, but Mata Mehasya is cited in the Talmud many times, either as a nearby town or a suburb of Sura, and the Talmudist academy in Mata Mehasya served as a branch of Sura Academy, which was founded by Abba Arikha in the third century. A contemporary Syriac source describes it as a town completely inhabited by Jews, situated between Māḥōzē and al-Hirah in the Sawad. A responsum of Natronai ben Hilai says that Sura wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flag Of Iraq
The flag of Iraq ( ar, علم العراق Kurdish languages: الله اكبر) includes the three equal horizontal red, white, and black stripes of the Pan-Arab colors, Arab Liberation flag, with the phrase "Allahu Akbar, God is the greatest" in Arabic written in Kufic, Kufic script in the center''.'' This basic tricolor has been in use since its adoption on 31 July 1963, with several changes to the green symbols in the central white stripes; the most recent version adopted on 22 January 2008 bears the ''takbīr'' rendered in dark green and removes the three green stars present since 1963. The northern autonomous provinces of Kurdistan Region emerged as an autonomous entity inside Iraq with its own local government and parliament. The Kurdistan Regional Government uses a separate flag known as the flag of Kurdistan which was adopted in 1992. Color scheme Valid for Iraqi flags 1963–present History 1921–1959 The first flag of modern Iraq was in Mandatory Iraq, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abba Arikha
Abba Arikha (175–247 CE; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: ; born: ''Rav Abba bar Aybo'', ), commonly known as Rav (), was a Jewish amora of the 3rd century. He was born and lived in Kafri, Asoristan, in the Sasanian Empire. Abba Arikha established at Sura the systematic study of the rabbinic traditions, which, using the Mishnah as text, led to the compilation of the Talmud. With him began the long period of ascendancy of the great Talmudic Academies in Babylonia around the year 220. In the Talmud, he is frequently associated with Samuel of Nehardea, with whom he debated many issues. Biography His surname, Arikha (English: ''the Tall''), he owed to his height, which exceeded that of his contemporaries. Others, reading Arekha, consider it an honorary title, "Lecturer". In the traditional literature he is referred to almost exclusively as Rav, "the Master", (both his contemporaries and posterity recognizing in him a master), just as his teacher, Judah HaNasi, was known simply as ''R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fallujah
Fallujah ( ar, ٱلْفَلُّوجَة, al-Fallūjah, Iraqi pronunciation: ) is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jewish academies for many centuries. The city grew from a small town in 1947 to having a population of 275,128 inhabitants in 2011. Within Iraq, it is known as the "city of mosques" for the more than 200 mosques found in the city and the surrounding villages. The city became a major center of resistance against the Iraqi government during the Iraqi insurgency and the city was the scene of fierce fighting during the First and Second Battles of Fallujah. These battles left much of the city heavily damaged. In January 2014, the city was captured by the Islamic State and suffered major population loss. On 23 May 2016, Iraqi forces announced the beginning of their attempt to retake Fallujah from IS. On 26 June 2016 the city was declared fully l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pumbedita Academy
Pumbedita Academy or Pumbedita Yeshiva ( he, ישיבת פומבדיתא; sometimes ''Pumbeditha'', ''Pumpedita'', ''Pumbedisa'') was a yeshiva in Babylon during the era of the Amoraim and Geonim sages. It was founded by Judah bar Ezekiel (220–299 CE) and, with the Sura Academy founded in 225 by Abba Arika, was an influential and dominant yeshiva for about 800 years. History After Abba Arikha and Samuel of Nehardea died at the end of the first generation of the Amoraim, along with the designation of Rav Huna as dean Sura, Judah bar Ezekiel went to the city of Pumbedita and had established a new yeshiva there. Pumbedita Academy was active for about 800 years over the course of the eras of the Amoraim, Savoraim, and Geonim up until the days of Hai Gaon. At the time, the academies of Pumbedita and Sura became the most influential and dominant yeshivas of the Jewish communities' world, and all Torah decrees and other religious rulings were issued from these Yeshivas to all the Je ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nehardea Academy
Nehardea Academy (Hebrew: ישיבת נהרדעא; Previously also named: Beth Hamidrash/The College /The House of Study Aramic: ''בי מדרשא'' ">Aramic.html" ;"title="Aramic">Aramic: ''בי מדרשא'' or The Boundary Aramic: ''תחומא'']) was one of the major rabbinical academies in Babylon, active intermittently from the early Amoraim period and until the end of the Geonim period. It was established by the Amoraim, Amora Samuel of Nehardea, one of the great sages of Babylon. History Samuel founded the academy at Nehardea, which in time attracted thousands of students. Along with Sura Academy founded by Abba Arika ("Rav"), it opened a new era in which Babylon became the center of Judaism. After Rav's death, many students from Sura moved to Nehardea. Despite the fact that Rav Kahana III's Pum-Nahara Academy was subordinated to Sura Academy, from the time Rav died the heads of the Nehardea Academy came to visit Rav Kahana in Pum-Nahara with the intention of strengt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rava (amora)
Abba ben Joseph bar Ḥama (c. 280 – 352 CE), who is exclusively referred to in the Talmud by the name Rava (), was a Babylonian rabbi who belonged to the fourth generation of amoraim. He is known for his debates with Abaye, and is one of the most often cited rabbis in the Talmud. Biography He was born about 280 CE in Mahoza (a suburb of Ctesiphon, the capital of Persia), where his father was a wealthy and distinguished scholar. In his youth Rava went to Sura, where he attended the lectures of Rav Chisda and associated with Rami bar Hama. About ten years after Rami's death Rava married his widow, the daughter of Rav Chisda. It is said that earlier Rav Chisda's daughter sat in her father's classroom, while his students, Rava and Rami bar Hama, stand before them. When Rav Chisda asked her which of the two she wants to marry, she replied "both of them," and Rava added, "I'll be the last one" (commentators let us know that she indeed married Rami first and Rava second). They had fiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anbar (town)
Anbar ( ar, الأنبار, al-Anbār, syr, ܐܢܒܐܪ, Anbar,) also known by its original ancient name, Peroz-Shapur, was an ancient and medieval town in central Iraq. It played a role in the Roman–Persian Wars of the 3rd–4th centuries, and briefly became the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate before the founding of Baghdad in 762. It remained a moderately prosperous town through the 10th century, but quickly declined thereafter. As a local administrative centre, it survived until the 14th century, but was later abandoned. Its ruins are near modern Fallujah. The city gives its name to the Al-Anbar Governorate. History Origins The city is located on the left bank of the Middle Euphrates, at the junction with the Nahr Isa canal, the first of the navigable canals that link the Euphrates to the River Tigris to the east. The origins of the city are unknown, but ancient, perhaps dating to the Babylonian era and even earlier: the local artificial mound of Tell Aswad dates ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of The Jews In Iraq
The history of the Jews in Iraq ( he, יְהוּדִים בָּבְלִים, ', ; ar, اليهود العراقيون, ) is documented from the time of the Babylonian captivity c. 586 BC. Iraqi Jews constitute one of the world's oldest and most historically significant Jewish communities. The Jewish community of what is termed in Jewish sources "Babylon" or "Babylonia" included Ezra the scribe, whose return to Judea in the late 6th century BCE is associated with significant changes in Jewish ritual observance and the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Babylonian Talmud was compiled in "Babylonia", identified with modern Iraq. From the biblical Babylonian period to the rise of the Islamic caliphate, the Jewish community of "Babylon" thrived as the center of Jewish learning. The Mongol invasion and Islamic discrimination in the Middle Ages led to its decline. Under the Ottoman Empire, the Jews of Iraq fared better. The community established modern schools in the second ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chosroes I
Khosrow I (also spelled Khosrau, Khusro or Chosroes; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩; New Persian: []), traditionally known by his epithet of Anushirvan ( [] "the Immortal Soul"), was the Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 531 to 579. He was the son and successor of Kavad I (). Inheriting a reinvigorated empire at war with the Byzantines, Khosrow I made a peace treaty with them in 532, known as the Perpetual Peace, in which the Byzantine emperor Justinian I paid 11,000 pounds of gold to the Sasanians. Khosrow then focused on consolidating his power, executing conspirators, including his uncle Bawi. Dissatisfied with the actions of the Byzantine clients and vassals, the Ghassanids, and encouraged by the Ostrogoth envoys from Italy, Khosrow violated the peace treaty and declared war against the Byzantines in 540. He sacked the city of Antioch, bathed in the Mediterranean Sea at Seleucia Pieria, and held chariot races at Apamea where he made the Blue Faction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belisarius
Belisarius (; el, Βελισάριος; The exact date of his birth is unknown. – 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under the emperor Justinian I. He was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean territory belonging to the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost less than a century prior. One of the defining features of Belisarius' career was his success despite varying levels of available resources. His name is frequently given as one of the so-called "Last of the Romans". He conquered the Vandal Kingdom of North Africa in the Vandalic War in nine months and conquered much of Italy during the Gothic War. He also defeated the Vandal armies in the battle of Ad Decimum and played an important role at Tricamarum, compelling the Vandal king, Gelimer, to surrender. During the Gothic War, despite being significantly outnumbered, he and his troops recaptured the city of Rome and then held out against great odds during the siege ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natronai Ben Hilai
Natronai Ben Hilai (Hebrew: נטרונאי בן הלאי or Natronai Gaon, Hebrew: נטרונאי גאון; Full name: Natronai ben R. Hilai ben R. Mari) was Gaon of the Sura Academy early in the second half of the 9th century, and held this post for ten years. He is responsible for more written responsa to queries posed to him by world Jewry than any of his predecessors, and maintained close contact with the Spanish Jewish community. Responsa Although Naṭronai was of advanced age when he entered on the office, and although his official term embraced less than a decade, an unusually large number of responsa were issued by him. Questions were addressed to him from all parts of the Jewish Diaspora; and his answers, about 300 of which have been preserved in various compilations (e.g., in ''Sha'are Ẓedeḳ,'' ''Teshubot ha-Ge'onim,'' and ''Ḳebuẓat ha-Ḥakamim'', Tshuvot Rav Natrunai Gaon, Jerusalem 5771, edited by Y. Brody), show his thorough mastery of the subjects treated a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sawad
Sawad was the name used in early Islamic times (7th–12th centuries) for southern Iraq. It means "black land" or "arable land" and refers to the stark contrast between the alluvial plain of Mesopotamia and the Arabian Desert. Under the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates, it was an official political term for a province encompassing most of modern Iraq except for the Syrian Desert and Upper Mesopotamia in the north. As a generic term in Arabic, ''sawād'' () was used to denote the irrigated and cultivated areas in any district. Unmodified, it always referred to southern Iraq, the ''sawād'' of Baghdad. It replaced the earlier and more narrow term Rādhān. The term ''sawad'' eventually came to refer to the rural district around a particular city; thus, contemporary geographers made references to the Sawad of Baghdad, of Basra, of Kufa, of Wasit, of Samarra, or of Anbar. This usage was exclusive to Iraq. Geography The enormous economic potential of the Sawad is reflected in earl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
