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Iraqi Jews
The history of the Jews in Iraq (, ', ; , ) is documented from the time of the Babylonian captivity . Iraqi Jews constitute one of the world's oldest and most historically significant Jewish communities. The Jewish community in Mesopotamia, known in Jewish sources as "Babylonia", traces its origins to the early sixth century BCE, when a large number of Judeans from the defeated Kingdom of Judah were exiled to Babylon in several waves by the Neo-Babylonian Empire. A few decades later, some had returned to Judah, following the edict of Cyrus. During this time, the Temple in Jerusalem was rebuilt, significant changes in Jewish religious tradition were made, and the Judeans were led by individuals who had returned from Babylonia, such as Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah. Though not much is known about the community in Babylonia during the Second Temple and Mishnaic periods, scholars believe the community was still thriving at that time. The Jewish community of Babylonia rose to prom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sassoon Eskell
Sir Sassoon Eskell, Order of the British Empire, KBE (; ; 17 March 1860 – 31 August 1932), also known as Sassoon Effendi was an Iraqi statesman, politician and financier. He is regarded in Iraq as the Father of Parliament. Eskell was the first Ministry of Finance (Iraq), Minister of Finance in the Kingdom and a permanent Member of Parliament until his death. Along with Gertrude Bell and T. E. Lawrence, he was instrumental in creating and establishing the Kingdom of Iraq post-Ottoman Empire, Ottoman rule, and he founded the nascent Iraqi government's laws and financial structure. Eskell was one of the most prominent Jews in Iraq. He was knighted by King George V in 1923. King Faisal I conferred on him the Civil Rafidain Medal Grade II, the Shahinshah awarded him the Order of the Lion and the Sun, Shir-o-khorshi medal and the Ottoman Empire decorated him with the Al-Moutamayez Medal. Early life Scion of an ancient, distinguished and aristocratic Jewish family of great affluence ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of the modern Middle East. Just beyond it lies southwestern Iran, where the region transitions into the Iranian plateau, Persian plateau, marking the shift from the Arab world to Iran. In the broader sense, the historical region of Mesopotamia also includes parts of present-day Iran (southwest), Turkey (southeast), Syria (northeast), and Kuwait. Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. It has been identified as having "inspired some of the most important developments in human history, including the invention of the wheel, the planting of the first cereal crops, the development of cursive script, mathematics, astronomy, and agriculture". It is recognised as the cradle of some of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talmudic Academies In Babylonia
The Talmudic academies in Babylonia, also known as the Geonic academies, were the center for Jewish scholarship and the development of Halakha during the Geonic era (from c. 589 to 1038 CE; Hebrew dates: 4349 AM to 4798 AM) in what is called "Babylonia" in Jewish sources. This term is neither geopolitically, nor geographically identical with the ancient empires of Babylonia, since the Jewish focus of interest has to do with the Jewish religious academies, which were mainly situated in an area between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates and primarily between Pumbedita (modern Fallujah, a town west of Baghdad), and Sura, a town farther south down the Euphrates. At the time this area was part of the region known as Asōristān (under the Sasanian Empire) or Iraq (under the Muslim caliphate until the 11th century). The key work of these academies was the compilation of the Babylonian Talmud, started by Rav Ashi and Ravina, two leaders of the Babylonian Jewish community, around t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Land Of Israel
The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definitions of the limits of this territory vary between passages in the Hebrew Bible, with specific mentions in , , and . Nine times elsewhere in the Bible, the settled land is referred as " from Dan to Beersheba", and three times it is referred as "from the entrance of Hamath unto the brook of Egypt" (, and ). These biblical limits for the land differ from the borders of established historical Israelite and later Jewish kingdoms, including the United Kingdom of Israel, the two kingdoms of Israel (Samaria) and Judah, the Hasmonean kingdom, and the Herodian kingdom. At their heights, these realms ruled lands with similar but not identical boundaries. Jewish religious belief defines the land as where Jewish religious law prevailed and ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tannaim
''Tannaim'' ( Amoraic Hebrew: תנאים "repeaters", "teachers", singular ''tanna'' , borrowed from Aramaic) were the rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 10–220 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 210 years. It came after the period of the Zugot "Pairs" and was immediately followed by the period of the Amoraim "Interpreters". The root ''tanna'' () is the Aramaic equivalent of the Hebrew root ''shanah'' (), which also is the root word of ''Mishnah''. The verb ''shanah'' means "to repeat hat one was taught and is used to mean "to learn". The Mishnaic period is commonly divided into five periods according to generations. There are approximately 120 known Tannaim. The Tannaim lived in several areas of the Land of Israel. The spiritual center of Judaism at that time was Jerusalem, but after the destruction of the city and the Second Temple, Yohanan ben Zakkai and his students founded a n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Temple Period
The Second Temple period or post-exilic period in Jewish history denotes the approximately 600 years (516 BCE – 70 CE) during which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and ended with the First Jewish–Roman War and the Roman siege of Jerusalem. In 587/586 BCE, the Neo-Babylonian Empire conquered the Kingdom of Judah; the Judeans lost their independence upon the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, during which the First Temple was destroyed. After the Babylonians annexed Judah as a province, part of the subjugated populace was exiled to Babylon. This exilic period lasted for nearly five decades, ending after the Neo-Babylonian Empire itself was conquered by the Achaemenid Persian Empire, which annexed Babylonian territorial possessions after the fall of Babylon. Soon after the conquest, Persian king Cyrus the Great issued a proclamation known as the Edict of Cyrus, encoura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nehemiah
Nehemiah (; ''Nəḥemyā'', "Yahweh, Yah comforts") is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding Jerusalem during the Second Temple period as the governor of Yehud Medinata, Persian Judea under Artaxerxes I of Persia (465–424 BC). The historicity of Nehemiah, his mission, and the Nehemiah Memoir have recently become very controversial in academic scholarship, with maximalists viewing it as a historical account and minimalists doubting whether Nehemiah existed. He is considered a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, where he is commemorated on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers. Book of Nehemiah narrative In the 20th year of Artaxerxes I of Persia, Artaxerxes I (445 or 444 BC), Nehemiah was Cup-bearer, cup-bearer to the king. Learning that the remnant of Jews in Judah were in distress and that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down, he asked the king for permission to return and rebuild the city, around 13 years after Ezra's arriv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ezra
Ezra ( fl. fifth or fourth century BCE) is the main character of the Book of Ezra. According to the Hebrew Bible, he was an important Jewish scribe (''sofer'') and priest (''kohen'') in the early Second Temple period. In the Greek Septuagint, the name is rendered as ' (), from which the Latin name Esdras comes. His name is probably a shortened Aramaic translation of the Hebrew name ('), meaning " Yah helps". In the Hebrew Bible, or the Christian Old Testament, Ezra is an important figure in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, which he is traditionally held to have written and edited, respectively. According to tradition, Ezra was also the author of the Books of Chronicles and the Book of Malachi. He is depicted as instrumental in restoring the Jewish scriptures and religion to the people after the return from the Babylonian Captivity and is a highly respected figure in Judaism. He is regarded as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, which sets his feast day as July 13, the same ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zerubbabel
Zerubbabel ( from ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a governor of the Achaemenid Empire's province of Yehud Medinata and the grandson of Jeconiah, penultimate king of Judah. He is not documented in extra-biblical documents, and is considered by Sarah Schulz of the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg as historically plausible, but probably not an actual governor of the province, much like Nehemiah. In the biblical narrative, Zerubbabel led the first group of Jews, numbering 42,360, who returned from the Babylonian captivity in the first year of Cyrus the Great, the king of the Achaemenid Empire.' The date is generally thought to have been between 538 and 520 BC. Zerubbabel also laid the foundation of the Second Temple in Jerusalem soon after. In the New Testament he is included in the genealogy of Jesus. Etymology Zerubbabel means ''seed of Babylon'', showing how quickly the elites integrated into the Babylonian social structure. Story In all of the accounts in the Hebrew ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Temple
The Second Temple () was the Temple in Jerusalem that replaced Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC), Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. It was constructed around 516 BCE and later enhanced by Herod the Great around 18 BCE, consequently also being known as Herod's Temple thereafter. Defining the Second Temple period and standing as a pivotal symbol of Jewish identity, it was the basis and namesake of Second Temple Judaism. The Second Temple served as the chief place of worship, ritual sacrifice (''korban''), and communal gathering for the Jewish people, among whom it regularly attracted pilgrims for the Three Pilgrimage Festivals: Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot. In 539 BCE, the Fall of Babylon, Persian conquest of Babylon enabled the Achaemenid Empire to expand across the Fertile Crescent by annexing the Neo-Babylonian Empire, including the territory of the former Kingdom of Judah, which had been annexed as the Yehud (Babylonian provi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temple In Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. According to the Hebrew Bible, the Solomon's Temple, First Temple was built in the 10th century BCE, during the reign of Solomon over the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), United Kingdom of Israel. It stood until , when it was destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC), Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. Almost a century later, the First Temple was replaced by the Second Temple, which was built after the Neo-Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid Persian Empire. While the Second Temple stood for a longer period of time than the First Temple, it was likewise destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE), Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Projects to build the hypothetical "Third Temple" have not come to fruit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edict Of Cyrus
The Edict of Cyrus usually refers to the biblical account of a proclamation by Cyrus the Great, the founding king of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, in 539 BC. It was issued after the Persians conquered the Neo-Babylonian Empire upon the fall of Babylon, and is described in the Tanakh, which claims that it authorized and encouraged the return to Zion and the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem (i.e., the Second Temple). The Cyrus Cylinder text has also been called the "Edict of Cyrus", but this text is now considered to support the biblical account only in a very general sense. Biblical narrative The edict of Cyrus appears in chapter 36 of the Second Book of Chronicles in the Hebrew Bible: Ezra 1:1–4 reads: 1 Esdras 2:1-7 reads: The Book of Ezra says that the people of Cutha, known in Hebrew as "Cuthim" and described as the "adversaries" of the returning exiles, requested to join in the construction of the Second Temple The Second Temple () was the Temple i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
