Nehar Peḳod (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: נהר פקוד) was a Babylonian Jewish community in the town of

Nehardea Nehardea or Nehardeah ( arc, נהרדעא, ''nəhardəʿā'' "river of knowledge") was a city from the area called by ancient Jewish sources Babylonia, situated at or near the junction of the Euphrates with the Nahr Malka (the Royal Canal), one ...

. Nehar Pekod was popularized as a center of learning by Rav Hananiah, leading to thousands of

Judeans Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous sou ...

settling in the town after the

Bar Kokhba Revolt The Bar Kokhba revolt ( he, , links=yes, ''Mereḏ Bar Kōḵḇāʾ‎''), or the 'Jewish Expedition' as the Romans named it ( la, Expeditio Judaica), was a rebellion by the Jews of the Judea (Roman province), Roman province of Judea, led b ...

. Rav Hananiah even tried to establish a

bet midrash A ''beth midrash'' ( he, בית מדרש, or ''beis medrash'', ''beit midrash'', pl. ''batei midrash'' "House of Learning") is a hall dedicated for Torah study, often translated as a "study hall." It is distinct from a synagogue (''beth kness ...

and a

Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Aramaic: סַנְהֶדְרִין; Greek: , ''synedrion'', 'sitting together,' hence 'assembly' or 'council') was an assembly of either 23 or 71 elders (known as "rabbis" after the destruction of the Second Temple), ap ...

with the authority to manage and change the

Jewish calendar The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel. I ...

. However, Jewish authorities back in Judea immediately intervened, denouncing the authority of the community. Rav Hananiah died and was buried in Nehar Pekod. The community experienced another era of prominence during the

Geonic period ''Geonim'' ( he, גאונים; ; also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated Gaonim, singular Gaon) were the presidents of the two great Talmudic Academies in Babylonia, Babylonian Talmudic Academies of Sura Academy , Sura and Pumbedita Academy ...

when tens of thousands of

Surian Surian ( fa, سوریان, also Romanized as Suriān); formerly, Bavanat (Persian: بوانات, also Romanized as Bavānāt and Bawānāt) is a city and capital of Bavanat County, Fars Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 9,645 ...

Jews came to Nehar Pekod to learn. Several notable Sura Gaons were either educated or born in Nehar Pekod, including: *

Hanina of Nehar Pekkod Rav Hanina (or Hananiah, sometimes spelled: Hananyah; he, רב חנינא or ) was second and third generation Amora Sage of the Land of Israel. Biography He was a student of Rabbi Yannai and R. Yochanan bar Nafcha. He was the scion of a f ...

, Sura Gaon from 689 to 694. *

Jacob of Nehar Pekod Jacob HaKohen of Nehar Peḳkod (Hebrew: רבי יעקב הכהן מנהר פקוד ) was the Gaon of Sura from 712-730. Born in the late 7th century, Jacob was one of several community members who settled in Nehar Pekod Nehar Peḳod (Hebrew: � ...

, Sura Gaon from 712 to 730. *

Mari ha-Kohen of Nehar Pekod Mari may refer to: Places *Mari, Paraíba, Brazil, a city * Mari, Cyprus, a village *Mari, Greece, a village, site of ancient town of Marius * Mari, Iran (disambiguation), places in Iran * Mari, Punjab, a village and a union council in Pakistan ...

, Sura Gaon from 748 to 756. * Bebai ha-Levi ben R. Abba of Nehar Pekod, Sura Gaon from 778 to 789. By the 9th century, most of the community had immigrated back to Sura.

References

Jewish communities Talmud places Jewish Babylonian history Babylonian cities {{Jewish-hist-stub