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Nehardea

Coordinates:33°22′43″N43°42′57″E/ 33.37861°N 43.71583°E/33.37861; 43.71583
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Nehardea
נהרדעא
Nehardea is located in Iraq
Nehardea
Nehardea
Nehardea's location inside Iraq
Coordinates:33°25′11″N43°18′45″E/ 33.41972°N 43.31250°E/33.41972; 43.31250
CountryIraq
GovernorateAl Anbar
Rabbinical eras

NehardeaorNehardeah(Imperial Aramaic:נהרדעא,romanized:nəhardəʿā"river of knowledge" ) was acityfrom the area called by ancient Jewish sourcesBabylonia,situated at or near the junction of theEuphrateswith theNahr Malka(the Royal Canal), one of the earliest and most prominent centers ofBabylonian Judaism.It hosted theNehardea Academy,one of the most prominentTalmudic academies in Babylonia,and was home to great scholars such asSamuel of Nehardea,Rav Nachman,andAmemar.

Location[edit]

Nehardea was adjacent or identical toAnbar,a short distance from the modern city ofFallujah(formerly the site ofPumbedita).[1]

History[edit]

Before the amoraic period[edit]

As the seat of theexilarch,Nehardea traced its origin back to KingJehoiachin.According toSherira Gaon,Jehoiachin and his coexilarchs built asynagogueat Nehardea, for the foundation of which they used earth and stones which they had brought (in accordance with the words ofPsalms102:15) fromJerusalem.[2]For this reason it was called 'The Synagogue that Slid and Settled' ( "Shaf we-Yatib" ) to which there are several references dating from the third and fourth centuries,[3]and whichAbayeasserts was the seat of theShekhinahin Babylonia.[4]

Thepriestlyportion of theJewishpopulation of Nehardea was said to be descended from the slaves ofPashur ben Immer,the contemporary of King Jehoiachin.[5]There are also other allusions in theTalmudcasting doubt upon thepurity of bloodof the Nehardean Jews.[5]

The fact thatHyrcanus II,thehigh priest,lived for a time in that city as a captive of theParthians[6]may explain the circumstance that as late as the third century certain of its inhabitants traced their descent back to theHasmoneans.The importance of the city during the last century of the existence of theSecond Templeappears from the following statement by Josephus:[7]

The city of Nehardea is thickly populated, and among other advantages possesses an extensive and fertile territory. Moreover, it is impregnable, as it is surrounded by the Euphrates and is strongly fortified.

Reference to the extent of the territory of Nehardea is made in the Talmud also.[8]In addition to the Euphrates,Nehar Malka(the King's Canal) formed one of the natural defenses of the city;[9]the ferry over the river (or perhaps over the canal) is likewise mentioned.[10]"Nehardea andNisibis,"says Josephus further (ib.)," were the treasuries of the Eastern Jews, for theTemple taxeswere kept there until the stated days for forwarding them to Jerusalem. "Nehardea was the native city of the two Jewish brothersAnilai and Asinai,who in the first third of the 1st century C.E. founded a semi-autonomous state on the Euphrates, under the Parthian government, and caused much trouble to theBabylonian Jewsbecause of their marauder-like escapades. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Nehardea is first mentioned in connection withRabbi Akiva's sojourn there.[11][12]From the post-Hadrianictannaiticperiod there is the anecdote referring to the debt whichAḥai ben Josiahhad to collect at Nehardea.[13]

Amoraic period[edit]

Further information:Nehardea Academy

Nehardea emerges clearly into the light of history at the end of thetannaiticperiod.Rav Shela's school was then prominent, and served to pave the way for the activity of the Babylonianacademies.Samuel of Nehardea(whose father,Abba ben Abba,was an authority in Nehardea) established the reputation of its academy, whileRav,who likewise taught there for a time, madeSura(situated on the Euphrates about twentyparasangsfrom Nehardea) the seat of an academy destined to achieve a still greater reputation. The history of Nehardea is summed up in that of Samuel's activity. Soon after Samuel's death, Nehardea was destroyed by Papa ben Neser (either another name forOdenathus,or one of his generals) in 259 CE,[14]and its place as seat of the second academy was taken byPumbedita.

Nehardea, however, soon regained its importance, for the eminentRav Nachmandwelt there. There are several references to his activity.[15]Ravatells of a walk which he took with Nachman through the "Shoemaker street," or, according to another version, through the "Scholars' street".[16]Certain gates of Nehardea, which even in the time of Samuel were so far covered with earth that they could not be closed, were uncovered by Nachman.[17]Two teachings in which Nachman designates Nehardea as "Babel"have been handed down.[18]Sheshetalso dwelt there temporarily.[19]According to a teaching dating from the 4th century, anamoraheard in Nehardea certaintannaiticteachings which had until then been unknown to scholars.[20]Nehardea always remained the residence of a certain number of learned men, some of whom belonged to the school ofMahuza,which was of considerable prominence at that time, and some to that ofPumbedita.About the middle of the 4th century the famous scholarḤamawas living at Nehardea; the maxim "By the 'amoraim of Nehardea' Ḥama is meant"[21]became a canon in the Babylonian schools.

Toward the end of the 4th and at the beginning of the 5th century Nehardea again became a center of Babylonian Judaism throughAmemar's activity, though this was overshadowed by that ofRav Ashi,the director of the Academy of Sura. It was Rav Ashi who had the seat of theexilarchate,which belonged as an ancient privilege to Nehardea, transferred to Sura.[22]Amemar attempted in Nehardea to introduce the recitation of theTen Commandmentsinto the daily prayer ritual, but was dissuaded from doing so by Ashi. Another of Amemar's liturgical innovations is mentioned inSukkot55a (on the relation of Ashi to Amemar see Halevy,Dorot ha-Rishonim,ii. 515 et seq., iii. 68 et seq.).

Other scholars of the 4th and 5th centuries who are mentioned in the Talmud as natives of Nehardea include Dimi[23](who subsequently presided at Pumbedita as second successor to Ḥama),[24]Zebid,[25]Rav Nachman,[26]Ḥanan[27]andSimai.[28]Adda b. Minyomiwas called the "judge of Nehardea".[29]

A few scattered data concerning Nehardea may be added. It was an ancient liturgical custom there to readpericopesfrom theHagiographaonShabbatafternoons.[30]The surrounding country was said to be unsafe because ofBedouinrobbers.[31]An ancient rule of procedure of the court of Nehardea is mentioned inKet.87a.Lodin Palestine, and Nehardea are mentioned in the 3rd century as cities whose inhabitants were proud and ignorant.[32]Nehardea is famous in the history of theMasorahbecause of an ancient tradition relating to the number of verses in the Bible; it is here said thatHamnuna[33]brought this tradition from Nehardea, where he had received it fromNaḳḳai.[34]Certain readings of theBiblicaltext are characterized by tradition—especially by the Masorah to thePentateuchTargum(Onkelos)—as being those of Sura, and certain others as of Nehardea.[35]

Geonic period[edit]

Aḥa of Be-Ḥatimfrom the vicinity of Nehardea is mentioned bySherira Gaon[36]as one of thesaboraicauthorities of the 6th century.Mar R. Ḥaninais mentioned, among the earliestgeonimof Pumbedita, as residing at Nehardea at the time ofMuhammad.This is the last reference in Jewish history to Nehardea.Benjamin of Tudela,however, mentions the ruins of the synagogue Shaf-Yatib, two days' journey from Sura, and one and one-half from Pumbedita.[37]

Bibliography[edit]

  • Barak S. Cohen, "‘In Nehardea Where There Are No Heretics’: The Purported Jewish Response to Christianity in Nehardea (A Re-examination of the Talmudic Evidence)," inDan Jaffé(ed),Studies in Rabbinic Judaism and Early Christianity: Text and Context(Leiden: Brill, 2010) (Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity/Arbeiten zur Geschichte des antiken Judentums und des Urchristentums, 74)

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela(ed. Marcus Nathan Adler), London 1907, p. 34
  2. ^Letter of Sherira Gaon, in Neubauer,M. J. C.i. 26; compare a similar statement in regard to the founding of the Jewish neighbourhood inIspahan,inMonatsschrift,1873, pp. 129, 181
  3. ^R. H.24b;Avodah Zarah43b;Niddah13a
  4. ^Meg.29a
  5. ^abKiddushin70b
  6. ^Josephus,Antiquities15:1, § 2
  7. ^op. cit.18:9, § 1
  8. ^Ketuvot54a
  9. ^Kiddushin70b;Shabbat108b
  10. ^Kiddushin 70b;Hullin50b
  11. ^Oppenheimer, A. (2010). Rabbi Judah Ha-Nasi and Babylonia: Ties and Tensions. Follow the Wise”: Studies in Jewish History and Culture in Honor of Lee I. Levine, 297-318.
  12. ^Yeb.,end
  13. ^Giṭtin14b; Bacher,Ag. Tan.ii. 385
  14. ^Sherira Gaon(1988).The Iggeres of Rav Sherira Gaon.Translated by Nosson Dovid Rabinowich. Jerusalem: Rabbi Jacob Joseph School Press - Ahavath Torah Institute Moznaim. p. 98.OCLC923562173.;cf.Babylonian Talmud(Ketubot51b);Seder Olam Rabbah
  15. ^SeeḲid.70a;Bava Batra153a;Kettubot97a;Megillah27b
  16. ^Chullin48b
  17. ^Eruvin (tractate)6b
  18. ^Bava Kamma83a; Bava Batra 145a
  19. ^Nedarim78a
  20. ^Shabbat145b;Niddah21a
  21. ^Sanh.17a
  22. ^Letter ofSherira Gaon,l.c. i. 32
  23. ^Chullin113a
  24. ^Letter of Sherira Gaon, l.c.
  25. ^Moed Kattan27b
  26. ^Chullin 95b
  27. ^Kiddushin81b;Niddah66b
  28. ^Shevuot12b;Makkot16a
  29. ^Sanhedrin17b
  30. ^Shabbat116b
  31. ^Bava Batra36a
  32. ^YerushalmiPesachim32a; compare Bavli Pesachim 62b; see Bacher,Ag. Pal. Amor.i. 60
  33. ^Bacher, l.c. i. 2
  34. ^SeeM. J. C.i. 174; Strack,Diḳduḳ Ṭe'amim,p. 56
  35. ^See Berliner,Die Massorah zum Targum Onkelos,pp. xiii. et seq., 61-70, Leipsic, 1877
  36. ^Halevy, l.c. i. 25
  37. ^Itinerary,ed.Grünhut,p. 64
Attribution

This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Singer, Isidore;et al., eds. (1901–1906)."NEHARDEA (NEARDA)".The Jewish Encyclopedia.New York: Funk & Wagnalls.Its bibliography:

  • Neubauer, G. T. pp. 230, 350;
  • Hirschensohn, Sheba Ḥokmot, p. 164, Lemberg, 1885.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Anbar".Encyclopædia Britannica(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

33°22′43″N43°42′57″E/ 33.37861°N 43.71583°E/33.37861; 43.71583

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