Mar-Zutra III, also called Mar-Zutra bar Mar-Zutra, according to the Seder Olam Zutta, was the posthumous and only son of the 30th

Exilarch The exilarch was the leader of the Jewish community in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) during the era of the Parthians, Sasanians and Abbasid Caliphate up until the Mongol invasion of Baghdad in 1258, with intermittent gaps due to ongoing polit ...

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

Mar-Zutra II Mar-Zutra II () was a Jewish Exilarch who led a revolt against the Sasanian rulers in 495 CE and achieved seven years of political independence in Mahoza. Mar-Zutra II became Exilarch of the Jewish community in Babylon at the age of fifteen in ...

. He lived at the beginning of the Savora period. Mar-Zutra II had been crucified on the bridge of

Mahuza Al-Mada'in (, ; ''Māḥozā''; ) was an ancient metropolis situated on the Tigris in what is now Iraq. It was located between the ancient royal centers of Ctesiphon and Seleucia, and was founded by the Sasanian Empire. The city's name was used ...

by King

Kavadh I Kavad I ( ; 473 – 13 September 531) was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 488 to 531, with a two or three-year interruption. A son of Peroz I (), he was crowned by the nobles to replace his deposed and unpopular uncle Balash (). Inhe ...

for allegedly trying to obtain by force of arms a sort of political independence for the Jews of Babylon. Mar-Zutra III, who was born on the same day as his father's death, did not attain the office of

exilarch The exilarch was the leader of the Jewish community in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) during the era of the Parthians, Sasanians and Abbasid Caliphate up until the Mongol invasion of Baghdad in 1258, with intermittent gaps due to ongoing polit ...

. He was raised secretly and traveled in 520 CE, aged 18, to the

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 definition ...

. where he became head of the Academy of

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...

or "

Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Middle Aramaic , a loanword from , 'assembly,' 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was a Jewish legislative and judicial assembly of either 23 or 70 elders, existing at both a local and central level i ...

", under the title of "Resh Pirka" ('Aρχιφεκίτησ), several generations of his descendants succeeding him in this office. His grandson, Paltoi ben Abaye and great-grandson, Zemah ben Paltoi both served as the Gaon of Pumbedita.

References

{{Exilarch 502 births 6th-century rabbis Rabbis of the Land of Israel People from Tiberias Year of death unknown Jewish royalty Jews in the Sasanian Empire