Pumbedita ( ''Pūm Bəḏīṯāʾ'', "Mouth of the Bedita"See The river "Bedita" has not been identified.) was an ancient city located in modern-day

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. It is known for having hosted the

Pumbedita Academy The Pumbedita Academy or Pumbedita Yeshiva (; sometimes ''Pumbeditha'', ''Pumpedita'', ''Pumbedisa'') was a Talmudic academy in Pumbedita, an unidentified location in modern Iraq, during the Amoraic and Geonic eras. It was founded by Judah bar ...

History

The city of Pumbedita was said to have possessed a Jewish population since the days of Second Temple of Jerusalem. The city had a large

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

population and was famed for its

, whose scholarship, together with the city of

Sura A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning 'chapter' in the Quran. There are 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, each divided into verses (). The ''suwar'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' ( al-Kawthar) has only three verses, while the ...

, gave rise to the

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...

. The academy there was founded by Judah ben Ezekiel in the late third century. The academy was established after the destruction of the academy of

Nehardea Nehardea or Nehardeah ( "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 of the earliest and most prominent ce ...

. Nehardea, being the capital city, was destroyed during the Persian–Palmyrian war.

Location

Guy Le Strange, in his geography of

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 ...

in the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

era constructed from Ibn Serapion (ca. 900), cited a possible location for Pumbedita: :The Nahr-al-Badāt was a long drainage channel taken from the left bank of the Kūfah arm of the Euphrates, at a

day's journey A day's journey in pre-modern literature, including the Bible and ancient geographers and ethnographers such as Herodotus, is a measurement of distance. In the Bible, it is not as precisely defined as other Biblical measurements of distance; the ...

to the north of Kūfah city, probably near the town of Kanṭarah-al-Kūfah . . .

hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...

probably lay adjacent to, or possibly was identical with, the Hebrew Pombedita. However, this location is too far south and has been rejected by more recent scholarship. Sherira ben Hanina
tentative ascription
writes that in Arabic the Bedita is called ''al-Bedei'a''. Some scholars have connected Pumbedita to

Fallujah Fallujah ( ) is a city in Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq. Situated on the Euphrates, Euphrates River, it is located roughly to the west of the capital city of Baghdad and from the neighboring city of Ramadi. The city is located in the region ...

, but for no good reason. The twelfth-century travel account of

Benjamin of Tudela Benjamin of Tudela (), also known as Benjamin ben Jonah, was a medieval Jewish traveler who visited Europe, Asia, and Africa in the twelfth century. His vivid descriptions of western Asia preceded those of Marco Polo by a hundred years. With his ...

gives this description: :. . . and from there it is two days to Al-Anbar, which is Pumbedita in Nehardea. Here are about 3,000 Jews, including scholars, at the head of which are Rabbi Chen the teacher, Rabbi Moses, and Rabbi Jehoakim. Also here are the graves of Rabbi Judah and

Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...

, and before each is the synagogue which they built in life, and that of Bostanai the prince and

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 ...

, and those of Rabbi Nathan and Rabbi Nahman bar Pappa. Al-Anbar ("the granaries") is mentioned by Ibn Serapion, and Strange identifies it with "the ruins named Sifeyra". According to William McGuckin de Slane, it lay ten parasangs to the west of Baghdad.

References

Talmud places Babylonia Jewish Babylonian history Babylonian cities History of Fallujah {{Jewish-hist-stub

History

Location

See also

References