Philologists can sometimes forget that texts are not themselves autonomous subjects that move here and there, or chameleons that change color to fit the scenery. What numerous intertalmudic parallels throughout the Bavli and Yerushalmi—including collections[…]
The turn to the Talmud as a book of Western wisdom in Japan, Korea, and China is reminiscent of a similar interest in and fetishizing of Eastern wisdom in the West. On a visit to[…]
It should be remembered that recycling is not a modern Western concept, but is deeply rooted in human behaviour and economic practice and is the likely explanation for the relative scarcity of metal finds at[…]
As in earlier periods, the staple crops were wheat, barley and dates. A daily grain market is referred to at Nehardea (Avodah Zarah 38b) and the twin towns of Hini and Shili, somewhere near Sura,[…]
By far, the most important source for mapping Jewish settlement and, in a sense, urban reality as a whole in Sasanian Babylonia is the Babylonian Talmud. The dearth of any substantial late antique Jewish archaeology[…]
Being the principal alcoholic beverage of Mesopotamia, it is discussed at length in the Babylonian Talmud and, naturally, the vocabulary is Mesopotamian. Its preparation is short, less than a week: They may put in [ingredients][…]
Zimmerman is correct in saying that a seven-day wait after any bleeding has become standard practice, almost never dispensed with. However, she gives the incorrect impression that the seven-day wait after a menstrual period of[…]
Perhaps it can be argued that the ḥumra of the daughters of Israel is termed a halakhah pesukah not because it is “a ruling that all agree to,” as explained by Zimmerman (this is an[…]
One of the important distinctions between the diet of Graeco-Roman Palestine and Babylonia was the use of wine or beer as a common beverage. It is abundantly clear that in the Graeco-Roman world, wine was[…]
In its transition from Joseph’s death to a new era, the book of Exodus records: A new king arose over Egypt, who did know Joseph (Exodus 1:8). This “new king” proceeded to enslave the Jews.[…]