Pumbedita

Pumbedita

פומבדיתא
Shown within Iraq
Location	In the vicinity of Fallujah, Iraq
Coordinates	33°21′04″N 43°47′10″E / 33.351111°N 43.786111°E

Pumbedita (sometimes Pumbeditha, Pumpedita, or Pumbedisa; Aramaic: פומבדיתא‎‎), literally meaning in Aramaic: "The Mouth of the River,"^[1] was the name of a city in ancient Babylonia close to the modern-day city of Fallujah, in Anbar Province. The city had a large Jewish population and was famed for its Talmudic academy scholarship that, together with the city of Sura, gave rise to the Babylonian Talmud. 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, being the capital city, was destroyed during the Persian-Palmyrian war.

See also

• Mahuza
• Nehardea
• Firuz Shapur
• Sura (city)
• Sura Academy

References

1. A Geonic Commentary on a passage taken from the Babylonian Talmud (Kiddushin 72a-b) and discovered among the faded manuscripts found in the Cairo Geniza in Fostat, Old Cairo, reads: "...Thus do we say, Baḏitha levaī (i.e. the river is teeming), everyone comes in and takes out fish. When a great number starts to come inside, they are trapped and brought out from there. Now, this matter takes place on the intermediate days of the feast. As for Baḏitha, it [means] river, while its mouth is called Fūm Baḏitha (Pumbeditha). Now, however, in the Arabian tongue it is called Al-Badeāh (al-Badiya)."