Mar-Zutra III, also called Mar-Zutra bar Mar-Zutra, according to the Seder Olam Zutta,[1] was the posthumous and only son of the 30th Exilarch of Babylon, Mar-Zutra II.[2] He lived at the beginning of the Savora period. Mar-Zutra II had been crucified on the bridge of Mahuza by King Kavadh I for allegedly trying to obtain by force of arms a sort of political independence for the Jews of Babylon.[citation needed] Mar-Zutra III, who was born on the same day as his father's death, did not attain the office of exilarch. He was raised secretly and traveled in 520 CE, aged 18, to the Land of Israel.[3] where he became head of the Academy of Tiberias or "Sanhedrin", 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. [4]

References

  1. ^ Gil, Moshe (2004). Jews in Islamic countries in the Middle Ages. David Strassler (trans.). Brill. p. 53. ISBN 978-90-04-13882-7.
  2. ^ Graetz, Heinrich; Bella Löwy; Philipp Bloch (1902). History of the Jews, Volume 3. Jewish Publication Society of America. pp. 3–4.
  3. ^ Cohn-Sherbok, Dan (1996). Atlas of Jewish history. Routledge. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-415-08800-8.
  4. ^ Falk, Avner (1996). A psychoanalytic history of the Jews. Fairleigh Dickinson UP. pp. 347–48. ISBN 9780838636602.
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