I. Tana'im. — The first recogni.sed, after Simon's death, as the head of the Sanhedrim was Antigonus of S(dio. about B.C. 180. His contemporary was Eliezrr ben- Charsum, celebrated for his opulence, learning, and zeal in the promotion of religious knowledge. After Antigonus, always two (or zu<i6th) stand at the liead of the community — the first being the president, the sec- ond the vice-president. As the first of these ziigoth. or pairs, are mentioned Jose ben-Joezer and Joseph
TALMUDISTS
191
TAM
ben-Jochanan, about B.C. 70. They were followed by Joshua ben-Feraclija and Nithai of Arbela (q. v.). 'I'lieir successors were Jeluida ben-'raliai and Simon ben-She- tach (q. v.). The fourth pair is represented in 8he- maja and Abtalion, about B.C. 47. The tilth and last pair are Hillel (q. v.) and Shanimai (q. v.). Under their presidency lived Baba ben-Biita, Chanina ben -Dose, Jochauan ben-Zachai (q. v. ), and Nechunjah ben-ha- Kana (q. v.). Hillel was followed by his son Simon (ben- Hillel) (q. v.). His successor was Gamaliel I (q. v.), who was followed by his son Simon (ben-Gamaliel) (q. v.). With Simon closes the period of the so-called eailier Tanaim. The later Tana'im first figure in history when the Temple was in ashes and Jerusalem a heap of ruins. At this period, verjjing upon decay, when Ju- daism was without any centre and support, appeared Jochanan ben-Zachai, the last among Hillel's eighty disciples. Jochanan established a school at Jamniah, or Jabneh, whose president he became. His successor •was Gamaliel bar-Simon (q. v.), and his fellow-laborers were Akiba ben -Joseph (q. v. ), Eliezer ben-Asarja, Eliezer ben-Arak, Eliezer ben-Hyrkanos ((|. v.), Ismael ben-Elisa (q. v.), Joshua ben-Hananja (q. v.), Nechunjah ben-ha-Kana (q. v.), and Tarphon (q.v.). (iamaliel was succeeded by his son Simon (ben-Gamaliel H) (q.v.), who transferred the Rabbinical apparatus to Tiberias. To his college belonged Nathan ha-Babli (q. v.), Jose ben-Halephta, Jehudah ben-IIai, rabbi Meir (q. v.), and Simon ben- Jocha'i (q.v.). Simon ben- Gamaliel'was succeeded by his son Jndah the Holy (q. v.).
H. Amoia'im. — With the life and labors of rabbi Ju- dah ended the succession of the Tanaim, who were now followed by a new order, the Amora'im (D^NTT^S), i. e. the expositors of the law, at length no longer oral, but reduced to a written text. Some of the most distin- guished of their number were rabbi Chija, Chanina bar-Chana, Abba Areka, or Kab (q. v.), Bar-Kappara, Jochanan bar-Napacha (q. v.), and Simon ben-Lakish (q. v.). Of the scholastic labors of these men we have the monumental result in the Palestine (iemara, com- monly called Tdlmul Jerushalini ("^^Pw'TI^ 1T2?n). After the death of Judah, not only learning, but also the patriarchal dignity, was more and more in the de- cline; for with Judah's death the star of Judaea's learn- ing had set, never to rise again in Palestine. Rabban Gamaliel III, Judah's son, and Jndah H, son of Gama- liel HI, his successor, were weak in character, mediocre in learning, and deficient in theological acumen. The latter transferred his residence to Tiberias, and Galilee, once so despised, now became " the Holy Land," and Ti- berias its Jerusalem. Of Gamaliel lY, the successor of Judah II, and Jiulah HI, sou and successor of Gamaliel IV, liistory has nothing to record, except that they close the line of Palestinian teachers. Meanwhile nu- merous migrations of rabbins to Babylon had taken place, especially in the reign of Constantius, who perse- cuted the Jews. We leave Palestine and turn to Baby- lon, where the schools at Sora ((j. v.), Pumbaditha (q. v.), Nahardea, and ]Machusa were in a tlourishing condition. At Babylon the greater and more noble part of the Jewish families settled at the Captivity, to return no more to their ancestral soil, and there the literary cult- ure of the people took a development which exerted no small influence on the studies of after -generations. There the Jews lived under their resh </(4uth<i, or prince of the exiles, whose office was of an ecclesiastical and secular kind. So long as the Temple was standing the Babylonian Jews acknowledged the presidency of the high-priest, and paid the didrachm contribution to the Tem|)le. which, however, they did not after the destruc- tion of that edifice. Finally, the Baljylonians succeed- ed in establishing their own independence, in civil and ecclesiastical matters, of the Western patriarchate, and established schools of learning all over the coimfrv without material aid from those of the fatherland, though the schools took the same undeveloped form as
those of the Holy Land. The names given to these schools were Aramaean forms for the Hebrew ones of the Palestinian schools. The " house of learning'' was called Beth U/pliana (XrsblX rr^n); Beth iMidrash (n^n IIJTI^), "the house of doctrine;" Beth ha-Vuad (nsiiri; Heb.nD3:n n^3)," the house of assemblage;" Beth Metihtha (Xraima n^S ; Heb. nn"'iyi), " the house of sitting;" Beth Rabbanan ("331 H^D), "the house of the masters;" Beth Sidra (X'^nO ^1^3), "the house of order." The principal or rector of the school was entitled Rab Beth Ulphaim (X3EP",X ni2 31), Resh Metihtha (NnnTn2 D^^l), Resh Sidra ( i::"'1 snc), etc. So, too, the academical degree of Mar (1 -) was equivalent to the Palestinian title of rabbi (•^31), and was conferred after the same course of study by VaQ semikdh (nz^TiO), or "imposition of hands."
HI. Schools. — The earliest school of which we have any specific information is that which was situated at