date_of_birth abba arika
Abba Arikha ( 175 -- 247 ) ( Talmudic Aramaic :   ; born : Abba bar Aybo , Hebrew :     ) was a Jewish Talmudist who was born and lived in Kafri , Sassanid Babylonia , known as an amora ( commentator on the Oral Law ) of the 3rd century who established at Sura the systematic study of the rabbinic traditions , which , using the Mishnah as text , led to the compilation of the Talmud . With him began the long period of ascendancy of the great academies of Babylonia ( Oesterley & Box 1920 ) , around the year 220 . He is commonly known simply as Rav ( or Rab , Hebrew :  ) . Babylonia was an ancient Akkadian - speaking state and cultural area based in central - southern Mesopotamia ( present - day Iraq ). A small Amorite - ruled state emerged in ___MASK6___ BC , which contained at this time the minor city of Babylon . Babylon greatly expanded during the reign of Hammurabi in the first half of the 18th century BC , becoming a major capital city . During the reign of Hammurabi and afterwards , Babylonia was called " Mt Akkad " " the country of Akkad " in the Akkadian language . It was often involved in rivalry with its older fellow Akkadian - speaking state of Assyria in northern Mesopotamia . Babylonia briefly became the major power in the region after Hammurabi ( fl . c . ___MASK36___  ___MASK2___ BC middle chronology , or c . 1696  1654 BC , short chronology ) created a short - lived empire , succeeding the earlier Akkadian Empire , Third Dynasty of Ur , and Old Assyrian Empire ; however , the Babylonian empire rapidly fell apart after the death of Hammurabi . The Jerusalem Talmud (" Talmud Yerushalmi ", often " Yerushalmi " for short ), also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmuda de - Eretz Yisrael ( Talmud of the Land of Israel ), is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the second - century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah . Naming this version of the Talmud after Palestine or Land of Israel rather than Jerusalem is considered more accurate by some because , while the work was certainly composed in " the West " ( as seen from Babylonia ), i . e . in the Holy Land , it mainly originates from the Galilee rather than from Jerusalem in Judea , as no Jews lived in Jerusalem at this time The Jerusalem Talmud was compiled in the Land of Israel , then divided between the Byzantine provinces of Palaestina Prima and Palaestina Secunda , and was brought to an end sometime around ___MASK72___ . The Jerusalem Talmud predates its counterpart , the Babylonian Talmud ( known in Hebrew as the " Talmud Bavli "), by about 200 years , and is written in both Hebrew and Jewish Palestinian Aramaic . American Family Radio ( AFR ) is a network of more than ___MASK92___ radio stations broadcasting Christian - oriented programming to over 40 states . AFR is also available to both watch and listen worldwide on their website . KAFR ( 88 . 3 FM ) is a radio station broadcasting a religious radio format . Licensed to Conroe , Texas , USA , it serves the Houston area . The station is an American Family Radio owned - and - operated station . Assyria was a major Mesopotamian East Semitic - speaking kingdom and empire of the ancient Near East . It existed as an independent state from perhaps as early as the 25th century BC in the form of the Assur city - state , until its lapse between ___MASK51___ BC and ___MASK44___ BC , spanning the Early to Middle Bronze Age through to the late Iron Age . Iraq (, or ; '; '), officially known as the Republic of Iraq ('; ') is a country in Western Asia , bordered by Turkey to the north , Iran to the east , Kuwait to the southeast , Saudi Arabia to the south , Jordan to the southwest , and Syria to the west . The capital , and largest city , is Baghdad . The main ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds ; others include Assyrians , Turkmen , Shabakis , Yazidis , Armenians , Mandeans , Circassians , and Kawliya . Around ___MASK28___ % of the country ' s 36 million citizens are Muslims , with Christianity , Yarsan , Yezidism , and Mandeanism also present . The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish . Judaism ( from , derived from Greek , originally from Hebrew , " Yehudah ", " Judah "; in Hebrew : , " Yahadut ", the distinctive characteristics of the Judean ethnos ) encompasses the religion , philosophy , culture and way of life of the Jewish people . Judaism is an ancient monotheistic religion , with the Torah as its foundational text ( part of the larger text known as the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible ), and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash and the Talmud . Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the covenantal relationship that God established with the Children of Israel . With between ___MASK69___ . ___MASK38___ and 17 . 4 million adherents worldwide , Judaism is the tenth - largest religion in the world . Hammurabi ( c . ___MASK39___ BC - ___MASK21___ BC ) was the sixth king of the First Babylonian Dynasty , reigning from 1792 BC to ___MASK21___ BC ( according to the Middle Chronology ). He was preceded by his father , Sin - Muballit , who abdicated due to failing health . He extended Babylon ' s control throughout Mesopotamia through military campaigns . Hammurabi is known for the Code of Hammurabi , one of the earliest surviving codes of law in recorded history . The name " Hammurabi " derives from the Amorite term " Ammurpi " (" the kinsman is a healer "), itself from " Ammu " (" paternal kinsman ") and " Rpi " (" healer "). The Akkadian Empire was the first ancient Semitic - speaking empire of Mesopotamia , centered in the city of Akkad and its surrounding region , also called Akkad in ancient Mesopotamia and Accad in the Bible ( Genesis ___MASK43___ : ___MASK43___ ). The empire united all the Akkadian and Sumerian speakers under one rule . The Akkadian Empire controlled Mesopotamia ( modern Iraq , Kuwait , northeast Syria and southeast Turkey ), the Levant ( modern Syria and Lebanon ), and eastern and southern parts of Anatolia ( modern Turkey ) and Iran , sending military expeditions as far south as Dilmun and Magan ( modern Bahrain and Oman ) in the Arabian Peninsula . The Talmud ( Hebrew : ' " instruction , learning ", from a root ' " teach , study ") is a central text of Rabbinic Judaism . It is also traditionally referred to as , a Hebrew abbreviation of ', the " six orders ", a reference to the six orders of the Mishnah . The term " Talmud " normally refers to the collection of writings named specifically the Babylonian Talmud "( Talmud Bavli )", although there is also an earlier collection known as the Jerusalem Talmud , or Palestinian Talmud "' "( Talmud Yerushalmi )". When referring to post - biblical periods , namely those of the creation of the Talmud , the Talmudic academies and the Babylonian exilarchate , Jewish sources use the term " Babylonia " long after it had become obsolete in geopolitical terms .