Exilarch
Sign in to savethumb|250px|An exhibit depicting Exilarch Rav Huna|Huna at the [[Beit Hatfutsot]] The exilarch was the leader of the Jewish community in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) during the Parthian and Sasanian Empires and Abbasid Caliphate up until the 1258 CE Mongol invasion of Baghdad, with intermittent gaps due to ongoing political developments. The exilarch was regarded by the Jewish community as the royal heir of the Davidic line and held prominence as both a rabbinical authority and a noble within the Persian and Arab courts.
Article
28 sectionsContents
- Title
- Development and organization
- Holders of the office
- Biblical exilarchs
- Rabbinic exilarchs under the Sassanids
- Rabbinical exilarchs under Arab rule
- Karaite exilarchs
- History
- Legendary origins
- First allusions in the Jerusalem Talmud
- Succession of exilarchs
- The Mar Ukbans
- Persecutions under Peroz and Kobad
- Deposition of 'Ukba
- Diminished power of the Babylonian exilarchate
- Later traces
- Character of the exilarchate before Arab expansion
- Relations with the Academies
- Behavior
- Etiquette of the Resh Galuta's court
- Juridical functions
- Character of the exilarchate in the Arabic era
- Installation ceremonies
- Income and privileges
- See also
- Notes
- References
- External links
thumb|250px|An exhibit depicting Exilarch Rav Huna|Huna at the [[Beit Hatfutsot]] The exilarch was the leader of the Jewish community in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) during the Parthian and Sasanian Empires and Abbasid Caliphate up until the 1258 CE Mongol invasion of Baghdad, with intermittent gaps due to ongoing political developments. The exilarch was regarded by the Jewish community as the royal heir of the Davidic line and held prominence as both a rabbinical authority and a noble within the Persian and Arab courts.
Within the Sasanian Empire, the exilarch was the political equivalent of the Catholicos of the Christian Church of the East and was thus responsible for community-specific organizational tasks such as running the rabbinical courts, collecting taxes from Jewish communities, supervising and providing financing for the Talmudic academies in Babylonia, and the charitable re-distribution and financial assistance to needy members of the exile community. The position of exilarch was hereditary, held in continuity by a family that traced its patrilineal descent from antiquity stemming from King David.