Ulla
230 CE–295 CE · Amoraim · Tiberias
Ulla bar Yishmael was a Palestinian Amora of the second generation who maintained close ties to the land of Israel, spending much time traveling between Babylonia and Tiberias. He was a disciple of Rabbi Yochanan in the Land of Israel and a contemporary of other major figures of his era. Ulla was known for his sharp dialectical skills and his ability to transmit traditions from the Palestinian academies to Babylonia, playing a crucial role in the cross-pollination of halakhic thought between the two centers. His rulings and discussions appear prominently in the Babylonian Talmud, where he is often portrayed engaging in vigorous debate with other Amoraim, particularly on matters of ritual law and biblical interpretation.
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TiberiasLand of Israel
We know they were here, but the specifics of what they did at this stop aren’t recorded yet in our corpus.
Tiberias in this era
Tiberias in the Amoraic era was a city caught between empires—first under late Roman (Byzantine) rule, then Persian dominion following the sixth-century conquest—yet it flourished as one of the great academies of Jewish learning in the Land of Israel. The community, substantial and culturally vital, engaged in the intense intellectual work of the Amoraic sages who debated and refined the teachings of their predecessors, their discussions eventually crystallizing into the Jerusalem Talmud. Hot springs rose from the earth near the city's shores, and the lakeside setting made Tiberias a crossroads where merchants and pilgrims mingled; the marketplace hummed with Aramaic and Greek. Scholars gathered in academies to interpret scripture and Mishnah, wrestling with questions of law and meaning that would echo through Jewish tradition for centuries. The city's Jewish population enjoyed relative autonomy under both rulers, stewarding a tradition of legal reasoning and midrashic creativity that rivaled even the great Babylonian academies, and here figures like R. Chiyya HaGadol and their contemporaries shaped the contours of rabbinic thought.
About Tiberias
Galilee center; home of Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk and his Hasidic disciples after aliyah.
In Tiberias at the same time
Anonymous (Sefer Yetzirah), Levi bar Sisi, R. Yochanan, Reish Lakish, R. Eleazar, Yose bar Chanina
In the same place & time
Sages whose lives overlapped with Ulla’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.
The world in their lifetime
Thinkers, teachers, and rulers whose lives overlapped with Ulla’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.
Jewish world
- Anonymous (Merkavah Mystics)· 100 CE–500 CE
- Shmuel (Babylonian Amora)· 180 CE–254 CE
- Karna (Dayyana di-Galuta)· 180 CE–250 CE
- Rav Asi the Babylonian· 180 CE–250 CE
- Yehoshua ben Levi· 190 CE–260 CE
- Rav Huna (head of Sura)· 216 CE–297 CE
- Chisda bar Atta (head of Sura)· 217 CE–309 CE
- Rav Yehuda bar Yechezkel (founder of Pumbedita)· 220 CE–299 CE
- Rav Sheshet (the blind)· 220 CE–295 CE
- Rav Kahana (II)· 220 CE–295 CE
- Rabbah bar Avuha· 230 CE–290 CE
- Rav Hamnuna· 230 CE–300 CE
- Nachman bar Yaakov (son-in-law of Resh Galuta)· 230 CE–320 CE
- Abbahu of Caesarea· 240 CE–320 CE
- Rabbah bar Rav Huna· 245 CE–322 CE
- Yonah (Yerushalmi)· 260 CE–330 CE
- Shimon bar Pazi· 260 CE–330 CE
- Yirmeyah (Bavel-born EY scholar)· 260 CE–335 CE
- Rabbah bar Nachmani (Akar Harim)· 270 CE–330 CE
- Rav Yosef bar Chiyya (Sinai)· 270 CE–333 CE
- Rabbah bar Bar Chana (the traveler)· 270 CE–340 CE
- Chaggai· 270 CE–340 CE
- Bar Hedya (dream interpreter of Berakhot 55-56)· 270 CE–340 CE
- Abaye· 280 CE–338 CE
Christian world
Graeco-Roman world
Scientists
Works
No works attributed in the corpus yet.