Book
The Epistle of Rav Sherira Gaon אגרת רב שרירא גאון
An answer to a letter from Kairouan: who came after whom and how the Talmud took shape. The only source of its kind.
Rabbi Yaakov ben Nissim of Kairouan asked a question that was essentially historical: how was the Mishnah written down, where did the baraitot come from, who composed the Talmud. Rav Sherira, head of Pumbedita, answered with a letter that became a book.
He lists the generations of Tannaim, Amoraim and Savoraim by name, explains what the Savoraim added to the text, and names the heads of both academies in succession over several centuries. Nearly everything known of the inner working of the Babylonian academies and of the order in which the Talmud was composed comes from here—and from nowhere else.
On the timeline
Related
Sources
Rishonim
- The Epistle of Rav Sherira Gaon, opening — the question from Kairouan
- The Epistle of Rav Sherira Gaon, on the Savoraim — what the Savoraim added to the Talmud
Basis: documents and evidence.