Person
Rav Aha bar Rava רב אחא בריה דרבא
head of Pumbedita, the disputant about the ways of ants
A student of Rav Kahana, Rav Ashi, Amemar and Mar Zutra. He took Mar Zutra's place at the head of Pumbedita.
At Chullin 57b he takes apart the experiment Rabbi Shimon ben Halafta made on ants to learn their order. His objection is not to the conclusion but to the setting of the experiment: it is arranged so that nothing can be proved by it.
No source names the year of his death outright; it is inferred from the fact that Gebiha of Be-Katil became head of Pumbedita after his death and led it from 419. Aha bar Rava and Aha brei de-Rava are one name: in Aramaic brei de-Rava means son of Rava.
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Sources
Chazal: Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, Zohar
- Chullin 57b — the examination of the experiment with the ants
Scholarship
- The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906) — the teachers, the headship at Pumbedita, and the inference of the year of death
Basis: Talmud and midrash.