Person
Rav Kahana of Pum-Nahara רב כהנא מפום נהרא
Rav Ashi's teacher, whom he honoured all his life
He presided over the court at Pum-Nahara and, by one reading, afterwards headed Pumbedita—the years of that headship are given as 395–412. He also delivered the funeral oration for Rav Zevid of Nehardea.
Caution is needed here: there are several Rabbi Kahanas in these generations, and the works of reference separate them differently. The Jewish Encyclopedia says of Ashi's teacher that he "afterward became president of the academy at Pumbedita", but gives no years; modern works give the years but assign them to a Kahana whom they call Ashi's cousin. We set the window by those years and name the disagreement.
On the timeline
Places
Related
Sources
Chazal: Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, Zohar
- Bava Batra 62a, Moed Katan 27a, Pesachim 52b — Rav Ashi before Rav Kahana
Scholarship
- The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906) — Rav Ashi's honour, the headship at Pumbedita, and the disagreement over the persons
Basis: Talmud and midrash.