Person
Rav Yaakov of Nehar Pekod רב יעקב מנהר פקוד
head of Sura from 4475
Rav Yaakov took Sura in 4475 (715). He is the second head of the academy within half a century to come from Nehar Pekod: before him Mar Rav Chanina, after him Mar Rav Mari ha-Kohen. Three heads of Sura from one settlement in sixty years is no longer coincidence but a sign that a house of learning of its own stood there.
He left no words of his own. The name, the town and the year are known—and the town tells more than the man.
On the timeline
4349 · 589 CEThe Beginning of the Geonic Era4510 · 750 CEThe Flowering of the Geonic Age and the Sheiltot of Rav Achai
Places
Related
Sources
Rishonim
- Epistle of Rav Sherira Gaon — the list of the heads of Sura by name and year
- Seder Tannaim ve-Amoraim — the list of the Savoraim and the first heads of the academies, put together about a century before the Epistle: the same chain, attested independently of Sherira
Basis: documents and evidence.