Akkadian in a Talmudic joke (1)

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The Babylonian Talmud records an amusing anecdote which can only be appreciated by someone aware of an Akkadian idiom. A noted rabbi named Rab, who died in 247 CE, is quoted as saying that when he saw asses carrying away dust, that he struck his hand on their backs and said, “Hurry, righteous ones, to perform the will of your Master.” A second anecdote in the same context provides additional background information. The fifth century scholar Mar bar Rabina, who, arriving at the city of Babylon, took some dust in his turban and threw it around to illustrate the prophecy Isaiah 14:22-23 that Babylon will be swept away (Berakhot 57b bottom). The juxtaposition of the two anecdotes probably indicates that both statements were thought to refer to Babylon. What was the joke? Rab’s pun was an allusion to the Akkadian phrase which appears several times in Seleucid chronicles and records, namely that “the dust of Esagil was removed” indicating rebuilding works in Babylon. A local Babylonian hearing Rab’s words would have understood it to mean that Rab approved of the renovation of the temple, although it is clear from the context that Rab actually has in mind that Babylon will become a wasteland. On one hand these observations might suggest that Rabbis may have actually visited Babylon in the fourth or fifth centuries, and that building works were still ongoing. On the other hand, it is also clear that the Babylonian Talmud is hardly conscious of its role as witness to Babylonian life in the Parthian period, nor is much appreciation expressed for the greatness that was Babylon. The Talmud serves, somewhat ironically, as a major source of information for the end of Mesopotamian antiquity.

Sources (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 57b
Isaiah 14:22-23

Bibliography

Mark Geller

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