place · L0251
Machoza מחוזא
Jewish market town on the Tigris adjoining the Persian capital Ctesiphon — worldly, wealthy, and for fourteen years the seat of all Babylonian Torah: after Abaye's death the united metivta sat at Machoza under Rava (Academy of Machoza). Its Jews were merchants rather than farmers, and the Talmud's picture of Machozan life is one of its richest urban portraits.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- מחוזא
- Also known as
- Mahoza, Be Machoza
III. Where
- Modern location
- Within the Al-Mada'in complex (Ctesiphon area) on the Tigris, south of Baghdad, Iraq
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| "After Abaye, Rava reigned at Machoza... and in all these years of Rava there was only one metivta" — the Iggeret's record of the town as Bavel's sole academy seat, 338–352 CE. | tradition | ★★★★☆ | |
| Machoza lay within the Al-Mada'in urban cluster around Ctesiphon on the Tigris, near the Sasanian capital; the location rests on talmudic and Syriac notices tied to the known Ctesiphon area rather than on excavation of the town itself.
Coordinates approximate, within the Al-Mada'in complex. |
external reconstruction | ★★★☆☆ |
Referenced by: Rava, Rav Ashi, Academy of Machoza