person · P0216

Ravina I רבינא

Rava's student and Rav Ashi's older colleague in the work of arranging the Talmud (sixth generation, Bavel). "Ravina" in the dictum "Rav Ashi and Ravina are the end of hora'ah" is read by many as this Ravina, by others as his nephew Ravina II — a genuine ambiguity this atlas records rather than resolves.

I. Who

Hebrew
רבינא
Also known as
Ravina the elder
Era
amoraim
Generation
A6
Received the mesorah from
Rava
Teachers
Rava
Colleagues
Rav Ashi

II. When

Traditional
d. c. 4182 AM
Academic
d. c. 422 CE
Lifespan (traditional)
≈72 years
Precision
approximate

III. Where

Places
Mata Mechasya

V. How do we know

ClaimEvidenceConfidenceSources
"Among the sages who received from Rava were Rav Ashi and Ravina" — the Rambam's reception statement; unlike Rav Ashi's case, the dates permit direct study, and Ravina I transmits Rava's rulings throughout the Talmud. rabbinic ★★★★☆
"Rav Ashi and Ravina are the end of hora'ah" — with the note that which Ravina the dictum intends (this elder colleague of Rav Ashi, or Ravina bar Rav Huna who died in 500 CE) is a classic disagreement among the commentators and historians.
The Iggeret's own usage (1:108) applies the title to Ravina II.
rabbinic reconstruction ★★★☆☆
He had at least one son and one daughter, referenced incidentally in halakhic contexts.
The children are unnamed in the cited passages.
rabbinic external ★★★★☆
The Bavli records public eulogies at Ravina's death.
Identification with Ravina I rather than another Ravina follows standard chronology.
rabbinic tradition ★★★★☆
Later chronology dates Ravina I's death to approximately 422 CE.
The date is reconstructed from geonic chronology.
tradition reconstruction ★★★☆☆
Ketubot 100b shows him as guardian of his orphaned nephew's property — "Ravina had in his charge the wine of Ravina Zuti, the orphan, his sister's son" — the formation-proximity on which his nephew's inferred reception (Ravina II) rests. Some historians also assign to this elder Ravina the "Mother told me — your father would..." reports of Berakhot 39b and Menachot 68b; this atlas lands those on the nephew, whose orphan biography they fit, and records the rival attribution here.
Cross-note to Ravina II; the Ravina identifications in all three passages are standard but inferential.
rabbinic reconstruction ★★★☆☆