person · P0495
Rav Sheshet רב ששת
Blind Bavel master of the third generation, famed for total command of the baraita corpus; Rabbah and Rav Yosef sat in on the closing of his lectures. His signature chain transmits Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah across two centuries — literary transmission, the clearest case for why an in- the-name-of formula earns no reception edge.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- רב ששת
- Era
- amoraim
- Generation
- A3
II. When
- Traditional
- fl. c. 4020–4090 AM (schematic)
- Academic
- c. 260–330 CE
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈75 years
- Precision
- approximate
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| A run of five consecutive dicta אמר רב ששת משום רבי אלעזר בן עזריה — on the lash-strap, the yevamah, despising the festivals, slander and more — his signature transmission series.
Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah died some two centuries earlier: משום here is literary transmission, not personal reception — hence no edge.
|
rabbinic | ★★★★★ | |
| Rabbah and Rav Yosef sat at the close of Rav Sheshet's lecture — יתוב רבה ורב יוסף בשילהי פירקיה דרב ששת — the next generation's heads auditing his teaching. | rabbinic | ★★★★☆ | |
| No source dates Rav Sheshet directly; the AM span shown is a schematic reconstruction anchored to the generation before Rabbah and Rav Yosef, who audited his lectures.
Schematic generational placement, not an attested date. A dated attestation, if one can be verified, should supersede this.
|
reconstruction | ★★☆☆☆ |