Babylon בבל
City of the Tower and of Nebuchadnezzar's empire, and later the centre of Jewish learning that produced the Babylonian Talmud.
Babylon plays two opposite roles in Jewish history. First it is the site of human arrogance: in 1996 a tower «with its top in heaven» is built in the plain of Shinar and languages are confounded — tradition links the city's name to balal, «he mixed». Then it is the empire that burns the First Temple in 3338 and deports the nation; the psalm «by the rivers of Babylon» comes from there.
But exile is not the end. Yechezkel prophesies by the river Kvar, Daniel serves at court, and when Cyrus permits return in 3390 many stay. From that community grows something unprecedented: a network of academies — Nehardea, Sura, Pumbedita — where Rav and Shmuel, Abaye and Rava, then Rav Ashi and Ravina produce the Babylonian Talmud, sealed around 4260.
For eight more centuries Babylonia remains the centre of the Torah world.