Abba Arikha (175–247 CE; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: ; born: Rav Abba bar Aybo, ), commonly known as Rav (), was a Jewish amora of the 3rd century. He was born and lived in Kafri, Asoristan, in the Sasanian Empire. Abba Arikha established at Sura the systematic study of the rabbinic traditions, which, using the Mishnah as text, led to the compilation of the Talmud. With him began the long period of ascendancy of the great Talmudic Academies in Babylonia around the year 220. In the Talmud, he is frequently associated with Samuel of Nehardea, with whom he debated many issues. Biography His surname, Arikha (English: the Tall), he owed to his height, which exceeded that of his contemporaries. Others, reading Arekha, consider it an honorary title, "Lecturer". In the traditional literature he is referred to almost exclusively as Rav, "the Master", (both his contemporaries and posterity recognizing in him a master), just as his teacher, Judah HaNasi, was known simply as Rabbi. He is called Rabbi Abba only in the tannaitic literature, where a number of his sayings are preserved. He occupies a middle position between the Tannaim and the Amoraim, and is accorded the right, rarely conceded to one who is only an amora, of disputing the opinion of a tanna. Rav was a descendant of a distinguished Babylonian family which claimed to trace its origin to Shimei, brother of King David. His father, Aibo, was a brother of Hiyya the Great who lived in Palestine, and was a highly esteemed scholar in the collegiate circle of the patriarch Judah haNasi. From his associations in the house of his uncle, and later as his uncle's disciple and as a member of the academy at Sepphoris, Rav acquired such knowledge of the tradition as to make him its foremost exponent in Babylonia. While Judah haNasi was still living, Rav, having been ordained as teacher (with certain restrictions), returned to Asoristan, referred to as "Babylonia" in Jewish writings, where he at once began a career that was destined to mark an epoch in the development of Babylonian Judaism. In the annals of the Babylonian schools, the year of his arrival is recorded as the starting-point in the chronology of the Talmudic age. It was the 530th year of the Seleucid era and the 219th year of the Common Era. As the scene of his activity, Rav first chose Nehardea, where the