Jewish Colonies in Babylonia and Its Environs

Both the Hebrew Bible and Babylonian tablets attest to Judean settlement in Mesopotamia as early as the sixth century BCE. Yet little is known about the Jews living in Mesopotamia and points east from Alexander’s conquest until the first century CE. When we do again hear about Babylonian Jews, in the fourth century CE, it is clear that they already constituted a significant community. (See also the map Parthian and Sasanian Empires.)

In On the Embassy to Gaius (Legatio ad Gaium), Philo of Alexandria describes his diplomatic mission to Roman emperor Gaius Caligula (r. 37–41 CE) to secure the rights of Alexandrian Jews in the face of civil discord between Jews and Greeks in Alexandria. In this passage, Philo advocates Jewish support for the Roman Empire, mentioning the Jews in Babylonia in the course of his argument.