A Chronicle of Baghdad: The Exilarch

In this excerpt from the medieval Hebrew translation of Nathan ha-Bavli’s A Chronicle of Baghdad (Akhbār Baghdād), the author describes the highly ritualized celebration to appoint a new exilarch, one of the chief communal leaders in Jewish Baghdad. Most scholars consider this account to be a stylized report designated for the consumption of those outside of Baghdad. Nathan favors the Sura academy over that of Pumbedita, perhaps suggesting that he was a student of the former. Some of Nathan’s descriptions of the installation ceremony of the exilarch echo earlier rabbinic literature, and it is conceivable that Baghdadi Jews modeled their ceremonies on those texts. The spectacular investiture described here, however, is likely exaggerated for literary effect. It is noteworthy that Nathan does not describe direct appointment from the caliph, despite his attempts to emphasize the stature of the exilarch (Hebrew: rosh golah, Aramaic: resh galuta, “head of the exile”—the nominal head of the diasporic Jewish community).