Enchantress: A Novel of Rav Hisda's Daughter (2 page)

About the Author

Praise for Maggie Anton

Also by Maggie Anton

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Timeline

Map of Middle East ca. 300 CE

Cast of Characters

PART ONE: King Narseh’s Reign

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

PART TWO: King Hormizd’s and King Shapur’s Reigns

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

TWENTY-ONE

TWENTY-TWO

TWENTY-THREE

TWENTY-FOUR

TWENTY-FIVE

TWENTY-SIX

TWENTY-SEVEN

TWENTY-EIGHT

TWENTY-NINE

THIRTY

THIRTY-ONE

THIRTY-TWO

THIRTY-THREE

THIRTY-FOUR

THIRTY-FIVE

EPILOGUE

AFTERWORD

GLOSSARY

To my husband, Dave—
without your love, encouragement, and support, Rashi’s daughters and Rav Hisda’s daughter would still be merely figments of my imagination.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I
thank my outstanding editor at Plume, Denise Roy, who wielded her line edits with scalpel-like precision to cut extraneous and duplicate material so the flow improved and the reader was left eager to learn more. It was an education and a pleasure to work with such a consummate professional.

Kudos to Beth Lieberman for editing advice that never let me forget that the Talmud scenes should be about more than just Talmud, and that my heroine and hero must fulfill their characters’ arcs. Many thanks to my literary agent, Susanna Einstein, who has been negotiating for me since the early days of my career. My daughter, Emily, a voracious reader of historical fiction, spent hours critiquing my early drafts and never hesitated to lambast any scenes that didn’t measure up to her exacting standards.

I must also acknowledge the myriad of scholars who offered their assistance, with special appreciation to my Talmud study partners, Henry Wudl of HUC and Janet Sternfeld Davis of AJU.

Last, but not least, I offer love and gratitude to my husband, Dave. He had no idea that after thirty-five years of marriage to a chemist with regular working hours, he would abruptly be catapulted into living with an author who stayed up into the early hours writing, traveled all over the country (sometimes for weeks at a time), and whose income was erratic to say the least. He bore all this disruption with patience and a sense of humor, much better than I would have done if our situation had been reversed.

TIME LINE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

450
BCE

Cyrus the Great allows Ezra and captured Jews to return to Zion from Babylonia, but many remain there.

332
BCE

Alexander the Great defeats Persian king Darius, Judea and Babylonia become Greek provinces.

167
BCE

Hasmonean/Maccabean revolt in Judea (basis of Hanukah). Judea again ruled by Jewish kings.

63
BCE

Pompey conquers Hasmonean state, Judea now ruled by Rome.

ca. 40
BCE

Hillel comes to Jerusalem from Babylonia and founds school to teach Torah.

37
BCE

Herod becomes client king of Judea, dies in 4 BCE.

6
CE

Judea becomes Roman province.

35

Jesus crucified.

66

Judean Jews rebel against Rome.

70

Judean rebellion fails. Temple in Jerusalem destroyed.

132

Bar Kokhba revolt against Rome, in Judea.

135

Bar Kokhba revolt is crushed. Judea renamed Palestina.

200

Mishna (Oral Law) redacted by patriarch, Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi.

220

Rav returns to Babylonia from Eretz Israel. He and Samuel establish Torah schools in Sura and Pumbedita, respectively.

226

Sasanian Persians conquer Parthia.

230

Hisda born in Babylonia.

241

Shapur 1 becomes king of Persia.

250

Jews agree to accept Persian law in Jewish courts. Jews receive autonomy within that limitation.

260

Shapur 1 defeats Rome, captures emperor Valerian.

270

Rava (Abba bar Joseph) born in Babylonia. Rav’s grandson Nehemiah becomes exilarch (through 313).

284

Diocletian becomes Roman emperor (through 305).

292

Narseh becomes king of Persia.

296

Narseh declares war on Rome.

298

Narseh defeated; Persia loses Armenia and upper Euphrates. Persian capital Ctesiphon sacked.

301

Narseh abdicates in favor of son Hormizd II.

307

Constantine, a Christian, becomes emperor of Rome.

309

Hormizd II dies. Persian crown placed on pregnant wife’s belly.

310

Shapur II born and declared king of Persia.

313

Mar Huna becomes exilarch (through 337). Constantine issues Edict of Milan and makes Christianity an official religion in Rome.

325

Roman Palestina administered by Christians. Last remaining Torah school in Tiberias is closed.

328

Shapur II crowned king of Persia and immediately attacks Arabs.

337

Constantine dies. Roman throne divided among his three sons.

350

Jerusalem Talmud complete.

359

Shapur II begins war with Rome.

361

Julian the Apostate becomes emperor of Rome, declares war against Persia and begins to rebuild Temple in Jerusalem.

363

An earthquake in Israel destroys Sepphoris and the partially rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. Rome defeated at Samara. Death of Emperor Julian.

380

Christianity established as Rome’s only official religion.

400

Yazdgerd becomes king of Persia, marries a Jewish princess, and inaugurates golden age of Sasanian kingdom.

424

Rav Ashi dies, and redacting of the Babylonian Talmud begins.

425

Rome abolishes office of Nasi (patriarch) in Palestina.

500

Death of Ravina, head of Sura school and last sage named in the Babylonian Talmud.

570

Birth of Mohammed.

630

Rise of Islam.

638

Omar captures Jerusalem. Jews allowed to live there for the first time in nearly five hundred years.

642

Palestina, Syria, Egypt, and Babylonia fall to Muslim Arabs.

650/700

Stammaim (anonymous editors) produce the final form of the Babylonian Talmud

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Abba bar Joseph (b. 270)—
a.k.a. Rava; Hisdadukh’s second husband, from Machoza

Abaye—
Rava’s best friend and study partner in Pumbedita

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