A Prince of Babylon: The Rise and Fall of Mar Zutra II

The First of the Savoraim and a Royal Lineage

Mar Zutra II was a tragic hero, a great leader of Israel who was executed by a ruthless empire. He is considered the first of the Savoraim, the rabbinic sages who bridged the gap between the Amoraim (Talmudic sages) and the Geonim. His father, Rav Huna Mar bar Rav Kahana, served as Exilarch (Head of the Diaspora) during the final days of the Amoraic period. Mar Zutra II, descended from an earlier Mar Zutra mentioned in the Talmud, carried the prestigious lineage of King David and led Babylonian Jewry as Exilarch roughly 1,500 years ago.

The Exilarch was the political leader of the Jews in Babylonia, while the heads of the great yeshivot (academies) served as spiritual leaders. Rav Huna Mar bar Rav Kahana’s father-in-law, Rav Hanina, was the head of the yeshiva during that time. According to Seder Olam Zuta, a conflict erupted between Rav Huna and Rav Hanina over the appointment of a judge. As a result of this dispute, a plague broke out, wiping out the Exilarch’s entire family, aside from his pregnant daughter.

Her grandfather, Rav Hanina, stationed himself outside her door to guard the unborn child, the last remnant of the Davidic line. He raised the boy, and at the astonishing age of fifteen, the child, Mar Zutra II, was appointed Exilarch with the approval of the Sassanian king, who dismissed the acting Exilarch, Rav Pakhra. Thus began the leadership of Mar Zutra II in the early Savoraic period.

Rebellion, Retribution, and Tragic Consequences

Mar Zutra led the Jewish community in peace for thirteen years, until a sudden shift in royal policy turned the tide. The Sassanian king Kavadh ordered the execution of Rav Yitzchak, a scholar closely associated with Mar Zutra. In response, Mar Zutra, aware of Kavadh’s many enemies, built an army of 400 soldiers and joined forces with the king’s adversaries. In the year 496 CE the rebels succeeded: Kavadh was overthrown and imprisoned.

However, according to Seder Olam Zuta, the Jewish troops under Mar Zutra’s command failed to uphold Jewish law. They drank prohibited wine with the Persians, behaved immodestly, and adopted foreign customs. Just three years later, Kavadh escaped from prison in Afghanistan, rallied local forces, retook control of Persia, and exacted a brutal revenge.

Both Rav Hanina and Mar Zutra II were executed. In a public and gruesome display, Kavadh had Mar Zutra hanged by his arms from the main bridge over the Tigris River in the city of Mehoza.

A Legacy Carried Forward

On the very day of Mar Zutra’s execution, his wife gave birth to a son, Mar Zutra III. The Exilarchate was abolished by Kavadh and only reinstated at the start of the Geonic era. The Sassanian persecutions deeply damaged Jewish institutions: the Sura yeshiva suffered greatly, and its head, Ravina, passed away. But the Pumbedita yeshiva thrived, nurturing Torah for another hundred years and laying the groundwork for the Geonim’s revival of Jewish learning under Islamic rule.

Mar Zutra bar Mar Zutra, the son of the martyr, grew into a brilliant Torah scholar in his own right. He eventually moved to the Land of Israel, where he taught the Babylonian Talmud.

Mar Zutra II’s life was cut short by cruelty, but his legacy endured through his son, his scholarship, and the continued survival of Torah under oppression.