ultural Context: Babylonia

The Jewish community in Babylonia dates back to the 6th century when Nebuchadnezzar exiled Judah. After the rebuilding of the Temple in the time of Ezra many Jews ascended to the Land of Israel while some Jews remained in Babylonia. The Babylonian Jewish community appears to have thrived because of the autonomy granted to them by the Parthians and then later by the Sassanians.

We proposed above that the Avoidance Etiquette, unlike Engagement Etiquette lends itself to a society characterized by vast distance between social classes where it may not have been deemed appropriate for social un-equals to be found in the same social situation. Although it is difficult to find direct evidence for the prevalence of the Avoidance Etiquette in Babylonia in the Sassanian period, it may suffice to show that at least its social structure may have been agreeable to this greeting etiquette. It is difficult to speak of all of Babylonia as sharing in a uniform culture as it appears that already by the middle of the sixth century B.C.E., the population of Babylonia was ethnically mixed (Cambridge History of Judaism, pg. 338). We can only assume that some parts of Babylonia, which may have contained Jewish communities shared a culture that exhibited the characteristics we are seeking.

The sources on the Sassanian daily life are scanty and do not shed much light directly on our inquiry. However, a key feature of social distance, the rigid social structure of the Sassanids is well attested in the literature on this empire.1

“The theory was that men of low birth, even if they acquired the necessary skills, were not fit to handle the responsibilities of men of noble birth, and so it was incumbent upon kings to preserve the purity of the higher classes. Thus, it was invariably understood that the people must be kept to their own stations and might not aspire to cross the lines of social class (rubenstein, pg. 86), Cambridge History of Iran (pg. 397)

The inability of “crossing lines of social class” in Sassanian society distinguishes it sharply from Roman society which allowed for upward movement.  

Sassanian society developed an elaborate, ceremonious etiquette system extending to every aspect of life. Sassanian documents attest to great formality in interrelationships between people of different ranks or social orders. Even formal behavior between father and son were defined. For example, a younger was expected to maintain reservation before an elder:

“In front of their elders, the young would stand with hands on their chests and heads lowered downwards in respect (ibid., IV, p. 76 v. 1197; Wolff, Glossar, p. 382, s.v. “dast,” no. 45; Ardā Wīrāz--nāmag 1.20) “

“On meeting each other, or bidding each other farewell, a son would kiss his father’s hands and feet while the father would embrace the son’s head, face and eyes (Šāh-nāma, ed. Khaleghi, I, p. 273 v. 1546).”

“After dismounting, those of more or less equal status would kiss the ground before the other.”

These non-verbal gestures are just a few examples of Sassanian ritualized methods of interaction between non-equals which actually appear to predate significantly the Sassanian Period: “Unspontaneous, semi-ritualized gestures were a hallmark of Persian social communication, at least according to Herodotus (1.134), who describes in some detail a series of greeting gestures used in daily life.” (King and Court in Persia, pg. 71)

The passages from first and second hand sources adduced above paint the picture of a society characterized by great social distance and ritualized modes of interaction which appear to be primarily non-verbal. It is possible that the presence of this type of culture in Babylonia or parts of it would sustain the claims of Palestinian sources of the prevalence of the Avoidance Etiquette in Babylonia.