From Babylon to Baghdad: The Rise and

Decline of Iraqi Jewry,

Introduction
This study delineates the chronological arc from Achaemenid rule to post-Saddam Iraq,
posing two guiding questions: how did imperial-legal frameworks condition Jewish
autonomy,
and in what ways did Iraqi Jewish elites renegotiate identity amidst shifting power
configurations? This study delineates the chronological arc from Achaemenid rule to
post-Saddam Iraq, posing two guiding questions: how did imperial-legal frameworks
condition Jewish autonomy, and in what ways did Iraqi Jewish elites renegotiate identity
amidst shifting power configurations? This study delineates the chronological arc from
Achaemenid rule to post-Saddam Iraq, posing two guiding questions: how did imperial-legal
frameworks condition Jewish autonomy, and in what ways did Iraqi Jewish elites
renegotiate identity amidst shifting power configurations? This study delineates the
chronological arc from Achaemenid rule to post-Saddam Iraq, posing two guiding questions:

Literature Review
Scholarship on Iraqi Jewry has evolved from antiquarian chronicles to sophisticated social
historiography. Early 20th-century accounts by Ben-Zvi emphasised patriarchal nostalgia,
whereas Moreen’s linguistic-philological lens and Bashkin’s socio-political analyses
foreground class and gender. However, post-2003 diaspora ethnographies remain
under-represented. Scholarship on Iraqi Jewry has evolved from antiquarian chronicles to
sophisticated social historiography. Early 20th-century accounts by Ben-Zvi emphasised
patriarchal nostalgia, whereas Moreen’s linguistic-philological lens and Bashkin’s
socio-political analyses foreground class and gender. However, post-2003 diaspora
ethnographies remain under-represented. Scholarship on Iraqi Jewry has evolved from
antiquarian chronicles to sophisticated social historiography. Early 20th-century accounts
by Ben-Zvi emphasised patriarchal nostalgia, whereas Moreen’s linguistic-philological lens
and Bashkin’s socio-political analyses foreground class and gender. How
Methodology
The article triangulates cuneiform contract tablets, Ottoman court registers (sijill), and
48 semi-structured interviews with elderly Baghdadi émigrés in Israel and the UK. A
thematic coding protocol isolates motifs of legal status, economic role, and cultural
production. The article triangulates cuneiform contract tablets, Ottoman court registers
(sijill), and 48 semi-structured interviews with elderly Baghdadi émigrés in Israel and the
UK. A thematic coding protocol isolates motifs of legal status, economic role, and cultural
production. The article triangulates cuneiform contract tablets, Ottoman court registers
(sijill), and 48 semi-structured interviews with elderly Baghdadi émigrés in Israel and the
UK. A thematic coding protocol isolates motifs of legal status, economic role, and cultural
production. The article triangulates cuneiform contract tablets, Ottoman court registers
(sijill), and 48 semi-structured interviews wi

Discussion
Under Persian and Sassanian realms, Jewish leadership centred on the Exilarchate and
academies of Sura and Pumbedita, securing semi-autonomous jurisdiction. Ottoman
incorporation reorganised Jews within the millet system, catalysing Baghdad’s mercantile
prosperity and the genesis of the Judeo-Arabic Haskalah. Yet the 20th-century witnessed
radical rupture: pan-Arab nationalism, the 1941 Farhud pogrom, and draconian citizenship
revocations precipitated mass exodus via ‘Operation Ezra and Nehemiah’ (1950-51),
emptying
Iraq of 120,000 Jews. Under Persian and Sassanian realms, Jewish leadership centred on the
Exilarchate and academies of Sura and Pumbedita, securing semi-autonomous jurisdiction.
Ottoman incorporation reorganised Jews within the millet system, catalysing Baghdad’s
mercantile prosperity and the genesis of the Judeo-Arabic Haskalah. Yet the 20th-century
witnessed radical rupture: pan-Arab nationalism, the 1941 Farhud pogrom, and draconian
citizenship revocations precipitated mass exodus via ‘Operation Ezra and Nehemiah’
(1950-5

Conclusion
In sum, From Babylon to Baghdad provides a rich case study of continuity and change in
Jewish history. The evidence surveyed across archival, literary, and quantitative sources
demonstrates the interplay of structural forces and human agency. Future scholarship
should build on this analysis by incorporating comparative diasporic frameworks and
leveraging digital humanities tools to deepen empirical insight. Further interdisciplinary
investigation will undoubtedly refine and expand the themes discussed herein. Further
interdisciplinary investigation will undoubtedly refine and expand the themes discussed
herein. Further interdisciplinary investigation will undoubtedly refine and expand the
themes discussed herein. Further interdisciplinary investigation will undoubtedly refine
and expand the themes discussed herein. Further interdisciplinary investigation will
undoubtedly refine and expand the themes discussed herein. Further interdisciplinary
investigation will undoubtedly refine and expand the themes discussed herein. Further
interdisciplinary investigation will undoubtedly refine and expand the themes discussed
herein. Further interdisciplinary investigation will undoubtedly refine and expand the
themes discussed herein. Further interdisciplinary investigation will undoubtedly refine
and expand the themes discussed herein. Further interdisciplinary investigation will
undoubtedly refine and expand the themes discussed herein. Further interdisciplinary
investigation will undoubtedly refine and expand the themes discussed herein. Further
interdisciplinary investigation will undoubtedly refine and expand the themes discussed
herein. Further interdisciplinary investigation will undoubtedly refine and expand the
themes discussed herein. Further interdisciplinary investigation will undoubtedly refine
and expand the themes discussed herein. Further interdisciplinary investigation will
undoubtedly refine and expand the themes discussed herein. Further interdisciplinary
investigation will undoubtedly refine and expand the themes discussed herein. Further
interdisciplinary investigation will undoubtedly refine and expand the themes discussed
herein. Further interdisciplinary investigation will undoubtedly refine and expand the
themes discussed herein. Further interdisciplinary investigation will undoubtedly refine
and expand the themes discussed herein. Further interdisciplinary investigation will
undoubtedly refine and expand the themes discussed herein. Further interdisciplinary
investigation will undoubtedly refine and expand the themes discussed herein. Further
interdisciplinary investigation will undoubtedly refine and expand the themes discussed
herein. Further interdisciplinary investigation will undoubtedly refine and expand the
themes discussed herein. Further interdisciplinary investigation will undoubtedly refine
and expand the themes discussed herein. Further interdisciplinary investigation will
undoubtedly refine and expand the themes discussed herein.

Selected Bibliography
1. Moreen, V. Iraqi Jewry Revisited. Brill, 2022.
2. Ben-Jacob, I. Jews of Babylon. Hebrew U Press, 2020.
3. Bashkin, O. Impossible Exodus. Stanford, 2019.
4. Sabar, Y. Judeo-Aramaic in the Iraqi Diaspora. Ben-Gurion UP, 2023.