J. Jacobs.--_The Fables of Æsop_ (London, 1889), I,
p. 110 _seq._

Read also Schechter, _Studies in Judaism_, p. 272 [331];
and _J.Q.R._, (Kohler), V, p. 399; VII, p. 581;
(Bacher) IV, p. 406; (Davis) VIII, p. 529; (Abrahams) I, p. 216;
II, p. 172; Chenery, _Legends from the Midrash_ (_Miscellany
of the Society of Hebrew Literature_, Vol. II).




CHAPTER V

THE LETTERS OF THE GAONIM

Representative Gaonim:
Achai, Amram, Zemach, Saadiah, Sherira, Samuel, Hai.


For several centuries after the completion of the Talmud, Babylonia or
Persia continued to hold the supremacy in Jewish learning. The great
teachers in the Persian schools followed the same lines as their
predecessors in the Mishnah and the Talmud. Their name was changed more
than their character. The title _Gaon_ ("Excellence") was applied to the
head of the school, the members of which devoted themselves mainly to
the study and interpretation of the older literature. They also made
original contributions to the store. Of their extensive works but little
has been preserved. What has survived proves that they were gifted with
the faculty of applying old precept to modern instance. They regulated