"Based on an understanding of scholasticism as a cross-cultural phenomenon, this book examines the literary-historical development of rabbinic compilations. The book explores texts such as the Talmud Yerushalmi in the context of late antique scholarly practice, which preserved past knowledge for future generations. Catherine Hezser argues that rabbinic scholarship was an integral part of late antique intellectual life and should be recognized as an Eastern equivalent to Western, paideia-based forms of scholarship in the Roman-Byzantine period and beyond"--