The period of the Amoraim begins after the death of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi c. 220 CE, and the passing of his student-colleagues within several years thereafter. Amoraim acted in every way as a direct continuation of Tannaim, and the passage from one period to the other was gradual. Some Amoraim in the first generation after Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi were even considered to be of sufficient stature to dispute statements of Tannaim.

Beginning with the generation after Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi, there were five amoraic generations in the Land of Israel, and eight in Babylonia. The amoraic period is said to come to a close with the death of Rabina b. Rav Huna and Rav Yosi/Asi c. 505 CE, such that each generation averaged approximately 35 years. More than twenty yeshivot functioned in Israel and Babylonia, however, the vast majority of the 1500 Amoraim known to us were in several large, central academies. In Israel, the leading academies were in Zippori, Lod, Tiberias, and Caesaria. In Babylonia, the first major academy was in Nehardea, an ancient Jewish community well predating the Tannaitic period. In the first amoraic generation, Rabbi Abba (known as “Rav”) founded the yeshivah in Sura upon his return from studies in Israel with Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi. After the invasion and destruction of Nehardea in 258 CE by the armies of the desert kingdom Tadmor, the academy of Pumbedita was founded. Sura and Pumbedita remained the main academies throughout the second and third generations. In the fourth and fifth generations, little is known about amoraic activity in Sura. The academy in Pumbedita dominated the fourth generation, and maintained itself through the end of the amoraic period, and beyond. The yeshivah of Mechoza, which existed from the first amoraic generation, flourishing as a leading center in the fourth generation. In the sixth and final generations, the activity centered around Sura, its suburb, Mata Mechasia, and Pumbedita.

Historical information helps us understand the sugyot in the Talmudim. For instance, the Babylonian Talmud presents sugyot from four amoraic periods: early sugyot from Sura (generations 1-3), middle-period sugyot from Pumbedita and Mechoza (generations 2-4), and late sugyot from Sura, Mata Mechasia (generations 6-8) and Pumbedita (generations 5-8). Sugyot often begin in one center, move to another and then another, gaining additional amoraic statements and analysis in each place. Awareness of history helps us follow the structure of the sugyot. Furthermore, almost all amoraic sugyot in the Talmud present amoraic statements in order of their generations. Knowledge of the main scholars of the eight generations enables exact study and analysis of sugyot according to their development. Below, a table of a few leading Babylonian academy heads:

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