ʿUKBARĀ

ʿUKBARĀ (Okbarā), Babylonian town. The three towns of ʿUkbarā, Avana (Awana), and Busra, which were all situated near each other on the left bank of the Tigris, were regarded as the northern extremity of Babylonia during the talmudic period. The largest of these was ʿUkbarā; the geographer al-Muqaddasī said at the close of the tenth century that it was a big town with a large population. It fell into decline and was destroyed as a result of a change in the course of the Tigris, whose chief river bed moved eastward during the 12th century; this explains the fact that the town's ruins are now located to the west of the river. During the town's period of prosperity there was also a large Jewish settlement (see allusions to it in A.E. Harkavy, Zikkaron la-Rishonim ve-gam la-Aḥaronim, 4 (1887), no. 285). During the ninth century Meshvi of ʿUkbarā achieved fame; he founded a sect which deviated from both traditional Judaism and karaism . According to the testimony of benjamin of tudela , the 12th-century traveler, there were about 10,000 Jews in ʿUkbarā during the second half of the 12th century. After the decline and destruction of the town, the Jewish settlement also disappeared. However, when the Jewish researcher jacob obermeyer visited the site in 1877, he found many potsherds bearing Hebrew inscriptions in square script. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. Obermeyer, Die Landschaft Babylonien (1929), 81ff.; A. Ben-Jacob, Yehudei Bavel (1965), 53. (Eliyahu Ashtor) UKHMANI, AZRIEL UKHMANI, AZRIEL (1907–1978), Israel writer and literary critic. Born in Sanok, Poland, Ukhmani studied in Sanok at the yeshivah of Rabbi Meir Shapiro and was ordained by the Taḥkemoni Rabbinical Seminary in Warsaw, later graduating in agronomy from the University of Toulouse, France. In 1932 he joined kibbutz Ein Shemer and was secretary of the labor council of Karkur. He served as editor of the literary supplement of Ha-Shomer ha-Ẓa'ir. Ukhmani was one of the founders and editor of the daily newspaper Al ha-Mishmar. Together with lea goldberg , R. Eliaz and ezra sussman , he was a member of the editorial board of the literary weekly Ittim, which was edited by shlonsky . He was a founder of the progressive culture (Tarbut Mitkademet) and Ẓavta movements. He was editor of the belles lettres section (now the poetry section) of the Sifriat ha-Poalim publishing company and a member, for 20 years, of the Central Committee of the Hebrew Writers' Association in Israel, and for a number of years edited its publication Moznayim. He was a member of the PEN committee in Israel and was co-editor with israel cohen of the annual for literature, criticism, and thought – Me'assef. Ukhmani published works on literary criticism: Le-Ever ha-Adam (1935); Tekhanim ve–Ẓurot (1957, enlarged and expanded edition, 2 vols. 1977); and Kolot Adam (1967). His poetical works, written under the pseudonym of Ron Adi, are Aval Laylah Laylah Ani (1968), Mi-Sha'ah le-Sha'ah, mi-Nes le-Nes (1970), Emor Pelaim (1973) and Atar Kadum (1976, awarded the Talpir Prize). Yehudit Kafri edited a volume in his memory, entitled Bi-Ẓeva'im mi-Makor Rishon (1983). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Y. Rabi, "Mah Yitaron la-Sofer be-Khol Amalo?" in: Moznayim, 50:2 (1980), 135–37; R. Kritz, '"Azriel   Ukhmani ve-Ran Adi: Bibliografiyyah," in: Erev Rav (1990), 334–39; A. Holtzman, "Le-Ever ha-Adam o me-Ever la-Sifrut," in: Alei Siaḥ, 36 (1995), 127–40. (Getzel Kressel)