sWith­in this close tex­tu­al analy­sis of the Baby­lon­ian Tal­mud, Yishai Kiel explores rab­binic dis­cus­sions of sex in light of cul­tur­al assump­tions and dis­po­si­tions that per­vad­ed the cul­tures of late antiq­ui­ty and par­tic­u­lar­ly the Iran­ian world. By nego­ti­at­ing the Iran­ian con­text of the rab­binic dis­cus­sion along­side the Chris­t­ian back­drop, this ground­break­ing vol­ume presents a bal­anced and nuanced por­tray­al of the rab­binic dis­course on sex­u­al­i­ty and sit­u­ates rab­binic dis­cus­sions of sex more broad­ly at the cross­roads of late antique cul­tures. The study is divid­ed into two the­mat­ic sec­tions: the first cen­ters on the broad­er aspects of rab­binic dis­course on sex­u­al­i­ty while the sec­ond hones in on rab­binic dis­cus­sions of sex­u­al pro­hi­bi­tions and the clas­si­fi­ca­tion of per­mis­si­ble and pro­hib­it­ed part­ner­ships, with par­tic­u­lar atten­tion to rab­binic dis­cus­sions of incest. Essen­tial read­ing for schol­ars and grad­u­ate stu­dents of Juda­ic stud­ies, ear­ly Chris­tian­i­ty, and Iran­ian stud­ies, as well as those inter­est­ed in reli­gious stud­ies and com­par­a­tive religion.