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RichaRd Kalmin This paper focuses on the importance of a proper appreciation of the stam’s function in sugyot , in particular the stam’s editorial character , to improve our ability to utilize the Babylonian Talmud as historical evidence . I argue , for example , that an important part of the stam’s motivation is the desire to combine independent sugyot and discreet traditions to form a single complex discourse , rather than simply juxtapose several shorter sugyot or isolated memrot , after the fashion of the Yerushalmi . Awareness of this feature of the stam will improve our ability to determine whether an amora or the stam is speaking , which can have important historical implications . For example , it will facilitate the proper dating of the earliest appearance of significant phenomena in the text of the Bavli , which can be compared to what is known about the appearance of related phenomena in other literatures and cultures in Mesopotamia and the surrounding areas . The ensuing di...
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