In the passage where he describes the founding of the Academy of Sura by Rav, he says expressly that Rav had come to "Sura, which is Mata Mehasya"[2] There is no doubt, however, that these names belonged to two distinct towns, which came to be regarded as one when the seat of the academy was mentioned.
Most of the Talmudic references to this place, which Ashi says may not be called either a city or a borough,[4] date from this time.
[6] Ashi was wont to say that the non-Jewish inhabitants of Mata Mehasya were hard-hearted, since they beheld the splendor of the Torah twice a year at the great Kallah assemblies, and yet not one of them was converted to Judaism.
"[9] There were various differences of opinion between the scholars of Pumbedita and Mata Mehasya regarding questions of civil law.
[11] The Talmud refers to the destruction of Mata Mehasya,[12] but in post-Talmudic times the town lent its name to the Academy of Sura, as stated above.