Megillat Taanit

[2] As the text and the scholium of Megillat Taanit are distinct in form and language, they also differ in historical accuracy.

The text is an actual historical source whose statements may be regarded as authentic, while its dates are reliable if interpreted independently of the scholium.

Although it contains some reliable baraitot, the compiler has mixed them with other ahistorical accounts and legends so that even those data whose legendary character has not been proved can be credited only when confirmed by internal and external evidence.

[2] The account in the Talmud and that in the scholium may both be accepted since not only Hananiah, the father but also Eleazar, the son, contributed to the compilation of the work.

Eleazar, one of the central figures in the war against the Romans, endeavored to strengthen the national consciousness of his people by continuing his father's work and increased the number of memorial days in the collection to remind the people how God had always helped them and had given them the victory over external and internal enemies.

"[18] This indicates that the work was completed at Usha at the time of Simeon ben Judah ha-Nasi, so no further memorial days might be added.

The scholion is written in Mishnaic Hebrew combined with some more ancient terminology; there are also some influences from later Babylonian Aramaic.

Some stories in the scholion are ancient and reliable, mentioning historical facts nowhere else in Tannaic literature, while others are midrashim taken from various sources.

The best edition of the Aramaic and Hebrew text is that of Vered Noam, which has supplanted A. Neubauer's as the authoritative work in the field.

In addition to meticulous philological scholarship, Noam's edition includes rich annotation and a groundbreaking interpretation of stemmatic history.

It is a list of 22–26 days where fasting should be observed, generally due to the death of Biblical figures or sages.