A tractate, or treatise, which is a part of the Talmudic Mishnah. The Talmud is a collection of Jewish traditional teachings about Hebrew law. The Mishnah (a written collection of Jewish oral traditions) is divided into six main sections called orders, each containing seven to twelve tractates (a tractate is a section or part of a larger written work). Each tractate is divided into chapters, and each chapter is divided into sections of legal paragraphs.
Baba Bathra, meaning “last gate,” is the third tractate in the fourth order, Nezikin, which means “damages.” It follows Baba Kamma (“first gate”) and Baba Metzia (“middle gate”). These three tractates, originally one, deal with property issues. Specifically, Baba Bathra covers the ownership of real estate and related problems.