הרב אשיאן בר נדבך

Rabbi Ashyan bar Nadvach was an amora. He appears in tractate Menachot, where he brings a teaching in the name of Rav Yehudah concerning the precise form of letters in a sacred writing — ruling that if the inner space of the letter heh is pierced it remains valid, while a piercing in its leg renders it invalid. The discussion continues with Rabbi Zeira and Rabbi Yaakov, who report how this same matter was explained to them, refining the standard: if enough of the leg remains to form a small letter it is valid, and if not it is invalid.

This brief appearance places him among those who carried and clarified the careful halachic details governing the writing of holy letters.