Academic study of
Jewish mysticism, especially since
Gershom Scholem's
Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941), distinguishes between different forms of
mysticism across different eras of
Jewish history. Of these,
Kabbalah, which emerged in 12th-century Europe, is the most well known, but not the only typologic form, or the earliest to emerge. Among previous forms were
Merkabah mysticism (c. 100 BCE – 1000 CE), and
Chassidei Ashkenaz (early 13th century CE) around the time of Kabbalistic emergence.