He is known only from Mishnaic sayings, the Talmudic frame story of the four who entered the orchard, and later mystical works pseudonymously attributed to him; no ancient source records a hometown or birthplace for him.
What would resolve this A Tannaitic era record naming his origin, which the Mishnah, the Talmud and modern scholarship alike do not supply.
OpenRabbinic studies; history of Jewish mysticismGershom Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism