Category: From my diary

“Views in Egypt,” by Luigi Mayer

Posted on by Roger Pearse

Earlier I came across a twitter post by the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, referencing a book unknown to me.  The book title is “Views in Egypt, from the original drawings in the possession of Sir Robert Ainslie, taken during his embassy to Constantinople by Luigi Mayer” and printed in London in 1801.

The volume may be found at Archive.org here.  The 10mb PDF is useless, however, as the pictures have been compressed to the point of destruction.  But the original images of the pages are also downloadable, although the zip file is 2Gb in size.

The text is not interesting.  The images are not especially interesting either, in truth!  But I did see this one, between pages 14 and 15, of the two largest pyramids at Giza.

Views in Egypt, from the original drawings in the possession of Sir Robert Ainslie, taken during his embassy to Constantinople by Luigi Mayer. 1802. View of the Great Pyramid between pp.14-15.

The figures in all the illustrations are clearly stylised and added in the studio.

What makes this image interesting is the mound reaching up the side of the Great Pyramid, right up to the huge gash in one side.  Today that damage is in mid-air.  But here we see that this is the residue of attempts to take stone from it, for building purposes in Cairo.  The mound was heaped up to facilitate this.

There are quite a number of images of Alexandria.  The drawings were taken while Egypt was still under Mameluke rule, before the coming of Mohammed Ali, and the beginning of modernisation.

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Life of John Damascene by John, Patriarch of Jerusalem (BHG 884) – Part 4

Posted on by Roger Pearse

Here are the next four chapters of the “Jerusalem Life” of John Damascene.  John Damascene’s father has met an educated Italian slave named Cosmas in the market in Damascus, and employs him to teach his sons philosophy.

    *    *    *    *

10.  John’s Father Frees Cosmas and Entrusts His Sons to Him.[1]

On hearing these words, the man[2] who was seeking such a treasure replied, “Well then, O blessed man, console yourself, for perhaps the Lord may grant you the requests of your heart.”  Having said this, John’s father ran as fast as he could to the Saracen chief and fell at his feet, requesting the now quiet distinguished Cosmas as a gift, nor did he fail in his request, but he received the one truly worthy of much as a gift, and brought him into his own house, comforted him, and refreshed him after his long ordeal, and said something like this, “Not only are you free from now on, but also I make you a partner in my household, and equal in authority with me, sharing all my joys and sorrows.”  But this only I request of you, in honour your honour, that you instruct and educate most diligently my natural son John, and also this other who shares your name – whom I have made my spiritual son, who was born in Jerusalem but orphaned at a young age – all the secular learning and philosophy that you know, as well as that to which the grace of the Holy Spirit guides the worthy.[3]  The philosopher, upon hearing this, was at once like a horse galloping away from its restraints and prancing across the field, or a thirsty deer sent out towards streams of water.  You might say that he was like another Midas who had stumbled upon great treasures of gold.  He was very eager for the matter at hand, and he took on the young men, and became their tutor.

11.  John and Cosmas the Younger gain expertise in theology.

John was like an eagle, soaring through the air, as if using wings, and with natural ability and zeal of purpose.  And his spiritual brother, and fellow initiate, Cosmas, was like a ship with sails spread wide, and borne like a cargo vessel upon the waters, [propelled] by a favourable breeze[4] and with a west wind blowing from the stern.  Thus, by natural quickness and intensity of zeal, they gathered all the most important teaching in a short time, whether in grammar, dialectic or demonstration.  And with moral philosophy, they not only cultivated their minds by means of studying this, but also calmed the disturbances of their souls.  And just like an eagle looking keenly, so did they gaze intently at the laws of nature.  They also learned mathematical proportions as skilfully as Pythagoras or Diophantus.  They were trained so well in the proof of geometry that they seemed like Euclid and those others similar to him.  In harmony, they became like those[5] who appear to have created divine melodies for the wise.  In astronomy, as much as [pertains] to intervals, figures,[6] and the proportions of distances, even if he[Cosmas the elder] taught only a introductory understanding for non-specialists, from what he wrote John appears to excel; and indeed so also did Cosmas.  But discussion about him [Cosmas the younger] must be left to others, for John is the subject of our praise.[7]

12.  They study theology especially.

Who would not recognize and marvel at his theological insights, and the precision of his doctrines in his foundational book—or rather, in his comprehensive book on doctrine—which one could call a code of laws of every orthodox doctrine, and [liken to] the tablets of Moses without straying from the truth.  However I know that I ought to have made praises of that book in the earlier chapters, and not here, but I have stated these things to demonstrate the education in which he was educated, and how he pursued all of it with knowledge and precision, and the marvellous thing is that he was not puffed up by knowledge, but rather, just as the noble  branches of trees, weighed down by their abundance of fruit, inclined toward the ground, so also the great John, as the fruits of learning increased upon him, began to incline, not towards the ground, but towards the depths of the philosophical sea, sailing still upon it as if on some ship of worldly endeavour.[8]  But he also longed to unload this world’s ship, and to entirely strip off the garments of bodily endeavour, and with a naked mind to swim across the sea, and dive into the deep, so that he might find the precious pearl lying hidden there. Therefore, longing for this and aiming at it, he descended to the bottom of the depths.  And he was not puffed up by his knowledge, but humbled by his desire for a more mystical wisdom.  So the intellectual lamp of his soul was filled with the oil of worldly wisdom, in order that the incorporeal light falling down from above might set fire to this light, and John might appear like a burning torch.

13.  They are returned to their father by their teacher, who retires to a monastery.  John becomes Chief Adviser.

In these circumstances, his teacher, guided towards this desire by his student, or so it seems, approached the boy’s father and said,

“Behold: your wishes are fulfilled, and the boys surpass me in wisdom.  For it was not enough for them to become equal to their teacher, but by the greatness of their nature, and their unyielding efforts, perhaps also with God increasing their gift of wisdom, they have risen above me towards the pinnacle of philosophy.  Accordingly, I am no longer needed by them from now on.”  As reward for my labours, allow me to depart to a monastery, where I may scientifically[9] seek the highest wisdom.  For the philosophy, in which I was already trained, directs me towards that [higher wisdom], and to be enriched still more by both blessings [heavenly and earthly wisdom], and to add to the earlier wisdom also that which is most separated from matter, and surpasses understanding, and which only the mind alone, completely free from the body, can be initiated into.”

John’s father was grieved at the words of the philosopher.  But he could not detain him, as otherwise it would seem as if he had held onto the wages agreed for the teaching given [to his sons].  Having provided him with the most abundant supplies for his needs, he sent him away in peace.  But he went to the monastery of Mar Saba in the desert, and remained there until his end, going to God who is Wisdom Himself.  The father of John also departed through death.  But the leader of the Saracens summoned John, and appointed him as Chief Advisor.[10]  But he declined because his inclination was directed elsewhere.  However he was put under sufficient pressure that he was no longer able to refuse, and was appointed to a greater office than his father.

    *    *    *    *

The Muslim caliphs made use of the existing Byzantine civil service to run the government machine and – the most important part – collect taxes, for a considerable period after the conquest.

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  1. [1]This heading is not from Lequien, but just appeared from nowhere in an AI Latin translation output.↩
  2. [2]John’s father.↩
  3. [3]I am not clear about καὶ ἡ τοῦ πνεύματος χάρις τοὺς ἀξίους ἐμυσταγώγησεν so I have followed the Latin.↩
  4. [4]πνεῦμα = wind, breeze, breath, spirit.↩
  5. [5]I was unable to follow the use of the particles here.  Gk: Περὶ δὲ τὴν ἁρμονικὴν τοιοῦτοι γεγόνασιν, ὁποῖοι ἄρα ἐξ ὧν ἐμουσουργήσασαν θείων μελισμάτων τοῖς συνετοῖς καταφαίνονται.↩
  6. [6]ἐν διαστήμασι καὶ σχηματισμοῖς.↩
  7. [7] ἐγκωμίων↩
  8. [8]The sense is that he was still using the works of mankind to investigate the truths of philosophy, but wanted to go beyond this.↩
  9. [9] ἐπιστημονικός; Lequien “certis regulis”, “by fixed rules.”↩
  10. [10] πρωτοσύμβουλος, perhaps a financial post.↩

A wild claim – by Mary Boyce? – “Anahita, as the Immaculate Virgin Mother of the Lord Mithra”

Posted on by Roger Pearse

The United States has given the world much, including peace, democracy and an open internet, and much that is perhaps less attractive.  But it has also given us a vast surge of cranks and lunatics.  In certain fields of study there must be many an undergraduate tutor who finds that, every year, he must try to be patient, when some self-assured young man innocently trots out some terrible old canard once again.

One of these claims – that Mithras was “born of a virgin,” – has emerged again.  Ali Babaei, an Iranian gentleman who came across it, emailed me a couple of days ago.  Unlike many who write to me, he included a source for the claim and had tried to research it.  He had found the claim on a website here:

An inscription on a Seleucid Temple in Iran dated to the 200s B.C. reads “Anahita, as the Immaculate Virgin Mother of the Lord Mithra.” While there is only one primary source for the “virgin birth” claim, and it has been shown to be very difficult to locate, the quote about Mithras being born of the virgin was published in 1983 by Mary Boyce, a British scholar on Iranian languages and Zoroastrianism who is so respected, the Royal Asiatic Society award for outstanding contributions to the study of religion is called the “Boyce Prize.”

Mithras was, in fact, born from a rock – petra genetrix, as it says on monuments.  Amusingly the website even showed a picture of Mithras being born… from a rock.  This is an unintelligent website pushing a fantasy, and deserves no consideration.

What concerned my correspondent was the claim on the website that this information came from Mary Boyce, the leading scholar of Zoroastrianism, published in an unspecified source in 1983.

The website gave a link, which is to a PDF written by a certain Frank Zindler, containing emails that he wrote, without response, at Dr Bart Ehrman.  The latter must receive a great quantity of crank emails.  Indeed Mr Z. appears to be part of the lunatic fringe of US atheism.  In the PDF we find this:

There is a popular, English-language women’s Web-site called www.irandokht.com. On it I found an article by a certain Manouchehr Saadat Noury, PhD, titled “First Iranian goddess of productivity and values,” dealing with the ancient Iranian goddess Anahita. After showing a picture of the great Temple of Anahita at Kangavar, the article says that

“By the HELLENISTIC era (330—310 BC), if not before, Anahita’s cult came to be closely associated with that of MITHRA.

The ANAHITA TEMPLES have been built in many Iranian cities like Kangavar, Bishapur (an ancient city in south of present-day Faliyan) and other places during different eras. An inscription from 200 BC dedicates a SELEUCID temple in western Iran to “Anahita, as the Immaculate Virgin Mother of the Lord Mithra.” The ANAHITA TEMPLE at Kangavar city of Kermanshah (a western province in present-day Iran) is possibly the most important one. It is speculated that the architectural structure of this temple is a combination of the Greek and Persian styles and some researchers suggest that the temple is related to a girl named Anahita, the daughter of din Mehr, who enjoyed a very high status with the ancient Iranians.”

And also this:

“In the Bundahishn, the two halves of the name “Ardwisur Anahid” are occasionally treated independently of one another, that is, with Ardwisur as the representative of waters, and Anahid identified with the planet Venus.[20] In yet other chapters, the text equates the two, as in “Ardwisur who is Anahid, the father and mother of the Waters” (3.17).

“This legend of the river that descends from Mount Hara appears to have remained a part of living observance for many generations. A Greek inscription from Roman times found in Asia Minor reads ‘the great goddess Anaïtis of high Hara.'[21] On Greek coins of the imperial epoch, she is
spoken of as ‘Anaïtis of the sacred water.[20]”

[20] Boyce 1983, p. 1004 [Boyce, Mary (1983), “Āban,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, New York: Routledge &
Kegan Paul]
[21] Boyce 1975a, p. 74 [Boyce, Mary (1975a), A History of Zoroastrianism, Vol. I, Leiden/Köln: Brill]

There is indeed an article on “Aban” by Mary Boyce in vol. 1 of the Encyclopedia Iranica – on page 58, in the 1985 edition – but it does not contain the quote made at all.  But the reference in the Zindler PDF to Boyce reference is nothing to do with the “immaculate conception of Anahita”, but to this stuff about the waters.  I have also searched her publications from this time – the History of Zoroastrianism in 3 volumes – and there is no reference to this supposed “immaculate conception of Anahita” inscription.

So it looks very much as if the website author has just skimmed the Zindler PDF, and misread, and posted his misreading.  He has assumed that the reference covered both claims.  In fact Zindler references the “immaculate conception” claim is to an article online by somebody called “Manouchehr Saadat Noury, PhD”.

So the claim that this is by Mary Boyce is simply untrue.

Let’s see if we can go a bit further.  Is there any evidence at all of such an inscription?

The ‘article by Manouchehr Saadat Noury, PhD, titled “First Iranian goddess of productivity and values,”‘ referred to by Zindler, seems today to be online at iranian.com here, making the same claims, but with no reference to Boyce at all.  This gives the following references.

Frye, R. N. (1963): The Heritage of Persia: The pre-Islamic History of One of the World’s Great Civilizations, ed., The World Publishing Company, New York.
Frye, R. N. (1993): The Golden Age of Persia, ed., Weidenfeld, London.
Nazmi Afshar, M. S. (2005): Online Article on “Anahita, the Mother of Gods, Iran the cradle of the early gods”.
Saadat Noury, M. (2005): Various Articles on Persian Culture and the History of Iran.
Various Sources (2005): Notes & Articles on Anahita.
Wikipedia Encyclopedia (2005): Online Notes on Anahita (in English & Persian).

I have accessed the two Frye volumes, and I can confirm that neither contains this claim.  The Afshar article is today here.  This also says nothing about this supposed “immaculate conception” inscription in a Seleucid era temple.

There is a Persian-language Wikipedia article for Anahita here.  As far as I can tell this does not include the claim either.

The other “references” are not references at all, and cannot be followed further.

In conclusion, this claim about an inscription in an unspecified temple in western Iran cannot be verified, and need not be attended to.

Update 19 Nov 2024: Note the extremely useful further investigation in the comments by STRT!

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A gorgeous votive relief to Cybele and Attis in Venice

Posted on by Roger Pearse

Yesterday the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Venezia posted a gorgeous image on their twitter feed of a votive relief in their collection (inventory number 158).  It depicts Cybele (left) and Attis, with two women, mother and daughter, entering the shrine through doors.

Museo Archeo Venezia. Votive relief to Cybele and Attis, 2nd century BC, Giovanni Grimani collection, on display in Room 8. Inv. 158.

Just look at that, and admire.

The origins of the piece are unknown, as it was acquired by a Venetian nobleman in the 16th century.  I don’t know what the dates offered – 3rd or 2nd century BC – are based on.

I looked this item up in the Corpus Cultus Cybelae Attidisque (CCCA) volume, where it is in vol. 7, pp.44-45.  The entry is as follows:

Greyish-white marble relief (H. 0.57, W. 0.80, D. 0.06) from unknown provenance. Venice, Archaeological Museum, Inv. no 118, formerly in the Grimani collection.

Zoega, Bassor. II, 73 arbitrarily supposes that Smyrna or Magnesia ad Sipylum is the place of origin; G. Valentinelli, Catalogo dei marmi scolpiti del Museo archeologico della Marciana di Venezia, Venice 1863, no 233 and Pl. L; M. Collignon, Monuments grecs I, 1881, 11ff and Pl. 2; A. v. Salis in JdI XXVIII, 1913, 10 and fig. 6; C. Anti, Il Regio Museo archeologico nel Palazzo Reale di Venezia, Rome 1930, 104 ff and fig.17; F. Matz in AA 1932, 279; Schuchhardt in Die Antike XII, 1936, 103ff and Pl. 7; Kähler, Pergamon, 75f and 73 n. 70; Bruna Forlati Tamaro, Il Museo archeologico del Palazzo Reale di Venezia, Rome 1953, 21 no 17 and fig. on p. 62, who mentions “Asia Minor” as the origin and dates the monument to the second century B.C.; Lullies, Plastik, Pl. 230; Linfert in AA LXXXI, 1966, 496ff and fig. 2; Vermaseren, Legend Attis,2 3 and Pl. XII, 1.

At the left side of the relief Cybele, wearing polos, veil, four tresses of hair and a long garment, is solemnly standing in her temple, facing the entrance. She is holding a long sceptre in her right hand and a tympanum in her other hand. At her feet a seated lion. In front of her is Attis in oriental dress leaning with his left hand on the pedum, the point of which is resting on a mound of rocky soil. One door of the entrance is open and a mother and daughter are entering. The mother is holding an unidentifiable object in her left hand (bird or fruit?) and raising her left hand in adoration. The daughter is carrying a plate with both hands.

Date: middle of the third century B.C. (Lullies) ; second century B.C. (Tamaro).

The abbreviations used in the bibliography can be found in the full volume.  A “pedum” is a shepherd’s staff with a curled end.  Giovanni Grimani donated his family collection of artworks, obtained in Italy and the Eastern Mediterranean, to the republic of Venice in 1587.

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Attis: The Corpus Cultus Cybelae Attidisque (CCCA) volumes online and other stuff

Posted on by Roger Pearse

As well as his big index of Mithras monuments and inscriptions, Maarten Vermaseren also compiled a collection of monuments and inscriptions for Cybele and Attis.  He probably found that he had to do this while working on Mithras, simply because the two are often confused.  Indeed I’ve often seen Attis statues identified online as Mithras.  It’s the hat, I think.  But depictions of Attis always show curly hair peeking out under the hat, and an effeminate expression, a huge contrast to the stern cosmic resoluteness of Mithras.

I discovered that the 7 volumes of the Corpus Cultus Cybelae Attidisque volumes are online at Archive.org, with the exception of volume 2.  Archive.org does list a “volume 2” but it is in fact  volume 7.  However the volume 2 may be found elsewhere online.

Here’s what’s accessible.

  1. 1. Asia Minor — v. 2. Graecia atque Insulae — v. 3. Italia–Latium — v. 4. Italia–Aliae provinciae — v. 5. Aegyptus, Africa, Hispania, Gallia et Britannia — v. 6. Germania, Raetia, Noricum, Pannonia, Dalmatia, Macedonia, Thracia, Moesia, Dacia, Regnum, Bospori, Colchis, Scythia et Sarmatia — v. 7. Musea et collectiones privatae

The other item to mention is a collection of literary mentions of Attis.  It’s not complete in any way, but I think it covers the main sources for the cult myth.  I compiled it ages ago – quite possibly nearly 20 years ago – on a private wiki space, but never finished it or made it publicly available.

It’s now online here:  https://tertullian.org/rpearse/attis/attis_literary_testimonies.htm

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Lucian, Attis, and the “tragodopodagra” and a supposed “resurrection” of Attis

Posted on by Roger Pearse

Recently online I expressed the opinion that no version of the myth of the god Attis states that he was resurrected, until 350 AD when the story appears in Firmicus Maternus.  Prior to that date, the myth is that he was not.

Not everyone reading this may recall the myth of Attis.  Here is a less-than-serious summary of the myth, as found online, and reflecting the myth as we find it in Pausanias:

Attis was a shepherd-lad.  He was also the boyfriend of the scary Phrygian goddess Cybele.  One day he went off and shagged a nymph; and his missus found out (as they do).  In a rage, she cursed him with madness (as they do).  While “under the influence,” therefore, Attis sat down and chopped off his willy with the edge of a potsherd (as you do).  Then he died of sepsis, as you do in a pre-antibiotic era.

Then his missus calmed down.  No more Saturday nights at the disco.  So, she went to Father Zeus and asked him to bring Attis back from the dead.

Zeus, no mean shagger himself, disapproved of this “infidelity means castration” meme.  Not having that in his mythology.  So he refused.  The most he would do is to preserve the body of Attis eternally.

The reaction of Cybele is not recorded.

This remark of mine led some strange person to message me with a jeer and a screen grab from some unknown forum:

I found a very defintive proof that this boomer is wrong, too bad he blocked me. he says Attis cult never mentioned resurrection until christian syncretism around 350 but we have primary sources from the second century that mention it. In Lucian’s TRAGODOPODAGRA

My first reaction – possibly yours also – was to wonder what on earth the “Tragodopodagra” might be.  But long experience with online trolls tells me never to let such a claim go past unexamined.

The work is indeed a humorous work of Lucian, known usually as the Podagra.  I learn that the manuscripts also call it the Tragopodagra, or Tragodopodagra.[1]https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/illiclasstud.43.2.0488/ref]  “Podagra” means “Gout” – that nasty cramping feeling in the legs that 18th century gentlemen got from drinking a couple of bottles of port a day.  The work appears with English translation in volume 8 of the Loeb Classical Library edition, LCL 432, accessible on Archive.org here.

The work does indeed refer at one point to Attis, among its other classical references.  Let us hope that this erudition consoled the poet in his discomfort.  Page 327:

CHORUS

On * Dindymus, Cybebe’s mount,
Phrygians raise their frenzied cries
To tender Attis as his due.
To the note of Phrygian horn
Along the slopes of Tmolus high
Lydians shout their revelling song,
And Corybants on tambourines
Madly drum with Cretan beat…

But the loud howls of the Galli, the castrated priests of Cybele, are as nothing to the cries of the sufferer from gout.

Needless to say the work has no other mention of Attis, and certainly none of resurrection.

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  1. [1]↩

Life of John Damascene by John, Patriarch of Jerusalem (BHG 884) – Part 3

Posted on by Roger Pearse

The scene is the slave-market in Damascus, after a raid into the west.  Some of the captives taken by the Saracens are being sold, the rest are to be killed as worthless.  Among them, the dignified figure of the captive Italian monk Cosmas has drawn the attention of the father of John Damascene, who is still a child at that time.

    *    *    *    *

9.  Cosmas explains his grief to John’s father. [1]

But John’s father, standing not far away and so seeing the man in tears, came up, to console him in his distress, and said, “Why, O man of God, do you weep over the loss of this world, having long ago renounced and become dead to it as I see from your manner of dress?”

Then the monk replied, “I do not lament the loss of this life; for I, as you have said, am dead to the world.  But what does trouble me is that I have sought after all human wisdom, and laid down a general education[2] as a foundation. I have exercised my tongue in rhetoric; I have cultivated my reasoning through the methods and demonstrations of dialectic; I pursued [the study of] moral philosophy, as much of it as [Aristotle the] Stagirite, and as much as [Chrysippus] the disciple of Ariston, have handed down; I have examined carefully everything concerning natural philosophy, as far as humanly possible; I have learned the principles of arithmetic; I have mastered geometry to the highest degree; I have formally completed the disciplines of musical harmony and proportion[3]; and I did not pass over anything concerning movement of the heavens and the turning of the stars, so  that, from the greatness and beauty of these created things, in accordance with my knowledge of them, I might possess a proportionate understanding of the Creator. For the one who has acquired a clearer knowledge of created things, understands more clearly and regards with greater wonder the one who created them.  From there, I advanced into the mysteries of theology, which the sons of the Greeks have handed down, and which our own theologians have most accurately elucidated.

So I am filled with these sciences, but I have not yet been able to impart[4] to anyone else the benefit from them, nor to produce a disciple through philosophy in the manner of a father producing a son.[5]  For just as most people want natural children to continue their family line, similarly those who have studied philosophy want, through teaching and initiation, to produce disciples[6] so that the golden line of philosophers may continue among the living for all time; and those who are the cause of this marvellous birth [of a disciple] inherit an immortal renown.  Moreover it is a characteristic of goodness to share with others the good things that one has in abundance.  Indeed anyone who is not like this, nor wishes to be, is not live in what is good, but in what is evil, as being full of pride and envy concerning those things which he does not want to share with others if he has received something good.  Therefore, even what he seems to have is taken away from him, just as with that servant who did not deposit the talent with the bankers.[7]  But I have chosen the good portion,[8] and I was very much inclined to become a sharer with others of the wisdom given to me.  But since I did not attain what I desired, that I might be counted among those faithful servants who doubled their talents through their dealings with others,[9] and I did not produce a disciple through philosophy, I am, as some might say, childless and miserable, as you see: my face is downcast and I am deeply distressed.”

    *    *    *    *

Onward.

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  1. [1]Heading by me.↩
  2. [2]ἐγκύκλιος, with παιδεία implicit: see LSJ: https://logeion.uchicago.edu/ἐγκύκλιος ↩
  3. [3]I had difficulty here.  “ἁρμολογίας δὲ μουσικῆς καὶ ἀναλογίας εὐτάκτους σεμνοπρεπῶς κατώρθωκα.” “εὐτάκτους” is the accusative plural, so must be the object of the verb.  A verb εὐτάκτέω is in LSJ, “to be orderly, behave well; reduce to order;” εὐτάκτημα: “act of orderly behaviour”, “well-ordered”.    Lequien’s Latin, “Musices concentus proportionesque probe satis sum assequutus” paraphrases.↩
  4. [4]Or “ready to impart.”↩
  5. [5]Lit. “nor to beget, through philosophy, a disciple in the manner of a father.”  But we really can’t use “beget” these days.↩
  6. [6]Lit. “father a child.”↩
  7. [7]Matt. 25:27.↩
  8. [8]Luke 10:42.↩
  9. [9]Matt. 25:14-30.↩

Life of John Damascene by John, Patriarch of Jerusalem (BHG 884) – Part 2

Posted on by Roger Pearse

Let’s have the next four chapters of the “Jerusalem Vita” of John Damascene.  John is still a child living in Damascus under Arab rule.

    *    *    *    *

5.  John’s parents were religious.

His grandparents were religious people, who alone preserved the fragrance of piety and the sweetness of the knowledge of Christ in the midst of thorns.  For they alone preserved the name of Christian, as a bright inheritance that could not be taken away, not faltering in the orthodox faith after the descendants of Hagar captured the city.  As a result their principles made them notable among the impious, as even their opponents revered this; or rather, in the same way as God glorified Daniel among the Assyrians, because of the piety that he showed, and Joseph in Egypt, appointing captives as overseers and rulers among foreigners and enemies, so in this way also he appointed John’s grandparents as overseers over business affairs among the Saracens, and so here the pious captives ruled over the impious ones who captured them.

O, the wondrous and great works of God, and marvellous and extraordinary deeds!”  Nothing is higher than virtue, nothing more honourable or exalted than piety.  For like a banner raised on a hill, or rather like a lamp in the night, or a seed in Israel, or a spark in the ashes, so too was the family of John left in Damascus, to bring forth this bright torch, which would shine out to every corner (of the world).  Such were the forbearers of the man whom we are praising.

6.  His father was devoted to virtue.

His father, coming from such a good background, was eager to surpass his parents in piety and other virtues, and to demonstrate even greater love for God.  For it was necessary that such an illustrious man, destined to reach the highest point of virtue, should have a parent more distinguished than those before him, so that, as from a sequential progression, the rise to greatness would occur in an orderly fashion, as if the affairs concerning this great and illustrious one were arranged from above by divine providence, just as happened in the case of John the Baptist.[1]  For since he [John the Baptist] was destined to shine forth as greater than the prophets before him and to perform a sacrament more exalted than any priestly office—the baptism of my Lord—divine providence ordained that he would not come from an ordinary lineage but from a priestly family, and that his father would be a prophet.  Thus, in this case, too, John’s father was appointed by providence to be especially pious and philanthropic.  For he was an administrator of public affairs throughout the entire country, having been appointed because of his outstanding virtue and his distinguished way of life, and in this he used to spend his wealth abundantly; not on revelry, drunkenness, or frittering it away, but rather he used all of whatever he had in gold and other movable wealth to ransom Christians who were being taken into captivity.  As for his immovable possessions—of which he had a great deal in Judea and Palestine—he gave them for the relief and livelihood of those Christians whom he had freed who chose to live in those lands.  The others he allowed to go as free men wherever they wished.  Such was the philanthropic virtue of the man.  For he lived with wealth as though he had nothing, and so he was making offerings to God both by night and by day.

7.  John is born and baptized.

Acting like this, he receives a reward, not for hospitality like Abraham, but a wondrous offspring (ὁ τόκος also means a return on investment, interest) for his love of humanity; if not from a promise, certainly from divine foreknowledge and predestination.  For God foresaw what sort of man John would become, and predestined him to be born of this man as a reward for him for the love of humanity that he showed habitually towards those who had exchanged their freedom for dreadful captivity.  Thus this glorious child was born to him, and while his [the child’s] body was still delicate, his father made him into a son of light, by rebirth through the spiritual mother (i.e. baptism in the church), accomplishing a deed which was not easy at that time, and which most people would not easily dare to do in the midst of those pagans.  Then the father’s concern for the child was not for him to learn to ride, nor to wield a spear skillfully, nor to shoot an arrow from a bow with precision, or to fight with wild animals and change natural gentleness into savage cruelty, as often happens with many who are troubled in spirit, and rush about wildly and recklessly.  For this reason, John’s father did not seek out some mountain-dwelling Chiron[2] to nourish his pupil on deer marrow, but rather a man trained in every field of learning was sought out, having knowledge of every kind of discourse, and pouring out good teaching from the soul’s heart, so that he might also raise his own son with such nourishing food and seasonings; and God fulfilled the man’s holy desire, and the one who was seeking found the one sought.  And the manner of the finding of the one who was sought is as follows.

8.  Cosmas the Elder was taken captive and brought to Damascus.  He was a priest and a monk.

The barbarians from Damascus, making a raid by sea, as they often did, and plundered many Christians, and going down to the sea in their ships, they took a large number of captives, and brought them into the city.  They offered some to those buying and drew their swords to kill the others.[3]  Also captured with them was a man dressed as a monk, originating from Italy, dignified in appearance, more dignified in soul, and named Cosmas.   A certain solemnity on his face shone forth, revealing his settled disposition.  Those being led to slaughter were falling at his feet: they entreated him to make God merciful to them, and to pray that they might find forgiveness for their sins from the merciful One.  Therefore the barbarians, seeing the supplication of those about to die, which they addressed to that dignified one, approached, and inquired of the man what his standing in the world might be, and what sort of prominence he held among the Christians.  But he answered, saying, “I possess no other rank in the world but that of priestly ordination.”  Indeed I am an unworthy, solitary nobody, and practising philosophy; not only the God-loving philosophy we practice, but also that [philosophy] which the sages outside [the faith] established.  But after he said these things, his eyes were filled with tears.

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That’s it for now.  On with the next four!  There are 40 chapters in all, so this may take a while!

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  1. [1]A deeply nasty sentence.↩
  2. [2]The mythical teacher of Achilles.↩
  3. [3]Lampe gives this meaning from this passage for οὓς δὲ μαχαίρας εἷλκον ποιήσασθαι ἀνάλωμα.↩

From my diary

Posted on by Roger Pearse

My apologies for the lack of posting.  I have some minor health problems which seem to have got worse over the last couple of months, and are beginning to prevent me doing much at all.  I will post as and when I can.  I’ve seen quite a number of interesting items to post about, but I don’t have the energy to pursue them at the moment.

I’m still working on the “Jerusalem Life” of John Damascene.  I’ve been having some interesting experiences using ChatGPT to parse the grammar and syntax of each sentence of the Greek in turn.  Mostly positive experiences, but sometimes infuriating!   I hope to write about this at some point.  Over the last week I have translated chapters 5-7, and I’ll post another chunk once I’ve done chapter 8.

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Life of John Damascene by John, Patriarch of Jerusalem (BHG 884) – Part 1

Posted on by Roger Pearse

A couple of weeks ago, I made a translation of the first four chapters of BHG 884, the Life of John Damascene.  This text is attributed in the manuscripts, and also in the text printed in the Patrologia Graeca 94, cols. 429-490, to a certain “John, Patriarch of Jerusalem.”  Apparently this is John VII (964-966); but a case has been made that it should instead be attributed to the patriarch John III of Antioch (996-1021), also referenced in some manuscripts.[1] The text is apparently known as the “Jerusalem Vita” because other hagiographical Lives exist.

The text was first printed by Michel Lequien in 1712, with a parallel modern Latin translation.  This is the text reprinted in the PG, and the PG text  is that included in the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TLG 5273.1).

Initially I began by translating the early modern Latin translation, but then I gained access to the Greek, and reworked it somewhat.  Curiously I found that the Latin is sometimes less easy to follow than the Greek.

The chapter division is that of Lequien, found in the Greek and his Latin translation.  The chapter numbering in Lequien is confused, and also in the PG (but not in the same way!)  I will deal with this when I come to it.  But the truth is that there are 40 chapters.  The chapter headings below are not in the Greek, and appear to have been created by Lequien.  They’re useful, so I have included them.

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1. The deeds of holy men should be passed down to future generations, especially those of the doctors of the Church.

It has become customary among men, as a mark of honour, to make godly likenesses of those who have kept the image of God pure from all stain and blemish; whether they preserved it in its original integrity and grace, or restored it, when it was tarnished and defiled.  Indeed, those who are eager to show their reverence more zealously – their wealthy hands being inclined toward magnificence – employ superior materials in which to sculpt their likenesses, thinking that they thereby show greater honour to the holy men.

If then they display such magnificence and grandeur in depicting the outward likenesses of these saints, is it right for us to leave in a crude state the words recounting their deeds?  Certainly not.  The rougher people, being what they are, are excused for recounting simply the deeds of those who were pleasing to Christ; but those who have dedicated themselves to the study of eloquence will not at all be pardoned for devoting themselves to literature if they have allowed the lives of the saints to be written in a haphazard way; above all [the lives] of men whose spirit and life were here, immediately after they were purifying the mind from ignorance and forgetfulness and the soul from every disordered motion; of men, I say, by whom the world has been honoured, and whose books have enlightened the minds of all, not merely with the empty elegance of worldly wisdom, but also by pouring forth abundantly the light of the Holy Spirit.

2.  John Damascene must be considered among the foremost Doctors of the Church.  He flourished when the heresy of Iconoclasm emerged.  Leo the Isaurian was the author of the heresy.

One of these men, who indeed must be counted among the foremost, is the great and illustrious John, who was named after his homeland, Damascus.  For he was no small star in the firmament of the Church, but rather one of the greatest and most brilliant, so that he not only shone when heresy spread darkness everywhere, but he also dispelled the night of every false doctrine with the radiant clarity of his thoughts.  For darkness had indeed settled upon the whole world, by which the brilliant figures of the venerable images were obscured, and there was a profound and utter gloom; yet he who was spreading it and making it happen was not some man of the common people, sowing evil in one portion of the world, but it was he who, so to speak, held the ends of the earth in his hands, because he held the sceptre of the Roman empire.  Whereupon it came to pass that, storming in every direction, with tremendous force he overthrew the venerable images; some of those who venerated them Leo devoured, just like a lion capturing and roaring—as he was by name and disposition of mind; while others who were  holding fast to the true faith, he scattered to one place or another, and compelled them to hide in underground retreats.  And indeed many preferred to dwell with lions and dragons, rather than remain with him and his ministers: but others, who were overcome with fear, rushed to the remotest ends of the world (for who is not afraid when a lion roars?) and fled from him as from the face of a serpent.

3.  The name “John” in Hebrew signifies the grace of God.  The Life of St. John of Damascus originally written in Arabic.

But indeed this man, filled with the spiritual grace which his name signified, was boiling with anger against the serpent alone, such that his feelings of anger turned into the pursuit of goodness and courage.  He did not flee from Thrace, where he then resided, to the Sarmatians.  He did not hurry away from Byzantium to the columns of Hercules for the sake of his safety.  He did not go from the court into solitude because of the roaring of the lion.  Rather, when he was living, first in Damascus and later in Palestine, leading a monastic life in solitude, he valiantly fought against Leo.  For although this thrice-mighty athlete of mine was distant from him by a great distance, yet by means of his books, crafted with the fire of the Paraclete and tempered and hardened by a flood of life, he pierced his heart as if with a triple lance.  However, a fuller account of these matters will be given in its proper place.  Should we then neglect with contempt the life of such a man, because it is written in a rustic manner, or worse, in Arabic language and letters?  Certainly not.  Wherefore it is necessary to tell, from where and from what noble root this most flourishing shoot has sprung, which country is proud to have produced him.

4.  Damascus.

This city is none other than Damascus.  For just as it takes great pride in Paul — because it was indeed the first to witness him traversing the heavens[2] when he had renounced impiety, and becoming, instead of Christ-hating, Christ-loving—, so also it also fittingly and reverently takes pride in this man [John], not as if he came from elsewhere or converted from some other religion to the true one, but because it grew him from its own root, and beyond giving him physical existence, it nurtured him in godliness and raised him in learning, and it takes great pride in its offshoot.  And it feels pride and rejoices more in him, than in any other of the ornaments which give it splendour— whether you speak of the mild climate or the many streams of sweet and clear waters with which it is irrigated.  It is not the abundance of noble fruits that exalts and elevates this city, but rather that from it sprouted this beautiful and noble tree, which was nourished by these streams of water, and in due time produced the fruits of the Spirit.  Its fruits are always fresh among us, lovely to look at, sweet to taste, and those who touch and partake of them are not only delighted but are also nourished, growing, and brought to spiritual maturity, leading them to perfection in the Spirit.  Thus has the city of Damascus been made glorious more by this offspring of hers, than by all the other good and delightful things with which she has been enriched. This is the city that brought forth this man.

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I hope to do some more in due course.

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  1. [1]Vassa Kontouma, “John III of Antioch (996–1021) and the Life of John of Damascus (BHG 884)” in: V. Kontouma, John of Damascus: New Studies on his Life and Works. Ashgate (2015). ISBN 9781409446378.↩
  2. [2]The Greek word here is οὐρανοδρόμος; which is quoted in Lampe p.978 from this passage.↩