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Sambathis
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 August 2011
Extract
On O. Mich. I, 657 a large, “epigraphic” hand has written five lines, of which three obviously contain the names of Greek gods. The same hand is responsible also for O. Mich. I, 658. Since the editor is inclined to relate these ostraca as parts of a single text, his transcripts of both are repeated here.
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1 The blank space between lines 4 and 5 is occupied in part by a fairly extensive smudge, but it is not clear whether the ink was spread in an attempt to effect an erasure, as in line 2.
2 They belong to a large group of ostraca (O. Mich. I, 98–699) recovered at Karanis (Kôm Aushim, Egypt) by the University of Michigan between the years 1924 and 1929. The excavation number of 657 is 27–B115B–B; of 658, 27–B115C–F. A key to the excavation numbers is provided by Amundsen, O. Mich. I, xviii f.
3 In his review of O. Mich. I, Collart (REG, 49, 1936, 95) describes it as “une copie en onciale d'une inscription votive (en deux morceaux: 657–658).”
4 Editor's note: “gen., for Ἀρτέμιος; or Ἀρτέμιδι?”
5 Normal Attic is κόρη, Ionic κούρη, Doric κώρα (κόρα). As a common noun, κούρα occurs in Pindar, Ol. 13. 65, and sporadically in tragedy (lyr.); cf. Liddell and Scott, Lexicon, s.v. κόρη, and Stephanus' Thesaurus, s.v. κούρη. Scholia T on Hom., Il. 3. 130, identify κοῦρα as an Ionic vocative; cf. Kehrhahn, Hermes, 49, 1914, 507. As a Doric (Ionic-Doric?) variant of κόρη (Persephone) it is used in an epigram attributed to Methapus (Kern, RE, 15, 1379; Frazer, Pausanias, 3. 407) by Pausanias (4. 1. 8; cited by Maass, Orpheus, 220, n. 27, and Pape, Wörterb. d. griech. Eigennamen, s.v. Kόρη) and repeatedly in inscriptions (350–300 B.C.) and lead tablets (300–100 B.C.) from Cnidus (Newton, Halicarnassus, Cnidus, and Branchidae, 2, pt. 2, 834; Audollent, Defixionum Tabellae, pp. 5–19). The name Aera-cura, of which the first element is found with diverse spellings — Aere, Ere, Era, Hera, Haera, is applied to the goddess of the underworld associated with Dis Pater in late inscriptions and on a mural in a Roman catacomb. It has been variously explained (Wissowa, RE, 1, 667; Roscher's Lexikon, s.v.), but alone significant for our text is the suggestion Ἥρα κούρα (Maass, l.c.; Wendland, Die hellen.-röm. Kultur, Handb. NT, 1, pt. 2, 184 f.). On the other hand, “Haera domina” in CIL 5. 8200 seems to favor Ἥρα κύρα, which comes very close to Ἥρα κυρία = Juno regina, proposed by Gaidoz, Rev. arch., 3rd ser., 20, 1892, 205. The form κύρα is attested in Egypt from the Roman period on (Preisigke, Wörterb. d. griech. Papyrusurk., s.v.).
6 Editor's note: “There seems to be written ΔHM
[, perhaps miswritten instead of ΔHMH[TPI.”
7 Only the initial curve of ω is preserved on the edge of the ostracon, but the curve is not suitable for any other letter. Its identity is confirmed by comparison with ω in 658, which is a product of the same hand.
8 S.v. Δημώ; cf. Stoll, Roscher's Lexikon, s.v.; Kern, RE, 3, 150 f.; Kroll, ibid., Suppl. 3, 331 f. Lobeck, Aglpophamus, 822: “nec dubito quin Demo eadem sit, … i.e. Δημήτηρ.” In the Orphic tradition Baubo entertains the sorrowing Demeter and dispels her gloom with obscene gestures. See Kern, Orphic, frag., frag. 52 = Clem. Alex., Protrept., 2. 20. 1–21. 1 (Stählin); Diels, Miscellanea Salinas, 3–14; Picard, RHR, 95, 1927, 220–255; Guthrie, Orpheus and Greek Religion, 135; Linforth, Arts of Orpheus, 194. An inscription from Paros (IG 12. 5. 227, ca. 1st cent. B.C.; cited by Cook, Zeus, 1, 669, n. 2) associates Baubo with Hera, Demeter Thesmophoros, Persephone, and Zeus Eubouleus. Here an original Βαβοῖ was corrected to Βαυβοῖ. For further bibliography on Baubo see Cook, Zeus, 2, 131, n. 5; 3, 1119.
9 Lentz, Grammatici Graeci, 3, pt. 1, 347, 18 ff.; cf. Etymologicum Magnum, 264, 2ff.
10 Baunack (Rh. M., N. F. 37, 1882, 478 f.) argues that Δηώ and Δημώ are both hypocoristic forms of Δημήτηρ, but the parallels adduced by him are not pertinent to Δηώ.
11 Paus. 10. 12. 8–9.
12 Hom., Hymn to Demeter, 109.
13 Kern, RE, IV, 2713; Jessen, ibid., 2862 f. The equation of Demo with Demeter rather than the Cumaean sibyl in the ostracon list seems to me obvious, but the reader must weigh this decision against my tentative identification of Sambathis with the Oriental sibyl. According to Pausanias (10. 12. 9), Sambethe, whose alternative name was Sabbe, is mentioned as a γυνὴ χρησμολόγος who came later than the sibyl Demo.
14 Nock, HTR, 29, 1936, 65: “the ground quakes under our tread.”
15 For this and similar names see Preisigke, Namenbuch, 359 f.; Preisigke and Bilabel, Sammelbuch griech. Urkunden aus Ägypten, 3, 319, and 4, 132; Wuthnow, Semit. Menschennamen, Stud. z. Epigr. u. Papyrusk., ed. by Bilabel, 1, pt. 4, 168; Wilcken, Griech. Ostraka, 1, 523 f.; Fuchs, Juden Ägyptens, 140 f., 153, esp. 155; Roberts, CP, 34, 1939, 149; Schulze, Zeitschr. f. vergl. Sprachf., 33, 1895, 377–384.
16 TAPA 72, 1941, 454.
17 See n. 15. Schulze has shown that names of this type are also found among non-Jews and in that case are derived from the name of the sibyl Sambethe. An excellent example not known to him is BGU III, 887, 3: κοράσιον Σαμβατίδα τὴν μετονομασθεῖσαν Ἀθηναίδα γένει Φρυγίαν. The document was written in Pamphylian Side, and Wilcken (Arch. Pap. 1, 1901, 557) relates the slave girl's new name to the local temple of Athena. He may of course be right, but there remains the curious coincidence that both Sambethe and Athenais are the names of sibyls (see n. 24). In this connection, Dr. E. R. Smothers, S. J., draws my attention to Act. Ap. 16. 16, where it is said that a slave girl possessed a πνεῦμα Πύθωνα and was a source of considerable income to her masters. — An attempt to resolve the difficulty raised by Schulze's dichotomy of a seemingly homogeneous group of names, is made in n. 35.
18 Schürer, History of the Jewish People, 2, pt. 1, 29–51; Lieberman, Greek in Jewish Palestine, chap. 1–2.
19 De congressu, 11 ff. Cf. Fuchs, Juden Ägyptens, 118–122; Deissmann, Bible Studies, 2nd ed., 77, esp. n. 3; Wendland, Die hellen.-röm. Kultur, 103–120.
20 De congressu, 44.
21 CIG, 2, 3509 (2nd–3rd cent. A.D.); cf. Ramsay, Hastings' DB, s.v. Thyatira.
22 IGR, 1, 106 (Roman); cf. Nock, HTR, 29, 1936, 74; San Nicolò, Ägypt. Vereinswesen, 1, 22. A σύνοδος Σαμβαθική seems to imply a Σαμβαθεῖον as the seat of its activity; cf. Nock, ibid., 75–79.
23 For Sambethe and the supposedly related deities see the summaries by Beer and Gressmann, RE, 2nd ser., 1, 1560 ff., 2119 ff.; Rzach, ibid., 2, 2097–2102; Höfer, Roscher's Lexikon, s.v. Sabbe.
24 The Chaldaean sibyl, sometimes called Jewish, Egyptian, or Persian, was also called Erythraean. Orac. Sibyll. (Geffcken) 3. 814: ἐξ Ἐρυθρῆς γεγαυῖα. Mras' conjecture (Wien. Stud., 29, 1907, 29 ff., 48 f.) that the reference is to the Red Sea, i.e., the Persian Gulf, and not to Erythrae in Ionia, is attractive; cf. Rzach, RE, 2nd ser., 2, 2100. Nevertheless, Erythrae enjoyed the reputation of being an ancient seat of the sibyl Herophile, although its claim was disputed by Marpessus, and as late as Alexander the Great a sibyl, who bore the name Athenais, was issuing oracles there (Strabo 14. 645; 17. 814).
25 Imhoof-Blumer, Monnaies grecques, 288, 63. The coin is from Erythrae, and on it is a representation of the sibyl with the legend given above. Rzach, op. cit., 2078, has a few pertinent remarks; cf. Geffcken, Preuss. Jahrb., 106, 1901, 196 f.
26 Schulze, Zeitschr. f. vergl. Sprachf., 33, 1895, 379 ff.; summarized in RE, 2nd ser., 1, 1561 f., and Roscher's Lexikon, s.v. Sabbe.
27 Also spelled Σαββατιστής and Σαββατισταί just as an alternative name of Sambethe is Sabbe (Paus. 10. 12. 9). Dittenberger, OGI, 2, 573; Heberdey and Wilhelm, Reisen in Kilikien, Denk. Akad. Wien, 44, 1896, 67; cf. Schulze, op. cit., 380 f. Date: Augustus.
28 Keil and v. Premerstein, 2te Reise in Lydien, Denk. Akad. Wien, 54, 1911, 117 f.; cf. Schulze, op. cit., 381 f. See also footnote 35.
29 A. Jeremias, Handb. d. altorient. Geisteskultur, see index s. vv. Sibylle, Urmutter, Jungfrau; summarized by L. Darnedde, Deutsche Sibyllen-Weissagung (Greifswald diss., 1933), 12: “Ueberall werden wir also auf den Zusammenhang Sibylle — Magna Mater, Erd-, Getreidegöttin, erste Frau, hingewiesen.” Jeremias' recognition of a relation between the sibyl and the “Urmutter” fortunately rests on something more than his Accadian etymology, which I am not competent to evaluate. See Darnedde's remarks on the northern sibyl (op. cit., 11 f.).
30 On Sambethe as originally a Babylonian sibyl see Geffcken, Nachr. Gesell. Wiss. Göttingen, Phil.-hist. Kl., 1900, 88–102. Mras (Wien. Stud., 29, 1907, 28) emphasizes the nonliterary character of the sibyl: “Wir haben ja keine Spur von einer literarischen babylonischen Sibylle,” but Bate (Sibylline Oracles, 19) goes too far when he reduces the sibyl to a “creature of literary artifice.” In his view Sambethe originated in the mind of Berossus, and for that reason she was subsequently known as his daughter (Just. Mart., Coh. ad Gr., 37; Paus. 10. 12. 9). — The preserved fragments of Berossus, gathered from later authors, do not mention the sibyl, but a number of considerations make it likely that Berossus claimed her as his authority for the stories of the creation, flood, etc. See Müller, FHG, 2, 495–510, esp. 495 f. Schnabel, Berossos, 1923, 79–93 (for this reference I am indebted to Nock) prefers the contrary view, that the writer of the Babylonian oracles may have borrowed from Berossus.
31 Schulze, Zeitschr. f. vergl. Sprachf., 33, 1895, 379, n. 4: “Cultorte der S., Σαμβαθεῖα, müssen in den ersten nachchristlichen jahrhunderten nicht selten oder doch wenigstens ihr name muss jener zeit recht geläufig gewesen sein.” The importance of wandering priests in the spread of Oriental cults has been emphasized by Reitzenstein, Hellenist. Mysterienreligionen, 1910, 11 f. (ed. 3, 25); cf. Nock, Conversion, 1933, 82 f.
32 A brief account of her career is given by Geffcken, Preuss. Jahrb., 106, 1901, 193–214; Bate, Sibylline Oracles, introd. A similar adaptation of pagan oracles in the interest of pagan propaganda is illustrated in the Tübingen Theosophia; see Nock, REtA, 30, 1928, 280–290. Schnabel, Berossos, 79–93, does not accept the development which I have outlined above; he distinguishes sharply between the Babylonian and Jewish sibyls, although he allows for the possibility of literary contact.
33 Orac. Sibyll. (Geffcken), 3. 809 ff.; Paus. 10. 12. 9; Suid., s.v. Σ. Χαλδαία (see further references listed by Adler). Cf. Frazer, Pausanias, 5, 293; Mras, Wien. Stud., 29, 1907, 48; Geffcken, Preuss. Jahrb., 106, 1901, 200 f.; Beer, RE, 2nd ser., 1, 2120; Rzach, ibid., 2, 2097.
34 O. Keller (Lateinische Volksetymologie) shows how divine names are reinterpreted when they travel from one linguistic group into another, e.g., Persephone 〉 Proserpina (238–241); cited by Gaidoz (Rev. arch., 3rd ser., 20, 1892, 198–213) who uses the same method with considerable effect in explaining Dis Pater and Aera-cura.
35 On the derivation of Σαμβήθη and Σαββατιστής from “Sabbath” see Ewald, Abh. Ges. Wiss. Gött., 8, 1858–59, 84, n. 1; Hicks, JHS, 12, 1891, 236; Dittenberger, OGI, 2, 573, n. 2–3; Beer, RE, 2nd ser., 1, 2121; Liddell and Scott, Lexicon, s.v. Σαββατιστής. On the same derivation of Σαβαθικός see Keil-v. Premerstein, Denk. Akad. Wien, 54, 1911, 118. This view is rejected by Schulze, Zeitschr. f. vergl. Sprachf., 33, 1895, 379 ff., although it has the advantage of simplifying the problem raised by a large group of personal names — Σαμβᾶθις, Σαμβαθίων etc. (see footnotes 15, 17). Schulze is probably right in associating some of the names with Sambethe and others with the Jewish Sabbath, but a common etymology is a desideratum. The attempt to establish a linguistic connection between Σαμβήθη (Σάββη), Σαμβατιστής (Σαββατιστής) and Σαβάζιος is not sound. The β in the latter name transcribes an original w, and this could not produce ββ or μβ. See A. Fick, Vorgriech. Eigennamen, 65 f.; cited by Cook, Zeus, 1, 400, n. 2. With respect to Σαβαθικός the situation is by no means so clear, since Σαβάζιος has a number of variants, among them Σαβάδιος. The resemblance, however, between Σαβαθικός and Σαββατικός “Sabbatical,” is even more striking, and Σαββατιστής fits very well into this picture. Deserving of more consideration than it has received is the comparison of Σαμβαθεῖον, “temple of Sambathis (Sambethe, Sabbe),” with Σαββατεῖον, “Sabbath-house, synagogue (?),” as used by Joseph., AJ, 16. 6. 2 (Σαββαθίου codd. AM; cited by Schulze, op. cit., 379, n. 4). Joseph., c. Apion., 2. 39. 282, points to a wide-spread familiarity among gentiles with the Jewish Sabbath. The possibility of a religious or cultural confusion of the theos Sabbatistes and Sabathicus with the great Anatolian deity, Sabazius, is not excluded in any case. Sabathicus was certainly the equal of Sabazius, or rather his superior, in the eyes of devout worshippers; he was ὁ κατέχων τὸν κόσμον, a cosmic deity, as Nock (HTR, 29, 1936, 68, n. 61) calls him.
36 Cf. Wendland, Die hellen.-röm. Kultur, 107 f.; Nock, HTR, 29, 1936, 63–67; idem, JEA, 15, 1929, 229 (top); idem, Conversion, 62–64, 283; Fuchs, Juden Ägyptens, 127–130; Keil-v. Premerstein, Denk. Akad. Wien, 54, 1911, 118; Tscherikower, Mizraim, 4–5, 1937, 53. It is enlightening in this connection to read the brief but pertinent remarks of T. Veblen (Imperial Germany, new ed., 1942, 56–59) on the general course of habituation to religious novelty.
37 Schürer, History of the Jewish People, 2, pt. 2, 311–314; Lake, Beginnings of Christianity, 5, 88–96; Nock, HTR, 29, 1936, 63 ff.
38 Nock, JEA, 15, 1929, 228 f.; Youtie and Bonner, TAPA, 68, 1937, 46 f., 61; Deissmann, Bible Studies, 2nd ed., chap. 4; Eitrem, P. Oslo. I, 1, 42 (with the editor's note).
39 Nock, Conversion, 61 f., 77 f., 283; Schürer, History of the Jewish People, 2, pt. 2, 304–316.
40 See n. 23.
41 Schulze, Zeitschr. f. vergl. Sprachf., 33, 1895, 377–384; Fuchs, Juden Ägyptens, 155. See also n. 17, 35.
42 See n. 22, 31. For the conception of Sabathicus as a cosmic deity see n. 35 (end).
43 See n. 41.
44 Paus. 10. 12. 9; cf. Rzach, RE, 2nd ser., 2, 2102.
45 See, e.g., Bate, Sibylline Oracles, 20, 21–27; Geffcken, TU, 23 (NF, 8), pt. 1, 26 f.
46 A temple of Demeter existed at Karanis in the middle of the 2nd cent. A.D. (BGU I, 154, 6; cf. W. Otto, Priester u. Tempel, 1, 2, n. 2). Temples of Demeter were probably numerous throughout the Fayûm (P. Oxy. XII, p. 143, n. 5; otherwise Otto, op. cit., 135, n. 4).
47 Namenbuch, s.v.
48 Stud. Pal. IV, p. 71, 467.
49 Nos. 657 and 658 have been accepted as school exercises by P. Collart, Mélanges Desrousseaux, 72, 47. For bibliography on school ostraca see TAPA, 72, 1941, 454 f.
50 Guéraud and Jouguet, Un livre d'écolier (Textes et Documents, Soc. roy. ég. pap., 2), xx f.
51 Ibid., 8.
52 O. Mich. I, 656; corrected in CP 37, 1942, 148 f.
53 How deeply entrenched in Greek idiom were ἐπʼ ἀγαθῷ and ἐπʼ ἀγαθοῖς may be judged from Preisigke, Wörterb. d. griech. Papyrusurk., s.v. ἀγαθός. As a rule, these phrases are used in documents (papyri, inscriptions) without dependent cases, and in literature the genitive appears to be normal (cf. Liddell and Scott, s.v. ἀγαθός). Datives, however, follow ἐπʼ ἀγαθῷ in Ar., Ran. 1487 ff. With special reference to Egyptian usage see Peterson, EIΣ ΘEOΣ, 1926, 316 f. [A.D.N.]. The same construction with εὐτυχῶς is well illustrated in the acclamations of P. Oxy. I, 41. In Dittenberger, OGI, 713 εὐτυχῶς καὶ ἐπʼ ἀγαθῶι is followed by a dative.