A l'occasion d'une arétalogie de Karpokrate, qu'il publie, M. R. Harder a été induit à reprendre le problème des arétalogies isiaques, connues, comme on sait, par cinq documents du même type. M. Harder pense que tous ces textes remontent à un original égyptien (H) traduit en grec. Un exemplaire de cette traduction, gravé à Memphis dans le temple de Ptah (M), est la source de Kymé (K), Ios (J), Salonique (S) et du texte en prose qui a servi de modèle au poème d'Andros (Ap). Un exemplaire du texte égyptien, gravé dans la fabuleuse Nysa d'Arabie, c'est dire en une ville inconnue, serait, une fois traduit, la source de Diodore (D). D'après l'inscription de Kymé, la plus complète, M. Harder reconstitue cette source commune de MD. On aurait là, pense-t-il, un écrit qui se révèle égyptien, non seulement par les idées, étrangères à l'esprit grec, mais aussi par le désordre de la composition, trait proprement égyptien. D'un mot ce document aurait été forgé par les prêtres d'Egypte pour exalter auprès des Grecs le culte d'Isis, que l'on présente surtout comme une bienfaitrice de l'humanité. La tendance serait “pro-égyptienne,” et il y aurait lieu de comparer l'ouvrage d'Hécatée d'Abdère, sorte de programme de gouvernement rédigé du point de vue de l'Egypte et adressé à Ptolémée Soter pour lui recommander d'être un Bienfaiteur, à l'exemple des dieux égyptiens (Isis et Osiris) et des pharaons.

The year 1948 drew to a close with a spate of articles appearing in religious magazines honoring the memory of Watts. Along with the King James Version, Dr. Watts' hymns have become a symbol of Protestantism's underlying unity in a day of proliferating denominations. Around his hymns there now cluster historic associations and fond memories that endear Watts to the entire Protestant community.

The following lines are intended to give an explanation of Kierkegaard's Thorn in the Flesh. They may be of interest not only to the biographer, but also to the student of Kierkegaard's terminology. We shall consider contemporary interpretation and Kierkegaard's own interpretation of the term “the thorn in the flesh,” review later scholarly theories, and finally present our own solution based upon a comparative study of passages from the Diaries, reminiscences of Kierkegaard preserved by his acquaintances, and extracts illustrating contemporary medical opinion.

The theory that this number reflects the number of kinds of fish recognized in antiquity comes from Jerome, Comm. xiv in Ezechiel (Migne, PL 25, 474C). He says, “Writers on the nature and properties of animals, who have learned ‘fishing’ in either Latin or Greek (one of whom is the most learned poet Oppianus Cilix), say there are one hundred fifty-three species of fish.” It was customary in antiquity — and the practice has not come to an end — to generalize from single instances, and we shall not be far from the mark if we suspect that Jerome's only source for this statement is his understanding of Oppian. Jerome knew the work of Pliny on natural history, and Pliny (N. H. ix. 43) states that there are seventy-four species of fish, in addition to thirty varieties of Crustacea.

In a significant study of inscriptions pertaining to the cults of Thessalonica, Charles Edson has given for the first time a text both accurate and complete of the “testament of a Thessalonian priestess.” The portion of the text with which we are immediately concerned, is brief and easily summarized. A priestess of Dionysos Prinophoros bequeaths to her thiasos two plethra of vineyard, ὅπως ἀποκέηταί (=ἀποκαίηται) μοι ἀπὸ ἀγορᾶς μὴ ἔλατ〈τ〉ον (δηνάρια) ɛ, “in order that sacrifices may be burned for me from the income thereof to the value of not less than five denarii.” Each member of the thiasos is to bring a crown of roses to the ceremony; if he fails to do so, he shall forfeit his share of the legacy.