Sanchuniathon | |
|---|---|
| Born | DOB unknown Berytus (Beirut), Phoenicia |
| Died | DOD unknown Unknown |
| Occupation | Author |
| Language | Phoenician |
| Period | Hellenistic and Roman era OR Trojan War era |
| Genre | Historical and religious writings |
| Notable works | Phoenician History |
Sanchuniathon (/ˌsæŋkjʊˈnaɪəθɒn/;Ancient Greek:Σαγχουνιάθων or ΣαγχωνιάθωνSankho(u)niáthōn; probably fromPhoenician:𐤎𐤊𐤍𐤉𐤕𐤍,romanized: *Saḵūnyatān, "Sakkun has given"),[1] variant𐤔𐤊𐤍𐤉𐤕𐤍šknytn[2] also known asSanchoniatho the Berytian,[3] was aPhoenician author. His three works, originally written in thePhoenician language, survive only in partial paraphrase and a summary of aGreek translation byPhilo of Byblos recorded by theChristian bishopEusebius. These few fragments comprise the most extended literary source concerningPhoenician religion in either Greek orLatin: Phoenician sources, along with all ofPhoenician literature, were lost with theparchment on which they were written.
All knowledge of Sanchuniathon and his work comes from thePraeparatio Evangelica of Eusebius (I. chs ix-x),[4] which contains some information about him, along with the only surviving excerpts from his writing, as summarized and quoted from his purported translator,Philo of Byblos.[5]
Eusebius quotesneo-Platonist writerPorphyry as stating that Sanchuniathon ofBerytus (Beirut) wrote the truest history because he obtained records fromHierombalus priest ofIeuo (Ancient Greek: Ἰευώ), that Sanchuniathon dedicated his history to Abibalus (Abibaal) king of Berytus, and that it was approved by the king and other investigators, the date of this writing being before theTrojan War[6] (around 1200 BC) approaching close to the time ofMoses, "whenSemiramis was queen of theAssyrians."[7][8] Thus Sanchuniathon is placed firmly in the mythic context of the pre-HomericGreek Heroic Age, an antiquity from which no other Greek or Phoenician writings are known to have survived to the time of Philo.
Sanchuniathon claims to have based his work on "collections of secret writings of theAmmouneis[9] discovered in the shrines", sacred lore deciphered from mystic inscriptions on the pillars which stood in the Phoenician temples,[7] lore which exposed the truth—later covered up by allegories and myths—that the gods were originally human beings who came to be worshipped after their deaths and that the Phoenicians had taken what were originally names of their kings and applied them to elements of thecosmos (compareeuhemerism), worshippingforces of nature and thesun,moon, andstars. Eusebius cites Sanchuniathon in his attempt to discredit pagan religion based on such foundations.[citation needed]
This rationalizing euhemeristic slant and the emphasis on Beirut, a city of great importance in the late classical period but apparently of little importance in ancient times, suggests that the work itself is not nearly as old as it claims to be. Some have suggested it was forged by Philo himself or assembled from various traditions and presented within an authenticatingpseudepigraphical format to give the material a patina of believability. Philo may have translated genuine Phoenician works ascribed to an ancient writer known as Sanchuniathon but in fact written in more recent times. This judgment is echoed by theEncyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, which described Sanchuniathon as "belong[ing] more to legend than to history."[7]
Not all readers have taken such a critical view:
The Humour which prevail'd with several learned Men to reject Sanchoniatho as a counterfeit because they knew not what to make of him, his Lordship always blam'd. Philo Byblius, Porphyry, and Eusebius, who were better able to judge than any Moderns, never call in question his being genuine.
— Squier Payne, in a preface toRichard Cumberland'sSanchoniatho's Phoenician History (1720)[10]
However that may be,[11] much of what has been preserved in this writing, despite theeuhemeristic interpretation given it, turned out to be supported by theUgaritic mythological texts excavated atRas Shamra (ancientUgarit) inSyria since 1929;Otto Eissfeldt demonstrated in 1952[12] that it does incorporate genuine Phoenician elements that can now be related to the Ugaritic texts, some of which, as shown in extant versions of Sanchuniathon, remained unchanged since the second millennium BC. The modern consensus is that Philo's treatment of Sanchuniathon offered aHellenistic view of Phoenician materials[13] written between the time ofAlexander the Great and the first century BC, if it was not a literary invention of Philo.[14]
In surviving fragments of the text, it can be difficult to ascertain whether Eusebius is citing Philo's translation of Sanchuniathon or speaking in his own voice. Another difficulty is the substitution of Greek proper names for Phoenician ones and the possible corruption of some Phoenician names that do appear.[citation needed]
A philosophicalcreation story traced to "thecosmogony ofTaautus, whom Philo explicitly identifies with theEgyptianThoth—"the first who thought of theinvention of letters, andbegan the writing of records"—which begins withErebus and Wind, between whichEros 'Desire' came to be[clarification needed]. From this was producedMôt 'Death' but which the account says may mean 'mud'. In a mixed confusion,[clarification needed] thegerms of life appear, andintelligent animals calledZophasemin (probably best translated 'observers of heaven') formed together as an egg. The account is not clear. Then Môt burst forth into light and the heavens were created and the various elements found their stations.[clarification needed][citation needed]
Various descendants are listed, many of whom have allegorical names but are described in the quotations from Philo as mortals who first made particular discoveries or who established particular customs.[citation needed]
According to the text, the wind Colpias and his wife Baau (translated asNyx 'Night') give birth to mortalsAeon, who discovered food from trees, andProtogonus 'firstborn'); The immediate descendants of these were Genus and Genea, who dwelt inPhoenicia; "and ... whendroughts occurred, they (Genus and Genea) stretched out their hands to heaven towards the sun; for him alone (he says) they regarded as god theLord of Heaven, calling himBeelsamen, which is in the Phoenician language 'lord of heaven', and in Greek 'Zeus.'" (Eusebius, I, x). Genus and Genea give birth to hôs, Pûr, and Phlox.
The work includes agenealogy and history of various northwestSemitic deities who were widely worshipped. Many are listed in the genealogy under the names of theircounterparts in the Greek pantheon,Hellenized forms of their Semitic names, or both. The additional names given for some of these deities appear usually in parentheses in the table below. Only equations made in the text appear here, but many of the hyperlinks point to the northwest Semitic deities that are probably intended. See the notes below the table for translations of the unlinked and several other names.[citation needed]
Translations of Greek forms:arotrios, 'of husbandry, farming',autochthon (forautokhthon) 'produced from the ground',epigeius (forepigeios) 'from the earth',eros 'desire',ge 'earth',hypsistos 'most high',pluto (forplouton) 'wealthy',pontus (forpontos) 'sea',pothos 'longing',siton 'grain',thanatos 'death',uranus (forouranos) 'sky'.Notes on etymologies:Anobret: proposed connections includeʿyn = "spring", by Renan ("Memoire", 281), and toʿAnat rabbat = "Lady ʿAnat" by Clemen (Die phönikische Religion, 69–71);[15]Ieoud/Iedud: perhaps from a Phoenician cognate of Hebrewyḥyd = "only" or of Hebrewydyd = "beloved".[15]
According to the text, as in the Greek andHittite theogonies, Sanchuniathon'sEl/Elus/Ilus/Cronus overthrows his fatherSky orUranus and castrates him, and surrounded his habitation with a wall, and foundedByblos, the first city ofPhoenicia. However, Zeus Demarûs (that is,Hadad Ramman), who is the father ofMelqart/Melicarthus (Heracles), purported son ofDagon but actually son ofUranus. WhenUranus made war againstPontus, Zeus Demarûs invaded Pontus and joins withUranus, although he (Zeus Demarûs) later vowed a sacrifice for his escape andPontus put him to flight.
ToEl/Cronus is attributed the practice ofcircumcision. Twice we are told thatEl/Cronussacrificed his own son: called Ieoud, Idoud, or Iedod in variant manuscripts. (Olyan says they reflect *yahid, "only son" or *yadid, "beloved."[16])
According to the text,El/Cronus, having laid an ambuscade for his fatherUranus in a certain place situated in the middle of the earth, when he had got him into his hands dismembered him over against the fountains and rivers. ThereUranus was consecrated, and his spirit was separated, and the blood of his parts flowed into the fountains and the waters of the rivers; and the place, which was the scene of this transaction, is shewed even to this day.
At some point, peace is made, and Zeus Adados (Hadad) andAstarte reign over the land withCronus' permission. An account of the events is written by theCabeiri and byAsclepius (Eshmun), under Thoth's direction.[citation needed]
A passage aboutserpent worship follows in which it is not clear what part is from Sanchuniathon and what part from Philo of Byblus:
The nature then of the dragon and of serpentsTauthus himself regarded as divine, and so again after him did the Phoenicians and Egyptians: for this animal was declared by him to be of all reptiles most full of breath, and fiery. In consequence of which it also exerts an unsurpassable swiftness by means of its breath, without feet and hands or any other of the external members by which the other animals make their movements. It also exhibits forms of various shapes, and in its progress makes spiral leaps as swift as it chooses. It is also most long-lived, and its nature is to put off its old skin, and so not only to grow young again, but also to assume a larger growth; and after it has fulfilled its appointed measure of age, it is self-consumed, in like manner as Tauthus himself has set down in his sacred books: for which reason this animal has also been adopted in temples and in mystic rites.
A further work of Sanchuniathon noted by Eusebius (P.E. 1.10.45) is a treatiseOn the Phoenician Alphabet.
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