 |
Gnostic sects and founders
|
Norea is a figure inGnostic cosmology. She plays a prominent role in two surviving texts from theNag Hammadi library. InHypostasis of the Archons, she is the daughter ofAdam and Eve and sister ofSeth. She sets fire toNoah's Ark and receives a divine revelation from theLuminary Eleleth. InThought of Norea, she "extends into prehistory"[1] as "sheassumes the features here of the fallenSophia."[2] In Mandean literature, she is instead identified as the wife of eitherNoah orShem.[3]
Birger A. Pearson identifies her as "a feminine counterpart to Seth, just as Eve is the 'female counterpart' to Adam,"[4] andRoel van den Broek refers to her as "on the one hand [...] a saviour figure and on the other the prototype of the saved gnostic."[5]
According toEpiphanius of Salamis, theBorborites identified Norea withPyrrha, the wife ofDeucalion (a Greek figure similar to Noah). He suggested that the nameNorea was a mistranslation ofPyrrha based on an assumed connection withnura,Syriac for "fire".[6][7]
Elsewhere, Epiphanius says that theSethians identifySeth's wife asHoraia, almost certainly another name for Norea.[8][9][10] Birger Pearson argues that Norea is based on the Jewish legend ofNaamah, and that the nameNorea derives fromHoraia (meaning "beautiful", "pleasant", or "lovely"), the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew nameNaamah. According to Jewish legend, Naamah married Seth, opposed construction of the ark, and was sexually involved with angelic beings, characteristics shared by Norea inHypostasis.[11] However, Pearson notes that "her role as a seductress of the 'sons of God' has [...] been transposed in the gnostic literature, in a typically gnostic hermeneutical inversion."[12] Pearson also argues thatNoba, named as a daughter of Adam and Eve in theChronicles of Jerahmeel, is a corrupted Latin translation ofNorea.[11]
Ross Kraemer draws comparisons between Norea and Aseneth as described inJoseph and Aseneth. Both are virgins who resemble or are linked to divine female beings, receive heavenly revelations, and help others find salvation. She suggests that the stories around Norea may have developed in a Jewish community "characterized by the presence and public activity of women not unlike Norea and Aseneth."[13]
InHypostasis, Norea is given the epithet"The virgin whom no power has defiled". This same phrase is applied toMary in theGospel of Philip, another Nag Hammadi text.[14]
InThe Hypostasis of the Archons (The Reality of the Rulers), Norea is the daughter of Eve and the younger sister of Seth; both are members of the pure race. Thearchons decide to destroy the world with adeluge, but their leader, theDemiurge, warns Noah to build an ark, which Norea tries to board. Noah stops her, so she blows upon the ark and sets it ablaze. The rulers try to rape her, but she cries to the God of the Entirety for help. TheangelEleleth appears and frightens the rulers away before revealing her origins; she is a child of the spirit.
On the Origin of the World refers to anAccount of Oraia and theFirst Book of Noraia. These books were not preserved in the Nag Hammadi library.
Epiphanius of Salamis summarizes a book calledNoria in thePanarion (Against Heresies) (26.1.3-9). According to this summary, she burnedNoah's Ark three times, then revealed the means of recovering stolen sparks through sexual emissions.[15] It is unknown whether this is one of the books mentioned inOrigin.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
