Berossus (also Berossos or Berosus; Greek: Βήρωσσος) was a Hellenistic Babylonian writer who was active at the beginning of the 3rd century BC. The term Hellenistic (derived from HéllÄ“n, the Greeks traditional self-described ethnic name) was established by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen to refer to the spreading of Greek culture over the non-Greek people that were conquered by Alexander the Great. ... Babylonia was a state in the south part of Mesopotamia (in modern Iraq), combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. ... The 3rd century BC started the first day of 300 BC and ended the last day of 201 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period. ...

Life and work

Berossus published the Babyloniaca (hereafter, History of Babylonia) some time around 290-278 BCE for the Macedonian/Seleucid king, Antiochus I. Certain astrological fragments recorded in Pliny the Elder, Censorinus, Flavius Josephus, and Marcus Vitruvius Pollio are also attributed to him, but are of unknown provenance, or indeed where they might fit into his History. Vitruvius credits him with the invention of the semi-circular sundial. A statue of him was erected in Athens, perhaps attesting to his fame and scholarship as historian and astronomer-astrologer. A separate work, Procreatio, is attributed to him in the Latin work, Commentariorium in Aratum Reliquiae, but there is no proof of this connection. However, a direct citation (name and title) is exceedingly rare in antiquity, and it may have referred to Book 1 of his History. “Era Vulgaris” redirects here. ... The Seleucid Empire was a Hellenistic successor state of Alexander the Greats dominion. ... Silver coin of Antiochus I. The reverse shows Apollo seated on an omphalos. ... Hand-coloured version of the anonymous Flammarion woodcut (1888). ... Pliny the Elder: an imaginative 19th Century portrait. ... A fanciful representation of Flavius Josephus, in an engraving in William Whistons translation of his works Josephus (37 – sometime after 100 AD/CE)[1], who became known, in his capacity as a Roman citizen, as Flavius Josephus[2], was a 1st-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and... Marcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman writer, architect and engineer, active in the 1st century BC. He was the author of De Architectura, known today as The Ten Books of Architecture, a treatise in Latin on architecture, and perhaps the first work about this discipline. ... Wall sundial-a vertical direct south dial Wall sundial in Warsaws Old Town- a vertical south west decliner dial A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. ... Athens (Greek: Αθήνα - Athína) is the largest city and capital of Greece, located in the Attica periphery of central Greece. ...

He was born during or before Alexander the Great's reign over Babylon (330-323 BCE), with the earliest date suggested as 340 BCE. It is suggested that his native Akkadian name was Bel-re-ušu, which means, "Bel is my shepherd." "Berossos" is one of several Greek transliterations of his name. According to Vitruvius' work de Architectura, he eventually moved to the island of Kos off the coast of Asia Minor and set up a school of astrology there, under the patronage of the king of Egypt. However, scholars have questioned whether it would have been possible to work under the Seleucids and then move on to a region under Ptolemaic control late in life. It is not known when he died. Alexander the Great (Greek: ,[1] Megas Alexandros; July 356 BC–June 11, 323 BC), also known as Alexander III, king of Macedon (336–323 BC), was one of the most successful military commanders in history. ... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC - 340s BC - 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC Years: 345 BC 344 BC 343 BC 342 BC 341 BC - 340 BC - 339 BC 338 BC... Akkadian (lišānum akkadÄ«tum) was a Semitic language (part of the greater Afro-Asiatic language family) spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, particularly by the Assyrians and Babylonians. ... Marduk (Sumerian spelling in Akkadian: AMAR.UTU solar calf; Biblical: Merodach) was the Babylonian name of a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon, who, when Babylon permanently became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi (18th century... Transliteration is the practice of transcribing a word or text written in one writing system into another writing system. ... Port and city view of Kos town on the island Kos. ... A medieval artists rendition of Claudius Ptolemaeus Claudius Ptolemaeus (Greek: ; ca. ...

History of Babylonia

The History of Babylonia as a complete text is now lost in antiquity, and what remains comes from secondary sources of classical writers. The reasons why Berossus wrote the History have not survived, though other contemporaneous Greek historians did give reasons for the publication of their own histories. It is suggested that it was commissioned by Antiochus I, perhaps desiring a history of one of his newly-acquired lands, or by the Great Temple priests, seeking justification for the worship of Marduk in Seleucid lands. Marduk (Sumerian spelling in Akkadian: AMAR.UTU solar calf; Biblical: Merodach) was the Babylonian name of a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon, who, when Babylon permanently became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi (18th century...

Transmission and reception

Berossus' work was not popular in the Hellenistic period. The usual account of Mesopotamian history came from Ctesias of Cnidus's Persica, while most of the value of Berossos was seen to be his astrological writings. Most pagan writers probably never read History directly, and appear to be dependent on Posidonius of Apamea (135-50 BCE), who cited Berossos in his works. While Poseidonius's accounts have not survived, the writings of these tertiary sources do: Vitruvius Pollio (a contemporary of Caesar Augustus), Pliny the Elder (d. 79 CE), and Seneca the Younger (d. 65 CE). Seven later pagan writers probably transmitted Berossus via Poseidonius through an additional intermediary. They were Aetius (first or second century CE), Cleomedes (second half of second century C.E.), Pausanias (ca. 150 CE), Athenaeus (ca. 200 CE), Censorinus (3rd century CE), Palchus (sixth century CE), and an anonymous Latin commentator on the Greek poem Phaenomena by Aratus of Sicyon (ca. 315-240/39 BCE). Ctesias of Cnidus (in Caria) (Greek ), was a Greek physician and historian, who flourished in the 5th century BC. In early life he was physician to Artaxerxes Mnemon, whom he accompanied in 401 BC on his expedition against his brother Cyrus the Younger. ... Look up pagan, heathen in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The bust of Posidonius as an older man depicts his character as a Stoic philosopher. ... The famous statue of Octavian at the Prima Porta Caesar Augustus (Latin:IMP·CAESAR·DIVI·F·AVGVSTVS) ¹ (23 September 63 BC–19 August AD 14), known to modern historians as Octavian for the period of his life prior to 27 BC, is considered the first and one of the most... Pliny the Elder: an imaginative 19th Century portrait. ... Bust, traditionally thought to be Seneca, now identified by some as Hesiod. ... Pausanias (Greek: ) was a Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. ...

Jewish and Christian references to Berossus probably had a different source, either Alexander Polyhistor (c. 65 BCE.) or Juba of Mauretania (ca. 50 BCE-20 CE) Alexander's numerous works included a history of Assyria and Babylonia, while Juba wrote On the Assyrians, both using Berossos as their primary sources. Josephus' records of Berossus include some of the only extant narrative material, but he is likely dependent on Alexander Polyhistor, even if he did give the impression that he had direct access to Berossus. The fragments of Berossus found in three Christian writers' works are probably dependent on Alexander or Juba (or both). They are Tatianus of Syria (second century CE), Theophilus Bishop of Antioch (180 CE), and Titus Flavius Clemens (ca. 200 CE). Lucius Cornelius Alexander Polyhistor was a Greek scholar who was enslaved by the Romans during the war of Sulla and taken to Rome as a tutor. ... Theophilus, Patriarch of Antioch (Eusebius Ecclesiastical History iv. ... Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius Clemens), was the first member of the Church of Alexandria to be more than a name, and one of its most distinguished teachers. ...

Like Poseidonius, neither Alexander's or Juba's works have survived. However, their material on Berossus was recorded by Abydenus (second or third century CE) and Sextus Julius Africanus (early third century CE). Their work is also lost, possibly considered too long, but Eusebius Bishop of Caesaria (ca. 260-340 CE), in his Chronicle preserved some of their accounts. The Greek text of the Chronicle is also now lost to us but there is an ancient Armenian translation (500-800 CE) of it, and portions are quoted in Georgius Syncellus' Ecloga Chronographica (ca. 800-810 CE). Nothing of Berossus survives in Jerome's Latin translation of Eusebius. Eusebius' other mentions of Berossus in Praeparatio Evangelica are derived from Josephus, Tatianus, and another inconsequential source (The last cite contains only, "Berossus the Babylonian recorded Naboukhodonosoros in his history."). Sextus Julius Africanus, a Christian traveller and historian of the 3rd century, was probably born in Libya, and may have served under Septimius Severus against the Osrhoenians in AD 195. ... Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea (c. ... George Syncellus (died after 810) was a Byzantine chronicler and ecclesiastic. ... “Saint Jerome” redirects here. ...

Christian writers after Eusebius are probably reliant on him, but include Pseudo-Justinus (third-fifth century CE), Hesychius of Alexandria (fifth century CE), Agathius (536-582 CE), Moses of Chorene (eighth century CE), an unknown geographer of unknown date, and the Suda (Byzantine dictionary from the tenth century CE. Thus, what little of Berossus remains is very fragmentary and indirect. The most direct source of material on Berossus is Josephus, received from Alexander Polyhistor. Most of the names in his king-lists and most of the potential narrative content have disappeared or been completely mangled as a result. Only Eusebius and Josephus preserve narrative material, and both had agendas. Eusebius was looking to construct a consistent chronology between the pagan and Christian worlds, while Josephus was attempting to refute the charges that there were people older than the Jews. However, the ten ante-diluvian kings were preserved by Christian apologists interested in the long lifespans of the kings were similar to the long lifespans of the ante-diluvian ancestors in Genesis. Suda (Σουδα or alternatively Suidas) is a massive 10th century Byzantine Greek historical encyclopædia of the ancient Mediterranean world. ... Genesis (Greek: Γένεσις, having the meanings of birth, creation, cause, beginning, source and origin) is the first book of the Torah (five books of Moses) and hence the first book of the Tanakh, part of the Hebrew Bible; it is also the first book of the Christian Old Testament. ...

Sources and content

The Armenian translation of Eusebius and Syncellus' transmission (Chronicon and Ecloga Chronographica respectively) both record Berossus' use of "public records" and it is possible that Berossus catalogued his sources. This did not make him reliable, only that he took some care with the sources and his access to priestly and sacred records allowed him to do what other Babylonians could not. What we have of ancient Mesopotamian myth is somewhat comparable with Berossus, though the exact integrity with which he transmitted his sources is unknown, due to the fact that much of the literature of Mesopotamia has not survived. What is clear is that the form of writing he pursued was dissimilar to actual Babylonian literature, writing as he did in Greek. Mesopotamia refers to the region now occupied by modern Iraq, and parts of eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and southwest Iran. ... The word mythology (from the Greek μυολογία mythología, from μυολογείν mythologein to relate myths, from μύος mythos, meaning a narrative, and λόγος logos, meaning speech or argument) literally means the (oral) retelling of myths – stories that a particular culture believes to be true and that use the supernatural to interpret natural events and...

Book 1 fragments are preserved in Eusebius and Syncellus above, and describe the Babylonian creation account and establishment of order, including the defeat of Thalatth (Tiamat) by Bel (Marduk). According to him, all knowledge was revealed to humans by the sea monster Oannes after the Creation, and so Verbrugghe and Wickersham (2000:17) have suggested that this is where the astrological fragments discussed above would fit, if at all. Creation (theology) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Tiamat is a mother goddess in Babylonian and Sumerian mythology, and a central figure in the Enûma Elish creation epic. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Book 2 describes the history of the Babylonian kings from creation till Nabonassaros (747-734 BCE). Eusebius reports that Apollodorus reports that Berossus recounts 430,000 years from the first king, Aloros, to Xisouthros and the Babylonian Flood. From Berossus' genealogy, it is clear he had access to king-lists in compiling this section of History, particularly in the kings before the Flood (legendary though they are), and from the 7th century BCE with Senakheirimos (Sennacherib, who ruled both Assyria and Babylon). His account of the Flood (preserved in Syncellus) is extremely similar to versions of the Epic of Gilgamesh that we have today. However, in Gilgamesh, the main protagonist is Utnapishtim, while here, Xisouthros is likely a Greek transliteration of Ziusudra, the protagonist of the Sumerian version of the Flood. The Flood can refer to different things: The Flood is an alien lifeform in the Halo video game series. ... Sennacherib during his Babylonian war, relief from his palace in Nineveh Sennacherib (in Akkadian Śïn-ahhe-eriba (The moon god) Śïn has Replaced (Lost) Brothers for Me) was the son of Sargon II, whom he succeeded on the throne of Assyria (705 BC–681 BC). ... The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from Babylonia and is among the earliest known literary works. ...

Perhaps what Berossus omits to mention is also noteworthy. Much information on Sargon (ca. 2300 BCE) would have been available during his time (e.g., a birth legend preserved at El-Amarna and in an Assyrian fragment from 8th century BCE, and two Neo-Babylonian fragments), but these went unmentioned. Similarly, the great Babylonian king Hammurabi (ca. 1750 BCE) merits only passing mention. He did, however, take the time to point out that the queen Semiramis (probably Sammuramat, wife of Samshi-Adad V, 824-811 BCE) was Assyrian. Perhaps it was in response to Greek writers mythologising her to the point where she was described as the founder of Babylon, daughter of the Syrian goddess Derketo, and married to Ninus (the legendary founder of Nineveh, in Greek eyes). Sargon may refer to: Sargon of Akkad (Å arrukînu, also known as Sargon the Great, Sargon I), Mesopotamian king, founder of the city of Agade and the Akkadian dynasty, unifier of Sumer and Akkad (2334 BC - 2279 BC). ... An Assyrian winged bull, or lemmasu. ... This diorite head is believed to represent Hammurabi Hammurabi (Akkadian from Amorite ˤAmmurāpi, the kinsman is a healer, from ˤAmmu, paternal kinsman, and Rāpi, healer; 1810 BC?–1750 BC) also rarely transliterated Ammurapi, Hammurapi, or Khammurabi) was the sixth king of Babylon. ... Semiramis is depicted as an armed Amazon in this eighteenth century Italian illustration. ... Atargatis, in Aramaic ‘Atar‘atah, was a Syrian deity, more commonly known to the Greeks by a shortened form of the name, Derceto or Derketo (Strabo 16. ...

Book 3 relates the history of Babylon from Nabonassaros to Antiochus I (presumably). Again, it is likely that he followed king-lists, though it is not clear which ones he used. The Mesopotamian documents known as King-List A (one copy from the sixth or fifth centuries BCE) and Chronicle 1 (3 copies with one solidly dated to 500 BCE) are usually suggested as the ones he used, due to the synchronicity between those and his History (though there are some differences). A large part of his history around the time of Naboukhodonosoros (Nebuchadrezzar II, 604-562 BCE) and Nabonnedos (Nabonidus, 556-539 BCE) survives. Here we see his interpretation of history for the first time, moralising about the success and failure of kings based on their moral conduct. This is similar to another Babylonian history, Chronicle of Nabonidus, and differs from the rationalistic accounts of other Greek historians like Thucydides. A coin that might depict Nebuchadnezzar II Nebuchadnezzar II is perhaps the best known ruler of Babylon in the Chaldean Dynasty, who reigned ca. ... Nabonidus (Akkadian Nabû-nāʾid) was the last King of Babylon, who ruled the Neo-Babylonian Empire from 556 BC to 539 BC. His reign was characterized by his lack of interest in the politics and religion of his kingdom, preferring instead to study the older temples and antiquities in... In epistemology and in its broadest sense, rationalism is any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification (Lacey 286). ... Bust of Thucydides residing in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. ...

The achievements of History of Babylonia

Berossus's achievement may be seen in terms of how he combined the Hellenistic methods of historiography and Mesopotamian accounts to form a unique composite. Like Herodotus and Thucydides, he probably autographed his work for the benefit of later writers. Certainly he furnished details of his own life within his histories, which broke with the Mesopotamian tradition of anonymous scribes. Elsewhere, he included a geographical description of Babylonia, similar to that found in Herodotus (on Egypt), and used Greek classifications. There is some evidence that he resisted adding information to his research, especially the earlier periods of which he was not familiar with. Only in Book 3 do we see his opinions begin to enter the picture. Historiography is a term with multiple meanings that has changed with time, place and observer, and is thus resistant to a single encompassing meaning. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Secondly, he constructed a narrative from Creation to his present day, again similar to Herodotus or the Hebrew Bible. Within this construction, the sacred myths blended seamlessly with history. Whether he followed Hellenistic skepticism about the existence of the gods and their tales is unclear, though it is likely he believed them more than the satirist Ovid, for example. The naturalistic attitude found in Syncellus' transmission is probably more reflective of the later Greek authors who transmitted the work than Berossos himself. 11th century manuscript of the Hebrew Bible with Targum This article is about the term Hebrew Bible. For the Hebrew Bible itself, see Tanakh (Jewish tradition) or Old Testament (Christian tradition). ... Engraved frontispiece of George Sandyss 1632 London edition of Publius Ovidius Naso (Sulmona, March 20, 43 BC – Tomis, now Constanţa AD 17), a Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid, wrote on topics of love, abandoned women and mythological transformations. ...

During his own time and later, however, the History of Babylonia was not distributed widely. Verbrugghe and Wickersham argue that the lack of relation between the material in History and the Hellenistic world was not relevant, since Diodorus' equally bizarre book on Egyptian mythology was preserved. Instead, the reduced connection between Mesopotamia and the Greco-Roman world under Parthian rule was partially responsible. Secondly, his material did not contain as much narrative, especially of periods he was not familiar with, even when potential sources for stories were available. They suggest: Parthia[1] (Middle Persian: اشکانیان Ashkâniân) was a civilization situated in the northeast of modern Iran, but at its height covering all of Iran proper, as well as regions of the modern countries of Armenia, Iraq, Georgia, eastern Turkey, eastern Syria, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, the Persian Gulf...

"Perhaps Berossos was a prisoner of his own methodology and purpose. He used ancient records that he refused to flesh out, and his account of more recent history, to judge by what remains, contained nothing more than a bare narrative. If Berossos believed in the continuity of history with patterns that repeated themselves (i.e., cycles of events as there were cycles of the stars and planets), a bare narrative would suffice. Indeed, this was more than one would suspect a Babylonian would or could do. Those already steeped in Babylonian historical lore would recognize the pattern and understand the interpretation of history Berossos was making. If this, indeed, is what Berossos presumed, he made a mistake that would cost him interested Greek readers who were accustomed to a much more varied and lively historical narrative where there could be no doubt who was an evil ruler and who was not." (2000:32)

What is left of Berossus's writings is useless for the reconstruction of Mesopotamian history. Of greater interest to scholars is his approach to historiography, tied as it was to both Greek and Mesopotamian methods. The affinities between it and Hesiod, Herodotus, Manetho, and the Hebrew Bible (specifically, the Torah and Deuteronomistic History) as histories of the classical world give us an idea about how ancient people viewed their worlds. Each begins with a fantastic creation story, followed by a mythical ancestral period, and then finally accounts of recent kings who appear to be historical, with no demarcations in between. Blenkinsopp notes: Roman bronze bust, the so-called Pseudo-Seneca, now identified by some as possibly Hesiod Hesiod (Hesiodos, ) was an early Greek poet and rhapsode, who presumably lived around 700 BC. Hesiod and Homer, with whom Hesiod is often paired, have been considered the earliest Greek poets whose work has survived... Manetho, also known as Manethon of Sebennytos, was an Egyptian historian and priest from Sebennytos who lived during the Ptolematic era, circa 3rd century BC. Manetho recorded Aegyptiaca (History of Egypt). ... “Tora” redirects here. ... Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible. ...

"In composing his history, Berossus drew on the mythic-historiographical tradition of Mesopotamia, and specifically on such well known texts as the creation myth Enuma Elish, Atrahasis, and the king lists, which provided the point of departure and conceptual framework for a universal history. But the mythic and archaic element was combined with the chronicles of rulers which can lay claim to being in some degree genuinely historical." (1992:41)

This early approach to historiography, though preceded by Hesiod, Herodotus, and the Hebrew Bible, demonstrates its own unique approach. Though one must be careful about how much can be described of the original work, his apparent resistance to adding to his sources is noteworthy, as is the lack of moralising he introduces to those materials he is not familiar with. Enûma Elish is the creation epic of Babylonian mythology. ... The 18th century BC Akkadian Atra-Hasis epic, named after its human hero, contains both a creation and a flood account, and is one of three surviving Babylonian flood stories. ...

References

• Blenkinsopp, J. 1992. The Pentateuch: An Introduction to the First Five Books of the Bible. New York: Anchor Doubleday.
• Verbrugghe, G.P. & Wickersham, J.M. 2000. Berossos and Manetho Introduced and Translated: Native Traditions in Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press.

External links

• Fragments of Chaldæan History, by Berossus
• An Historical Treatise of the Travels of Noah Into Europe, Translated by Richard Lynche in 1601