Part 3 of 3
It is said of Sesostris, that he constructed a60 [Diodor. Sicul. L. i. p. 52.]
ship, which was two hundred and eighty cubits in length. It was of cedar; plated without with gold, and inlaid with silver: and it was, when finished, dedicated to Osiris at Thebes. It is not credible that there should have been a ship of this size, especially in an inland district, the most remote of any in Egypt. It was certainly a temple, and a shrine. The former was framed upon this large scale: and it was the latter, on which the gold and silver were so lavishly expended.[!!!] There is
a remarkable circumstance relating to the Argonautic expedition, that
the dragon slain by Jason was of the dimensions of a61 [[x]. Pind. Pyth. Od. 4. p. 261. [x]. Schol. ibid.]
Trireme: by which must be meant that it was of the shape of a ship in general; for there were no Triremes at the time alluded to. And I have moreover shewn, that
all these dragons, as they have been represented by the poets, were in reality temples, Dracontia; where, among other rites, the worship of the serpent was instituted.[!!!] There is therefore reason to think that
this temple, as well as that of Sesostris, was fashioned in respect to its superficial contents after the model of a ship: and as to the latter it was probably intended in its outlines to be the exact representation of the ark, in commemoration of which it was certainly built. It was a temple sacred to Osiris at Theba; or, to say the truth, it was itself called Theba: and both
the city, said to be one of the most ancient in Egypt,
as well as the Province, was undoubtedly62 [[x]. Aristot. Meteorol. V. 1. 1. i. p. 771. Theba and Diospolis the same: [x]. Diodorus Sicul. L. i. p. 88. Theba now called Minio, according to Sanson. [x]. Hesych.]
denominated from it. Now Theba was the very name of the ark.
When Noah was ordered to construct a vessel, in which he and his family were to be preserved, he was directed in express terms to build [x], Theba, an ark. It is the very63 [
According to the Grecian mode of allegorizing, Theba was said to have been the daughter of Prometheus, who gave name to the place: [x]. Steph. Byzant. [x]. Apollodor. L. 3. p. 145.] word made use of by the sacred writer: so that
we may, I think, be assured of the prototype, after which this temple was fashioned. It is said, indeed, to have been only two hundred and eighty cubits in length: whereas the64 [Genes. c. 6. v. 15.] ark of Noah was three hundred. But this is a variation of only one sixteenth in the whole: and, as the ancient cubit was not in all countries the same; we may suppose that this disparity arose rather from the manner of measuring, than from any real difference in the extent of the building. It was an idolatrous temple; said to have been built by Sesostris in honour of Osiris.
I have been repeatedly obliged to take notice of the ignorance of the Greeks in respect to ancient titles; and have shewn their misapplication of terms in many instances: especially in their supposing temples to have been erected by persons, to whom they were in reality sacred. Sesostris was Osiris; the same as Dionusus, Menes, and Noah. He is called Seisithrus by Abydenus, Xixouthros by Berosus and Apollodorus; and is represented by them as a prince, in whose time the Deluge happened. He was called Zuth, Xuth, and Zeus: and had certainly divine honours paid to him.The same memorial is to be observed
in other countries, where an ark, or ship was introduced in their mysteries, and often carried about upon their festivals. Pausanias gives a remarkable account of a temple of Hercules at Eruthra in Ionia; which he mentions as of the highest antiquity, and very like those in Egypt.
The Deity was represented upon a float; and was supposed to have come thither in this manner from Phenicia.65 [L. 7. p. 534.] [x].66 [Orat. Smyrn. V. i. p. 402. He speaks of the custom as of late date: but the festival of Dionusus warrants the antiquity. See Dio. L. 39. p, 62. [x], a similar rite.]
Aristides mentions that at Smyrna, upon the coast called Dionusia, a ship used to be carried in procession. The same custom prevailed among the Athenians at the Panathenaea, when what was termed the sacred ship was borne with great reverence through the city to the temple of Damater of Elusis. At Phalerus near Athens there were honours paid to an unknown hero, who was represented in the stern of a ship:67 [Clemen. Alexand. Cohort. V. i. p. 35. See Aristophan.[x]. v. 563. of the ship at the Panathenaea. [x]. Pausan. L. i. p. 70. Of the ship sent to Delos see Callimach. Hymn, in Delum. Not. ad v. 314. p. 204.] [x].
At Olympia, the most sacred place in Greece, was a representation of the like nature. It
was a building like the fore part of a ship, which stood facing the end of the Hippodromus: and towards the middle of it was an altar, upon which at the renewal of each Olympiad particular rites were performed:68 [Pausan. L. 6. p. 503.] [x]
It is said of Lamech, that he received great consolation at the birth of his son: and that he prophetically69 [Genes. c. 5. v. 29.]
called his name Noah; saying, "This same shall comfort us concerning our work, and toil of our hands; because of the ground, which the Lord hath cursed. Agreeably to this the name of
Noah was by the Grecians interpreted rest and comfort:70 [Hesych. [x]. Theoph. ad Autolyc. L. 3. p. 391.] [x]. This seems to have been alluded to at the
Eleusinian mysteries. Part of the ceremony was a night scene, attended with tears and lamentations, on account of some person who was supposed to have been lost: but at the close a priest used to present himself to the people, who were mourning, and bid them be of good courage, for the Deity whom they lamented as lost was preserved; and that they would now have some comfort, some respite, after all their labour. The words in the original are very particular:
71 [Jul. Firmicus. p. 45. Edit. Ouzel.] [x].
To which was added, what is equally remarkable;
72 [Demosthen. [x]. p. 568.] [x].
I have escaped a calamity; and have met with a better portion. This was the same rite as that in Egypt, called [x] and [x]; both which were celebrated in the month Athyr. [i]It was called in Canaan the death and revival of Adonis or Thamuz, who was the Osiris and Thamas of Egypt.Some rites, similar to those, which I have been describing in the exhibition of the sacred ship Baris, are mentioned
in the story of the Argonauts. Their ship is said to have been stranded among the Syrtes of Africa, by which means their progress was interrupted: and at the same time there was no opening for a retreat.
The heroes on board were at last told that there was no way to obtain the assistance of the gods but by performing what appears to have been a mystical rite. They were to take the ship on their shoulders and carry it over land for a season. This was effected by twelve of them who bore it for several days and nights, till they came to the river Triton where they found an outlet to the sea. Apollonius speaks of the whole as a mystery.
73 [Apollon. Argonaut. L. 4. v. 1381. See Pind. Pyth. Od. 4. v. 36.] [x]
It is to be remarked in those copies of the sculptures, which bishop Pocock observed among the ruins at ancient Thebes, that the extremities in each of the boats are fashioned nearly alike; and that there is no distinction of head and stern. This kind of vessel was copied by the Greeks, and styled74 [See Vol. I. p. 252. Hyginus calls it navim biproram. Fab. 168. and 277. Tunc primum dicitur Minerva navim secisse biproram. [Google translate: See Vol. I, p. 252 Hyginus calls it a boat bimram. Fab. 168. and 277. Then for the first time it is said Minerva had cut the ship in half.]] [x], Amphiprumnais. It is recorded,
when Danaus came from Egypt to Argos, that he crossed the seas in a ship of this form: in which circumstance
there must have been some mysterious allusion; otherwise it was of little consequence to mention the particular shape of the ship, which he was supposed to have navigated.
There was certainly something sacred in these kinds of vessels; something which was esteemed salutary; and in proof of it, among other accounts given of them, we have this remarkable one.75 [Hesych.] [x]
The Amphiprumna are a kind of ships sent upon any salutary occasion. In short, they were always looked upon as holy and of good omen.
I think it is pretty plain, that all these emblematical representations, of which I have given so many instances, related to the history of the Deluge, and the conservation of one family in the ark. I have before taken notice that this history was pretty recent when these works were executed in Egypt; and when these rites were first established: and there is reason to think, that in early times, most shrines among the Mizraim were formed under the resemblance of a ship in memory of this great event. Nay, further, both ships and temples received their names from hence; being styled by the Greeks, who borrowed largely from Egypt, [x] and [x], and Mariners [x], Nautaa, in reference to the Patriarch, who was variously styled Noas, Naus, and Noah.
However
the Greeks may in their mysteries have sometimes introduced a ship as a symbol; yet
in their references to the Deluge itself, and to the persons preserved, they always speak of an ark, which they call,76 [Plato of Deucalion and his wife; [x]. See also Nonnus. L. 6. p. 200. [x]. Theophil. ad Autolyc. L. 3. p. 391. [x] Theocrit. Idyll. 7. v. 78.]
[x], Larnax, [x], and the like. And though they were apt to mention the same person under various titles; and by these means different people seem to be made principals in the same history: yet they were so far uniform in their accounts of this particular event, that they made each of them to be preserved in an ark. Thus it is said of Deucalion, Perseus and Dionusus, that they were exposed upon the waters in a machine of this fabrick.
Adonis was hid in an77 [Apollodorus. L. 3. p. 194.]
ark by Venus; and was supposed to have been in a state of death for a year.78 [Theocrit. Idyll. 15. v. 102.] [x].
Theocritus introduces a pastoral personage Comates, who was exposed in an ark for the same term, and wonderfully preserved.79 [Theocrit. Idyll. 7. v. 85. Com- Ait: two titles of Helius.] [x].
Of Osiris being exposed in an ark we have a very remarkable account in80 [Isis and Osir. v. i. p. 366, 367. See Lightfoot of the ancient year beginning in Autumn. Vol. i. p. 707. See the Account of the Flood, when Prometheus reigned in Egypt, as it is mentioned by Diodor. Sicul. L. i. p. 16.]
Plutarch, who mentions that it was on account of Typhon, and that it happened on the seventeenth of the month Athyr when the Sun was in Scorpio. This, in my judgment, was the precise time when Noah entered the ark, and when the flood came, which in the Egyptian mythology was termed Typhon.[!!!]From what has preceded the reader will perceive that
the history of the Deluge was no secret to the Gentile world. They held the memory of it very sacred: and many colonies, which went abroad, styled themselves Thebeans in reference to the ark. Hence there occur many cities of the the name of Theba; not in Egypt only and Boeotia, but in Cilicia, Ionia, Attica, Pthiotis, Cataonia, Syria, and Italy. It was sometimes expressed
Thiba: a town of which name was in Pontus:81 [Steph. Byzantin. It was
said to have been built by the Amazons. From the Amazons being Thebeans, we may judge of their race, and true history.[!!!]] [x]. It is called Thibis by82 [Plin. L. 7. c. 2. [x]. Pint. Sympos. L. 5. c. 7.]
Pliny. He mentions a notion which prevailed that the people of this place could not sink in water; eosdem non posse mergi [Google translate: same unable to sink.].
We may see in this a remote allusion to the name of the place and people, and to the history which they had preserved.There was another term, besides Theba, under which the Grecians represented the ark. It was called [x], Cibotus, which however I do not imagine to have been a word of Grecian original: as both an83 [One of the havens at Alexandria. Strab. L. 17. p. 1145.] haven in Egypt, and a84 [[x]. Strabo. L. 12. p. 854.] city of great antiquity in Phrygia, were denominated in the same manner.
The fathers of the Greek church, when they treat of the ark, interpret it in this manner, [x]. It is also the term made use of by the85 [[x]. Genes. c. 6. v. 14. Edit. Ald.] Seventy; and even by the86 [Hebr. c. 11. v. 7. i Pet. c. 3. v. 20.]
Apostles themselves. The city Cibotus, which I mentioned to have been in Phrygia, stood far inland upon the fountains of the river Marsyas: and we may judge from its name that it had reference to the same history. Indeed, all over this part of the world memorials of the deluge seem to have been particularly preserved.
This city was also called Apamea;87 [Strab. L. 12. p. 864. It was,
undoubtedly the same as Celaenae, of which I have treated before; and which I have shewn to have been named from its situation.
Celaenae I should imagine was the name of the city, and Cibotus was properly the temple, which distinction was not attended to in former times. Migratum inde haud procul veteribus Celaenis; novaeque urbi Apamaea nomen inditum ab Apamea forore Seleuci Regis. Liv. L. 38. c. 13. Tertius Apameam vadit, ante appellatam Celaenas, deinde Ciboton. Plin. L. 5. c. 29. [Google translate: Migration thence not far from the ancient Celaeni; and the new city Apamaea was given the name by Apamea, king of Seleucus. Liv. L. 38. c. 13. Third Apamea He goes, first called Celaenas, then Ciboton. Plin. L. 5. c. 29.]] [x]: which name of Apamea is said to have been conferred upon it in latter times.
It was undoubtedly named Cibotus in memory of the ark, and of the history with which it is connected. And in proof of this, we shall find that the people had preserved more particular and authentic traditions concerning the flood, and the preservation of mankind through Noah, than are to be met with elsewhere. The learned88 [Octav. Falconerii Dissertatio de nummo Apameensi, Deucalionei diluvii typum exhibente; ad Petr. Seguinum. S. Germani Antissiodor. Paris. Decanum. Ex Libro, cui titulus, Selesta Numismata Antiqua ex Museo Petr. Seguini. Paris. 1684. He mentions another coin similar to the above, and struck by the same people, who are styled Magnetes Apameenses. On one side is the head of Severus crowded with laurel: on the other, the ark with the same persons in it, and the like circumstances described: above, [x] The two last syllables of [x] are upon the blank space of the ark. There is a coin of the emperor Adrian; the reverse a river-god, between two rocks, like the Petras Ambrosiae: inscribed [x]. Also a coin with a ship: inscribed [x]. Patini Numism. p. 413.]
Falconerius has a curious dissertation upon a coin of Philip the elder which was struck at this place, and contained on its reverse an epitome of this history. The reverse of most Asiatic coins relate to the religion and mythology of the places where they were struck. The inscription upon the forepart is [x]. Upon the reverse is delineated a kind of square machine, floating upon the water. Through an opening in it are seen two persons, a man and a woman, as low as to the breast, and upon the head of the woman is a veil. Over this ark is a kind of triangular pediment on which there sits a dove, and below it another which seems to flutter its wings, and holds in its mouth a small branch of a tree. Before the machine is a man following a woman, who by their attitude seem to have just quitted it, and to have gotten upon dry land. Upon the ark itself, underneath the persons there inclosed, is to be read in distinct characters, [x]. The learned Editor of this account say, that it had fallen to his lot to meet with three of these coins. They were of brass, and of the medaglion size; one of them he mentions to have seen in the collection of the duke of Tuscany; the second in that of the cardinal Ottoboni; and the third was the property of Augustino Chigi, nephew to pope Alexander the seventh. Nor had this people only traditions of the Deluge in general. There seems to have been a notion that the ark itself rested upon the hills of Celaenae, where the city Cibotus was founded; for the Sibylline oracles, wherever they may be supposed to have been composed, include these hills under the name of Ararat, and mention this circumstance.URI
https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/type/20588json ttl rdf xml
Volume VIII
Number — (unassigned; ID 20588)
Province Asia
Subprovince Conventus of Apamea
Region Phrygia
City Apamea
Reign Philip I Person (obv.) Philip I (Augustus)
Magistrate M. Aur(elius) Alexandros II, grandson of Bel(—) (high priest)
Issue First issue
Obverse inscription ΑΥΤ Κ ΙΟΥΛ ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟϹ ΑΥΓ
Obverse design laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Philip I, r., seen from rear
Reverse inscription ƐΠ Μ ΑΥΡ ΑΛƐΖΑΝΔΡΟΥ Β ΑΡΧΙ ΑΠΑΜƐΩΝ, ΝΩƐ (on ark)
Reverse design male and female figures in Noah's ark, floating on waves, l., surmounted by raven and dove holding branch in beak; in front, male and female figures standing l.Metal Æ
Average diameter 35 mm
Average weight 19.41 g
Axis 5, 6, 7, 12
Specimens 17
RPC VIII, by
https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/type/20588
89 [Orac. Sibyllin. p. 180.] [x]
We may perceive a wonderful correspondence between the histories here given, and of the place from whence they came. The best memorials of the ark were here preserved, and the people were styled Magnetes, and their city Cibotus: and upon their coins was the figure of the ark under the name of [x]: all which will be further explained hereafter.
Not far from Cibotus was a city called90 [Near Beudos in Pisidia, and not a great way from Cibotus. Ptolem. L. 5. p. 142. Hieroclis Synecdemus. Pisidia. p. 673. Beudos, Baris, Boeotus, were all of the same purport.]
Baris, which was a name of the same purport as the former; and was certainly founded in memory of the same event. Cibotus signified an ark, and was often used for a repository: but differed from [x], cista, by being made use of either for things sacred, or for things of great value, like the Camilla of the Latines:91 [Schol. in Aristophan. [x]. v. 1208.] [x].
The rites of Damater related to the ark and deluge, like those of Isis: and the sacred emblems, whatever they may have been, were carried in an holy machine, called92 [Pausan. L. 10. p. 866.] [x].
The ark, according to the traditions of the Gentile world, was prophetic; and was looked upon as a kind of temple, a place of residence of the Deity. In the compass of eight persons it comprehended all mankind: which
eight persons were thought to be so highly favoured by Heaven that they were looked up to by their posterity with great reverence, and came at last to be reputed Deities. Hence
in the ancient mythology of Egypt there were precisely eight93 [Diodor. Sicul. L. i. p. 12.]
Gods: of these
the Sun was the chief, and was said first to have reigned. Some made
Hephaistus the first king of that country, while others supposed it to have been
Pan.94 [Herodot. L. 2. c. 145.] [x]. There is in reality
no inconsistency in these accounts, for they were all three titles of the same Deity, the Sun: and
when divine honours began to be paid to men the Amonians conferred these titles upon the great Patriarch, as well as upon his son Amon.95 [There is reason to think that
the Patriarch Noah had the name of Amon as well as his son. The cities styled No-Amon, and Amon-No, were certainly named from Noah. According to Plutarch Amon signified occultus. Isis et Osiris. P. 354.] And, as
in the histories of their kings, the Egyptians were able to trace the line of their descent upwards to these ancient96 [[x]. Diodor. Sicul. L. i. p. 12.]
personages; the names of the latter were by these means prefixed to those lists: and they were in aftertimes thought to have reigned in that country.
This was the celebrated Og-doas of Egypt, which their posterity held in such veneration that they exalted them to the heavens, and made their history the chief subject of the sphere. This will appear very manifest in their symbolical representation of the solar system; of which Martianus Capella has transmitted to us a very curious specimen97 [Martian. Capella. Satyric. L. 2. p. 43.]. Ibi (in systemate solari) quandam navem totius naturae cursibus diversa cupiditate moderantem, cunctaque fIammarum congestione plenissimam, et beatis circumactam mercibus conspicimus; cui nautae
septem, germani tamen suique similes, praesidebant. In eadem vero rate sons quidam lucis aethereae, arcanisque fluoribus manans, in totius mundi lumina fundebatur [Google translate:
There (in the solar system) a ship a passion for controlling the different courses of the whole nature, and everything fullest and blessed we see wares; who had seven sailors, yet German and their like, presided. At the same rate as sons some of
the ethereal light and the mysterious fluids emanating from the whole the lights of the world were poured on.]. Thus we find that they esteemed the ark an emblem of the system of the heavens. And when they began to distinguish the stars in the firmament, and to reduce them to particular constellations, there is reason to think that
most of the asterisms were formed with the like reference. For although the delineations of the sphere have by the Greeks, through whose hands we receive them, been greatly abused, yet there still remains sufficient evidence to shew that such reference subsisted.
The watery sign Aquarius, and the great effusion of that element as it is depicted in the sphere, undoubtedly related to this history. Some said that the person meant in the character of Aquarius was Ganymede. Hegefianax maintained that it was Deucalion, and related to the deluge.98 [Hygin. Poet. Astronom. c. 29. p. 482. Audi Scholiasten Germanici Aquario -- Nigidius Hydrochoon sive Aquarium existimat esse Deucalionem Thessalum, qui in maximo cataclysmo sit relictus cum uxore Pyrrha in monte AEtna, qui est altissimus in Sicilia. Not. in Hygin. Fab. 153. p. 265. ex Germanici Scholiaste. [Google translate: Hygin. Poet. Astronom. c. 29. p. 482 Hear the Scholiast of Germanic Aquarius -- Nigidius Hydrochoon or Aquarius he considers it to be Deucalion thessalus, who was rescued in the greatest deluge his wife Pyrrha on Mount Aetna, which is the highest in Sicily. Not. in Hygin. Fab. 153. p. 265. from the German Scholiast.]] Hegefianax autem Deucalionem dicit esse, quod, eo regnante, tanta vis aquae se de coelo prosuderit, ut cataclysmus factus effe diceretur. Eubulus autem Cecropem demonstrat esse; antiquitatem generis commemorans, et ostendens, antequam vinum traditum sit hominibus, aqua in sacrificiis Deorum usos esse;
et ante Cecropem regnasse, quam vinum sit inventum [Google translate: Hegefianax and Deucalion he says that it was because during his reign so great a quantity of water profited himself from heaven so that the deluge was said to have been effected. Eubulus He proves that it was Cecrops; Referring to the antiquity of the race and showing that before wine was delivered to men that water was used in the sacrifices of the Gods; and that before Cecrops had reigned which wine is found.]. The reader may here judge whether Cecrops, the celebrated king of Attica who lived before the plantation of the vine, and was figured under the character of Aquarius like Deucalion, to any other than Deucalion himself, the Noah of the east.
Noah was represented, as we may infer from99 [Eusebii Chron. p. 6.]
Berosus, under the semblance of a fish by the Babylonians, and those representations of fishes in the sphere probably related to him and his sons. The reasons given for their being placed there were that Venus, when she fled from100 [Hygin. Poet. Astron. c. 41. p. 494.] Typhon, took the form of a fish; and that the fish, styled Notius, saved Isis in some great extremity: pro quo beneficio simulacrum Piscis et
ejus siliorum, de quibus ante diximus, inter astra constituit [Google translate: for which benefit the image of a fish and his sons, of whom we have spoken before set among the stars.]:
for which reason Venus placed the fish Notius and his sons among the stars. By this we may perceive that
Hyginus speaks of these asterisms as representations of persons, and he mentions from Eratosthenes that the fish Notius was the father of mankind:1 [Eratosthenes ex eo pisce natos homines dicit. Hygin. Poet. Astron. L. 2. c. 30. [Google translate: Eratosthenes says that men are born of that fish.]] ex eo pisce natos homines [Google translate: fish out of it in human history.].
It is said of Noah that after the deluge he built the first2 [[x]. Theon. ad Arctum. p. 46. Nonnulli cum Eratosthene dicunt, eum Cratera esse, quo Icarius sit usus, cum hominibus ostenderet vinum. Hygin. Fab. 140. p. 494. [Google translate: x. Theon. to the pole. p. 46. Some say, with Eratosthenes, that he was a crater that it was what Icarus used to do when he showed the wine to the men. Hygin. Fab. 140. p. 494.]
altar to God: which is a circumstance always taken notice of in the history given of him by Gentile writers.
He is likewise mentioned as the first planter of the vine; and the inventer of wine itself, and of Zuth or ferment, by which similar liquors were manufactured. We may therefore suppose that both the altar, and the crater, or cup, related to these circumstances. This history of the raven is well known, which he sent out of the ark by way of experiment; but it disappointed him and never returned. The bird is figured in the sphere, and a tradition is mentioned that3 [Missus ad sontem aquam puram petitum. [Google translate: Sent to the guilty party for clean water.] Hygin. c. 40. p. 492.]
the raven was once sent on a message by Apollo, but deceived him and did not return when he was expected. It may seem extraordinary if these figures relate to the history, which I suppose, that there should be no allusion to the dove and to the particulars of its return. I make no doubt but it was to be found in the Chaldaic and Egyptian spheres, but in that of Greece there is in the southern hemisphere a vast interval of unformed star,; which were omitted by the astronomers of that country as being either seldom seen, or else totally4 [The Pleiades are Peleiades or Doves; and were placed in the heavens to denote by their rising an auspicious season for mariners to sail. They were the daughters of Pleione. See Natal. Comes. L. 4. c. 7.] obscured from their view.
The Argo however, that sacred ship, which was said to have been framed by divine wisdom, is to be found there; and was certainly no other than the5 [Hygin. c. 14. p. 55. [x]. Apollon. Rhod. L. i. v. 18.]
ark. The Grecians supposed it to have been built at Pagasae in Thessaly, and thence navigated to Colchis. I shall hereafter shew the improbability of this story, and it is to be observed that
this very harbour, where it was supposed to have been constructed, was called the port6 [Hence many Deucalions. See Schol. in Apollon. Rhod. L. 3. v. 1085. Deucalion is esteemed an Argonaut. Hygin. c. 14. p. 50.]
of Deucalion. This alone would be a strong presumption, that in the history of the place there was a reference to the Deluge. The Grecians placed every ancient record to their own account; their country was the scene of every7 [Here also were the islands of Deucalion and Pyrrha in the bay. Strabo. L. 9. p. 665.] action.
The people of Thessaly maintained that Deucalion was exposed to a flood in8 [Servius in Virg. Eclog. 6. v. 41.]
their district, and saved upon mount Athos: the people of Phocis make him to be driven to9 [Pausan. L. 10. p. 811.]
Parnassus; the Dorians in Sicily say he landed upon mount10 [Qui (Deucalion et Pyrrha) in montem AEtnam, qui altissimus in Sicilia esse dicitur, sugerunt. Hygin. c. 153. p. 265. [Google translate: Who (Deucalion and Pyrrha) is on Mount Etna, which is the highest in Sicily it is said, they fled. Hygin. c. 153. p. 265.]]
AEtna. Lastly, the natives of Epiras suppose him to have been of their country, and to have founded the ancient temple of11 [Plutarch, in Pyrrho. The people in Megara supposed the person saved in the deluge to have been Megarus, the son of Jupiter, who swam to the summit of mount Gerania. Pausan. L. i. p. 96.]
Dodona. In consequence of this they likewise have laid claim to his history. In respect to the Argo, it was the same as the ship of Noah, of which the Baris in Egypt was a representation. It was called by Plutarch the ship of Osiris; that Osiris, who, as I have mentioned, was exposed in an ark to avoid the fury of Typhon:12 [Plutarch. Isis et Osiris. V. 2. p. 359.] [x].
The vessel in the celestial sphere, which the Grecians call the Argo, is a representation of the ship of Osiris, which out of reverence has been placed in the heavens. The original therefore of it must be looked for in Egypt.13 [A Deluge of this nature was supposed to have happened in Egypt. [x]. Diodor. Sicul. L. i. p. 16.
To attribute this Deluge to the Nile is idle: A Deluge of the Nile happened every year. This related to Prometheus, or Noah.]. The very name of the Argo shews what it alluded to; for Argus, as it should be truly expressed, signified precisely an ark, and was synonymous to Theba. It is made use of in that sense by the priests and diviners of the Philistim; who, when the ark of God was to be restored to the Israelites, put the presents of atonements, which were to accompany it, into an14 [I Samuel, c. 6. v. 8, 11, 15. The word occurs only in the history of this, Philistine transaction; and in the Alexand. MSS. is rendered [x].]
Argus, [x], or sacred receptacle. And as they were the Caphtorim who made use of this term to signify an holy vessel, we may presume that it was not unknown in Egypt, the region from whence they came. For this people were the children of15 [Genesis. c. 10. v. 13.
And Mizraim begat Ludim -- and Patbrusim, and Castuhim (out of whom came Philistim), and Caphtorim. Deuteron. c. 2. v. 23.
The Caphtorim, which came forth out of Caphtor. Jerem. c. 47. v. 4. The Philistine, the remnant of the country of Caphtor. Amos. c. 9. v. 7.
Have not I brought the Philistines from Caphtor?] Mizraim, as well as the native Egyptians; and their language must necessarily have been a dialect of that country.
I have mentioned that many colonies went abroad under the title of Thebeans, or Arkites; and in consequence of this built cities called Theba. In like manner, there were many cities built of the name of16 [[x]. Hesych.] Argos; particularly in Thessaly, Boeotia, Epirus, and17 [Cluverii Sicilia. p. 394.] Sicily:
whence it is that in all these places there is some tradition of Deucalion and the ark, however it may have been misapplied.
The whole Peloponnesus was once called both Apia and Argos. As there were many temples called both Theba and Argus in memory of the ark, they had priests which were denominated accordingly. Those, who officiated at the shrines termed Argus were called Argeiphontai, from the Egyptian18 [See Jablonsky Pantheon AEgypt. Pars prima. p. 139.]
phont, which signified a priest. But the Greeks, interpreting this term by words in their own language, supposed what was a priest to have been a slayer, or murderer. They accordingly turned the Argo into a man whom, from a confused notion of the starry system, they supposed to abound with eyes, and made Hermes cut off his head. People styled Argeiphontes, Cresphontes, Hierophantes, Leucophontes, Citharaphontes, Deiphontes, were all originally priests. The Scholiast upon Sophocles called Argus,19 [Schol. in Sophocl. Elect. v. 5.] [x], Argus, [x], or Canis, is precisely of the same purport, as Argeiphontes:
a priest of the ark.The constellation of Argo, as it is delineated, represents the hinder part only of a ship; the forepart being hid in clouds. It was supposed to have been oracular, and conducted at the will of the Deity. Upon the temo or rudder is a very bright star, the chief in the asterism, which was called Canopus. It lies too low in the southern hemisphere to be easily seen in Greece. It was placed on the rudder of the ark to shew by whose influence it was directed. Yet in doing this they lost sight of the great Director, by whose guidance it had been really conducted; and gave the honour to a man. For
under the character of Canopus, as well as Canobus, is veiled the history of the patriarch Noah. There was a city, or rather a temple, towards the most western outlet of the Nile, which was denominated in the same manner, and gave name to the stream. It was expressed Canopus, Canobus, Canoubis; and is mentioned by Dionysius, who speaks of it as a place of great fame:
20 [Dionys. Perieg. v. 12. Of the idle pretensions of the Greeks, and their giving the honour of this place to a pilot of Menelaus, I have spoken before: and of the story being confuted by a priest of Egypt. See Aristid. Orat. AEgyptiaca. The story of Menelaus and Proteus was borrowed from that of Hercules and Nereus; as may be seen in Schol. in Apollon. Rhod. L. 4. v. 1397. The account is taken from the third book of the Libyca of Argoetas.] [x]
As the Patriarch was esteemed the author of the first ship which was navigated, he was in consequence of it made the god of seamen; and his temple was termed21 [Stephanus Byzantin.] [x].
He was esteemed the same as Serapis: and inscriptions have been found dedicated to him under the title of [x].
Serapis or Sarapis ("Osiris-Apis") or Sorapis is a Graeco-Egyptian deity. The cult of Serapis was pushed forward during the third century BC on the orders of Greek Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt as a means to unify the Greeks and Egyptians in his realm. A serapeum was any temple or religious precinct devoted to Serapis. The cultus of Serapis was spread as a matter of deliberate policy by the Ptolemaic kings. Serapis continued to increase in popularity during the Roman Empire, often replacing Osiris as the consort of Isis in temples outside Egypt.
Serapis was depicted as Greek in appearance but with Egyptian trappings, and combined iconography from a great many cults, signifying both abundance and resurrection. Though Ptolemy I may have created the official cult of Serapis and endorsed him as a patron of the Ptolemaic dynasty and Alexandria, Serapis was a syncretistic deity derived from the worship of the Egyptian Osiris and Apis and also gained attributes from other deities, such as chthonic powers linked to the Greek Hades and Demeter, and benevolence linked to Dionysus.There is evidence that the cult of Serapis existed before the Ptolemies came to power in Alexandria: a temple of Serapis in Egypt is mentioned in 323 BC by both Plutarch (Life of Alexander, 76) and Arrian (Anabasis, VII, 26, 2). The common assertion that Ptolemy "created" the deity is derived from sources which describe him erecting a statue of Serapis in Alexandria: this statue enriched the texture of the Serapis conception by portraying him in both Egyptian and Greek style.
In 389, a Christian mob led by Pope Theophilus of Alexandria destroyed the Serapeum of Alexandria, but the cult survived until all forms of pagan religion were suppressed under Theodosius I in 391.
-- Serapis, by Wikipedia
In this temple, or rather college, was a seminary for astronomy, and other marine sciences. Ptolemy, the great Geographer, to whom the world is so much indebted, was a member of this society, and studied here22 [Olympiodorus. See Jablonsky. L. 5. c. 4. p. 136.] forty years.
The name of the temple was properly Ca Noubi: the latter part, Noubi, is the oracle of Noah.
Niobe was the same name and person, though by the Greeks mentioned as a woman. She is represented as one who was given up to grief, having been witness to the death of all her children. Her tears flowed day and night, till she at last stiffened with woe and was turned into a stone, which was to be seen on mount Sipylus in Magnesia.23 [Sophocles. Electra. v. 150.] [x]
Pausanias had the curiosity to ascend mount Sipylus in order to take a view of this venerable24 [[x]. Pausan. L. i. p. 49. [x]. Pausan. L. S. p. 601.] figure. He say, that he beheld an abrupt rocky clift, which at a near view had no appearance of a person grieving, or of a human likeness; but at a distance had some resemblance of a woman shedding tears.
Niobe is often mentioned as a person concerned in the deluge; at least is introduced with persons who had an immediate relation to it.25 [Eusebii Chron. p. 24. 1. 55.] [x].
Plato in his Timaeus speaking of the most ancient times, mentions the age of Phoroneus and Niobe, as such; and the aera of the first deluge under Ogyges. In the passage alluded to she is joined with Phoroneus and Deucalion, two persons principally concerned in that event. It occurs where Plato is speaking26 [Plato in Timaeo. Vol. 3. p. 22.] [x],
, of the first Phoroneus and Niobe, and of the things subsequent to the deluge of Deucalion. Sophocles in the passage above speaks of her as a Deity: and she is said to have been worshiped in27 [Athenagoras. p. 290. [x].] Cilicia.
By some she was represented as the mother of28 [[x]. Pausan. L. 2. p. 191. 145. Homer. Schol. L. i. v. 123.]
Argus.As the ancients described the ark, the [x], like a lunette; it was in consequence of it called [x], and [x], which signify a Moon: and a crescent became a common symbol on this occasion. The chief person likewise, the Patriarch, had the name of Meen and Menes, and was worshiped all over the east as Deus Lunus; especially at Carrhae, Edessa, and other cities of Syria and Mesopotamia. His votaries were styled Minyae; which name was given to them from the object of their worship. Wherever the history of the Deluge occurs these names will be found. I have spoken of the cities of Phrygia, and the memorials there preserved.
At Caroura near mount Sipylus, Zeus was worshiped under the title of Meen, Menes, and Manes: and his temple is taken notice of by Strabo;29 [L. 12. p. 869. [x], Car-Our, Templum Ori. Orus was the same as Menes.] [x] (not [x]) [x].
Close under the same mountain stood the city Magnesi,; which signifies the city of Manes, but expressed with a guttural Magnes.
The people of the country were called Minyae. Some persons from this place, styled Magnetes apud Maeandrum, built at no great distance, Antiochea30 [Strabo. L. 12. p. 864.]. Here too were some particular rites observed in honour of the same Deity, whom they distinguished by a significant epithet, and called [x]31 [Ibid.
Wherever there was a city Magnesia, or people Magnetes, there will be found some history of the ark.]. [x]. Here was a college dedicated to the rites of Meen Arkaeus; where a great number of priests officiated; and where they had large estates endowed for that service. This [x] is no other than the Deus Lunus, the same as Noah, the Arkite. Strabo mentions several temples of this Lunar God in different places: and one in particular, similar to that abovementioned, at the city Antioch in Pisidia. He calls it, as the present reading stands, [x], which we may from the title of the former temple venture to alter to [x]. He is speaking of Cabira; and says:32 [L. 12. p. 835.] [x].
In this city is a temple of Meen Arkaeus, by which is meant a temple of the Lunar Deity. Such also is the temple among the Albani: and that in Phrygia: and the temple of Meen, which gives name to the place, where it stands. The temple also of Meen Arkaeus in Pisidia and that in the region near Antiochea have the same reference. All these were dedicated to the same Arkite Deity called Lunus, Luna, and Selene: styled also by different nations Meen, Man, Menes, and Manes.Sometimes instead of Arkaeus, the term Arkite is exhibited Archaeus, which may be referred to a different idea. Thessaly was said to have been originally named Purrha from the wife of Deucalion, whom the ancient poet Rhianus mentions by the title of [x].
33 [Strabo. L. 9. p. 677. See Scholia Apollon. Rhod. L. 3. v. 1089.] [x]
Archaea may signify ancient; but in this place, as well as in many instances, which I shall hereafter produce, I imagin, that it has a more particular reference. In short,
Archaea seems here to be the same as Archia, and Architis, from the ark: from which both people and places were indifferently styled [x], and [x]; Arkites, and Archites.
Hyginus puts the matter in great measure out of doubt by using this term as a proper name. He styles this personage Archia, and makes her the wife of Inachus, the son of the Ocean, and the same as Deucalion. He adds, that they had a son Phoroneus, the first man who reigned upon earth, whose history is attended with circumstances of great moment. 34 [C. 143. p. 250.
In another place he calls this personage Argia; and makes Io her daughter. Ex Inacho et Argia Io. c. 145. p. 253. Io, sive Niobe. ibid.] Inachus, Oceani filius, ex Archia forore fua procreavit Phoroneum, qui primus mortalium dicitur35 [Primus Junoni sacrificasse dicitur. Lutatius Placidus in Stat. Theb. L. 4. v. 589.] regnasse. Homines ante faecula multa fine oppidis legibusque vitam egerunt, una lingua utentes sub Jovis imperio. Idem nationes distribuit. Turn discordia inter mortales esse coepit. [Google translate: Inachus, the son of Oceanus, begat Phoroneus by his father Archia, who is said to be the first of mortals to have reigned Men Before the end of the towns and the laws of the tartar, they lived many lives, using one language under the Thursday command. He distributes the same to the nations. Then there began to be a discord among men.]
The Grecians, though they did not know the purport of the word [x], Arguz or Argus, have yet religiously retained it, and have introduced it in these different shapes. And as
the ark has sometimes been made a feminine, and the mother of Niobe; so at other times it is mentioned as her son, and she is supposed to have been the mistress of Jupiter. So inconsistent is the ancient theology.36 [Hyginus. c. 145. p. 252.] Hanc (Nioben) Jupiter compressit; et ex ea natus est Argus, qui suo nomine Argos oppidum cognominavit. [Google translate: This (Niobe) Jupiter suppressed and from her was born Argus, who by his own name he named the town Argos.]
In short, whereever there is any history of the Deluge, there will be some mention introduced of Argus: and, conversely, where any account occurs concerning Argus, or Argeans, there will be some history of a ship, and allusion to the Deluge. Thus at Argos there was a temple of Poseidon [x], the God of inundations: and it is erected upon account of a deluge, which the natives supposed to have been confined to the limits of their own country. In these parts, says37 [[x]. Pausan. L. 2. p. 161.] Pausanias,
is a temple denominated from Poseidon the God of inundations: for the people have a tradition that this Deity had brought a Deluge over the greater part of the country; because Inachus and some other umpires had adjudged the land to Juno, rather than to him. Juno however at last obtained of him, that the waters should retreat: and the Argeans in memorial of this event raised a temple to Poseidon the God of deluges, at the place, whence the water began to retire. As you proceed a small degree farther, there is the mound ([x]) of Argus, who is supposed to have been the son of Niobe, the daughter of Phoroneus. I have shewn in a prior treatise that
these mounds, styled [x], were not places of burial, but sacred hills, on which in ancient times they sacrificed. [x] is
the mount of the ark, or Argo.
All the history above given, however limited to a particular spot, relates to the ark and to the flood which universally prevailed.In the same city was a remarkable altar dedicated to Zeus, the God of rain,38 [Pausan. L. 2. p. 154.] [x]. Zeuth was distinguished by the title of Sama El, which the Greeks rendered [x]. He was worshiped upon Mount Parnes in Attic,: and the circumstances attending his history are remarkable, as they stand in Pausanias.39 [Pausan. L. i. p. 78.] [x]
In Attica is the mount Pentelicus -- also another, called the mountain of Parnes -- Upon the latter stands a statue of Zeuth Parnethius in brass; and an altar to the same God, styled Sama El, or Semaleos. There is also another altar, and when they sacrifice upon i, they invoke, sometimes the God of rams; sometimes the Deity who escaped, or rather who averted the evil; styling him [x]. This writer mentions also upon the mountain Hymettus40 [Pausan. L. i. p. 78.] [x]:
altars to Zeuth Pluvius, and to Apollo sirnamed the looker out, or looking forwards.If we consider the histories of Danae, Danaus, and the Danaides, we shall find them to be fragments of history which relate to the same event. Danae is said to have been the mother of Perseus, who was conceived in showers, exposed in an ark, and at last a king of Argos. She is likewise represented as the mother of Argus, who founded in Italy 41 [Ardea -- quam dicitur urbem. Acrisioneis Danae sundasse colonis. Virg. AEn. L. 7. v. 409. She was supposed to have given name to Daunia; and to have settled there with her two sons, Argeos and Argos. Servius in Virg. AEn. L. 8. v. 345. Tibur Argeo positum colono. Horat. L. 2. Od. 6. v. 5.]
Ardea, and Argiletum: the true history of which places amounts to this, that they were founded by people styled Arkites. Danaus, who came into Greece, is said to have come over in the first long ship which was constructed; but the more ancient account i, that he was the first builder of a ship, which he designed and finished under the direction of Minerva, or divine wisdom:42 [Apollodor. L. 2. p. 63.] [x].
This is the same story which is told of Argus, the supposed son of Inachus and Niobe. It is likewise said of Danaus, when he came to Greece, that he came over nave biprora, called by Greeks [x]; and that he built the Acropolis at Argos. But the navis biprora [Google translate: ship biprora ] was not a vessel commonly made use of to pass the seas: it was a copy of the sacred ship of Isis: and I have shewn the history to which it alluded.
I should therefore think that this story does not relate to the arrival of any particular person from43 [It is said that Danaus came from the Thebais of Egypt, where stood Chemmis near the city Noa. Perseus was worshiped here. Herodot. L. 2. c. 91. He calls the city [x]. The person alluded to under the character of Danaus was far prior to the aera, allotted to him in the Grecian history. He is said to be the son of Belus, the son of Neptune: also the brother of Sesodis, the same as Seth and Zuth. The name of the ship was Danais. [x]. Schol. in Apollon. Rhod. L. i. v. 4. The daughters of Danaus are supposed to have introduced the [x] from Egypt: [x]. Herod. L. 2. c. 171.]
Egypt; but to the first introduction of rites from that country; and especially the memorial of the Argo from whence the place took its name. And that there was such an introduction of rites appears from Hypermnestra the supposed daughter of Danaus, being esteemed the44 [[x]. Euseb. Chron. p. 29. 1. 40.] priestess of Juno at that place. If, as I have imagined, the words [x] and [x] are derived from Nau, and Noah;
the name of Danaus relates not to a man, but is in reality45 [[x], Da, Chaldaice, haec, ista, hoc, illud. See Daniel, c. 4. v. 27, and c. 7. v. 3. Of this last I shall treat hereafter at large.]
da Naus, and signifies literally the ship. The aera therefore of Danaus is the aera of the ship: being the precise time, when some model of this sacred vessel was introduced; and the rites also and mysteries with which it was attended. The fifty daughters of Danaus were fifty priestesses of the Argo, who bore the sacred vessel on festivals. I have mentioned that there was
a temple in Egypt, called Ca Nobus, erected to the God of seas, to whom the element of water in general was sacred. Throughout the whole history of Danaus and his daughters there will be found allusions to the rites of this God. The Danaides are said to have been sent in quest of water: to have brought water to46 [Danaus is said to have founded Argos. [x] Euripid. in Archelao apud Strabon. L. 5. P. 339.] Argos: to have invented [x], or47 [[x]. Strab. L. 8. p. 570. All Greeks in the time of Homer seem to have been called Danai.] vessels for water:
and lastly, were supposed to have been doomed in the shades below to draw water in buckets which were full of holes. Every circumstance of this history is from Egypt. The natives of that country were very assiduous in conveying water from one place to another. They likewise had particular jars, which were sacred to the God whom the Greeks called Canobus; and were formed with a representation of him.
These Canobic vessels were sometimes made of48 [They were called[x]. Hesych.]
porous stone: at other times of earth manufactured in such a manner as to have small holes in the bottom through which they used to filter the water of the Nile, when it was either turbid or saline.49 [Suidas. [x] Ipsum Canobi simulacrum, pedibus perexiguis, attracto collo, et quasi fugillato, ventre tumido, in modum hydriae, cum dorso aequaliter tereti formatur. [Google translate: The image of the canvas itself, with very little feet, with a drawn neck, and as it were pelted The belly is swollen, like a pitcher, with a smooth shape on its back.] Russin. Hist. Eccles. L. 11. c. 26.] [x].
This practice of filling vessels, which could not hold the water put into them, seemed such a paradox to the Grecians, that when they came to consign some of their priests and deities to the infernal mansions, they made this the particular punishment of the Danaides on account of their cruelty.Among the various personages under which the Patriarch was represented, the principal seems to have been that of Dionusus. He was by the mythologists supposed to have had a second birth, and a renewal of life, in the Theba or Ark. Hence he was termed [x]; which the Greeks interpreted a Theban born, and made him a native of Boeotia: but he was originally only worshiped there; and his rites and mysteries came from Egypt.
This injustice of the Greeks in taking to themselves every Deity, and hero, was complained of by the Egyptians.50 [Diodorus Sic. L. i. p. 21.] [x].
The principal terms, by which the ancients distinguished the Ark were Theba, Baris, Arguz, Argus, Aren, Arene, Arne, Laris, Boutus, Boeotus, Cibotus. Out of these they formed different personages, and as there was apparently a correspondence in these terms, they in consequence of it invented different degrees of51 [Of this turn in the Greeks innumerable in instances will occur, as we proceed: some few I will here subjoin. [x]. Steph. Byzant. [x] Apollon. Rhod. L.?. v. 1085. Schol. [x]. Diod. Sic. L. 4. p. 269. [x]. Lycoph. v. 644. Schol. Arena OEbali, vel Bibali filia. Hygini Fab. 14. p. 46. [x]. Pausan. L. 9. p. 711. Niobe said to have been the daughter of Tantalus and Dione. Hyginus, Fab. 9. p. 32. [x]. Apollodor. L. 2. p. 39. [x]. Ibid. Niobe the sister of Pelops, and wife of Amphion. Strabo. L. 8. p. 552. [x]. Lycoph. Schol. ad v. 1207.] relation.
Hence a large family has arisen from a few antiquated words which related to the same history, and of which many were nearly synonymous. In the account given above, we may perceive that the Ark, and the chief person of the Ark, are often confounded: but by the light, which is here afforded, the truth, I think, may be easily discovered.It is difficult to imagine that two different dynasties could have identical or almost identical dynasty functions. The probability of such a coincidence is extremely small already for dynasties composed of 10 rulers. Nevertheless, the number of such coincidences, for even longer dynasties of 15 rulers, turns out to be unexpectedly large. N.A. Morozov, who noticed the coincidence between the ancient Rome and the ancient Jewish state, discovered the first examples of surprisingly identical pairs of dynasty graphs. A formal method to study such similarities was introduced by A.T. Fomenko (see the reference list in [2]).
There is another surprise, besides coincidence of the dynasty functions, the other numerical functions confirm with very high probability that these dynasties are indeed the same. It brings us to a suspicion that in fact we are dealing with repetitions in the conventional version of the history. Fomenko discovered dozens of strong coincidences, sometimes between three and more dynasties. But, there are no more such coincidences in the history of the better-documented epochs, for example starting from the 16th century....
These parallels suggest that the traditional history of ancient times consist of multiple recounts of the same events scattered in many locations at various times. The first scientist who realized it was N.A. Morozov (see [1]). Further progress was made by A.T. Fomenko who succeeded to decipher the principle structure of these duplicates in Roman and Biblical history
-- Investigation of the Correctness of the Historical Dating, by Wieslaw Z. Krawcewicz, Gleb V. Nosovskij and Petr P. Zabreiko