Jabu Khan

Hannibal had a brother named Mago.

Roger Pearse

I now have all the pages for Mingana Ms. 481, and have updated the PDF of the page images accordingly. In fact the work runs from 221v-228v; (225 appears to be a typo in the catalogue).

I've also got a copy of the catalogue page:



and a larger image of the same page.

I've written to my translator with the extra details.

Roger Pearse

I've digested most of the thread and linked the data into a single page so that I can discuss it more easily with others. It's here.

andrewcriddle

There is a Wikipedia Article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mago_(agricultural_writer)
I am not sure how accurate it is.
Also see
http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/...agostreat.html

Andrew Criddle

Roger Pearse

I've had an update this evening that Ms. Mingana 481 has been transliterated into Arabic, and that the translation should be along in a couple of weeks.

Roger Pearse

I now have the full catalogue entry for Ms. 481; also the extract from the Cumont article in IMS -- how truly useless that is! -- and another catalogue entry which suggests that the Mingana collection have a copy of the Al-Majdalus text.

Roger Pearse

The transcription and translation of Mingana Ms. 481 has reached me. I'll post it when I get a spare minute, and once I know that the translator has got her money (only fair). It's a collection of pagan anticipations of Christ. The letters of Alexander and Aristotle pop up as well.

Roger Pearse

At the weekend I was reading Georg Graf's Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Litteratur (history of Christian arabic literature) vol. 1 (which covers the translations into Arabic) when I found a section starting on p.483 discussing a certain literature type, and including this portion of Ms. Mingana 481. I will translate this and upload it.

The works in question are collections of pagan testimonia to Christianity by a variety of eminent figures. Graf gives a long list of the various names quoted. He also refers to Cyril of Alexandria, Contra Julianum, book 1, as an early example of the genre.

I've looked at that and this quotes Plato, Aristotle, Sophocles and Hermes. Julian is arguing against Christianity and appealing to the reputation of the Seven Sages and the like as evidence that paganism is far older and more respectable. Cyril retorts that even those to whom he appeals bear witness to this or that doctrine which, if advanced by Christians, Julian professes to find unacceptable. He then lists a few, such as belief in one God only.

This genre seems to have developed downstream. There are Syriac collections, I believe, which have been examined by Sebastian Brock and which I will look into.

Roger Pearse

Here is the translation of Ms. Mingana 481.

"For what it's worth, here is my translation and transcription of the Garshuni text. Your Zoroaster quotation is at the very end. As you'll see there are some question signs here and there - some passages don't make good sense in Arabic (and may even be deliberately obscure). Also, the text is a very bad copy (the original was clearly in Arabic letters, and some changes have occurred in the process of transmission and transcription into Syriac letters). Even so, the enclosed translation will give, I hope, a reasonably clear picture of what this curious text is trying to say."

Translation

With hope in the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we [begin to] write (select?) statements of wise philosophers that they pronounced concerning the coming of our Lord, glory be to Him, many generations before His arrival, from a Book of Secrets famous among them on the science of astronomy. This is about the Incarnation of Christ the Lord, praise be to Him.

The first [statement]: Hermes the wise said in his book entitled Book of the Nine Stones, in which he addresses his son saying: Know, my son Natana, that there must be a descent of the Awesome Cause and the Boundless Fire, rays of the Perfect and Self-Subsisting Cause, who is in no need of anything else. It will walk upon the earth in veils made for It, and thereupon will return to Its elevated state and the footstool of Its throne, without [spatial] motion. O my son Natana, open your eyes and the eyes of your heart and preserve that with which I entrust you in the storehouses of your mind. The Cause of causes will encompass you.

He said also: (222r) Justice (?) will be abolished, and the mighty nation will branch out (?) and demand what does not belong to it in truth. Then the days of the Hidden One will appear. He is the Father who will be upon the earth, and the impure peoples and their sages will conspire untruly against the King of kings.

He said also: Woe, Azur will work miracles in Roman Qaytilun (?). This will be abolished (?) by two wise old men who will be killed therein by its king. These two old men will work many wonders and will remain therein forever, for they are those who annihilate the rule (?) with dreadful wounds. For they are the two [messengers] sent by the Cause and the Fire to appear in the universe.

Hermes the wise said: The eastern star of Sagittarius will move from East to West, and the direction of prayer (will remain there?) for two years and a half. Then it will return to its center and dominion. This is the star called the Star of Annunciation. It will lead the way to the sages coming from the East to [great] the Eternal King who is to appear, to venerate Him (222v), and to present to Him their offerings. Many infants will be killed on His account in the middle of the earth, while the Hidden Fire will enter the land of Egypt. Astrologers will go there. The two peoples will become one, for the [period of] one hundred eighty three revolutions of Saturn, the old man Saturn, which they call Zuhal [1]. For it traverses the heavens every thirty years. The number will be (determined?) by the revolutions of the sphere[s], o my son, on account of the appearance of that ancient God, who had been expected for five thousand and five hundred years.

He said also: O my son Natana, take images for yourself mighty (?) as the philosophers. O my son, do not sit in the company of the ignorant, and if you do happen to sit with them, do not speak in their company concerning the wisdom that I have disclosed to you. O my son, look forward toward the Light which is born of the Light which proceeds from the True Light, the Wisdom, the Word, and the Life. If you teach this to someone who is ignorant or unworthy, he will take this from you and mock you. (223r) However, if he is noble, do not deprive him of this, for you would be doing injustice to him. If his speech is true, grant him this by way of speech and in secret. If he memorizes this, this will become a prayer, and will testify for him in truth.

He said also: O my son, there must be a solar eclipse, which will last from the sixth hour of the day to the ninth hour, not in the time [appointed] for an eclipse, but on account of the Hidden One. He will be calumniated, and sought after, and killed by His people. His people will pay him evil for His granting (?) them good. The houses and temples of the gods will fall, and the Hidden One will gain power over them and over the entire creation.

He said: O my son, at that time the dead will come to life, and the Hidden One will work wonders, for He will walk upon the earth with power and give good tidings to human beings.

Hermes said also: From that time, which is the entrance of the Hidden Light into Egypt, after fifty revolutions of the old man Saturn (…?). From Hermes to the coming of Christ there will pass one thousand and five hundred years.

Anasolus said: O my son, the great king, pure without blemish, you are great indeed, the master of human beings, whom everyone sees in your glory (?), you have no blemish, the mighty king who has power over all things, both mortal and immortal.

Anasolus said: These powers are three divine names, one from His power and dominion, of the One God, which no one shall see, and a power that no one can meet, nor perceive its nature. All things came into being from these powers.

Archos the wise said: Three names in one divinity, by which all things came into being.

Arposh (?) the wise said: The imperceptible Light is one only, and it is the Thought in every available moment. The Word born of Him is perfect in all respects and makes all things.

Plato said: The Ancient Cause, which is the grace, [is the one] dispensed to all (?). The second [2] cause is the Intellect that created all things (224r). The third cause is the Soul, which created life, which is the life of every living being.

Aristotle said: He is God the Word. When He, being perfect in every birth, was born and created a mother (?) [for Himself] among the nations, He descended and lived in [the realm of] nature, and by nature He commanded water to loosen (?), and it became wine.

Plato said also: One is the Highest God on high, whose imperceptible Word a maid conceived. This, o my son, is like a sharp ax (?) clothed with fire. He goes through her womb and rules the world, and offers it to His Father as an offering. The name (?) of the maiden is the virgin.

Plato said in the Book of Secrets: The supremely High One will appear upon the earth and raise the dead and show his lordly signs. Thereupon He will return to His awesome throne, and will not come back (?) until the day of the Great Judgment.

Yonion the wise said: He is the Ancient the Mighty, who sits over the heavens, clothed in flame[s] (224v) of fire and light; His kingdom shall have no end. He will appear upon the earth, raise the dead, cure the sick, and show His lordly signs. Thereupon, he will return to His celestial throne, for He is in the highest heavens. At the time of His appearance upon the earth, the Persians will come to present Him with their offerings, for He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, whose kingdom shall have no end.

Plato said: The Trinity is one God, who alone is supreme. His Word indwelled a virgin maiden, without change (?), overshadowing her without intercourse, and she conceived. This is similar to the fire present in the world, who will catch everything and present [it] as an offering to His Father. He will reside in this house, i.e. the body.

Yanfus the wise said: The Thought, which is like fire, which is divinity and life everlasting (?), and an immutable light which will be seen upon the earth. He will (ascend?) into the sky and command (…?).

He said also: He will descend in purity and shine forth [as] the Lord upon the earth, and (225r) the Persians will come with gifts, and He, praise be to Him, will offer guidance of the Great and Mysterious (?) God. He will appear upon the earth, being higher than the Word and superior to the Intellect, and will never cease.

Augustus the wise said in the Book of Astrology: There must appear a Hebrew youth, who will be called Christ and is eternal in His essence. The Eternal will make a public appearance, having the lordly power in His hand. He will raise the dead and clean the lepers and loosen the mute tongues.

Aristotle said in his book, entitled Celestial Sciences: You shall not see the True God except behind a veil by which His light is concealed from your vision, so that your eyes may not (go blind?) from His sight. But when He appears, one will be able to realize the greatness of His rule. By this you will understand that He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Aristotle said also in his letter to Alexander the king: Be earnest, o king, in the pursuit of the water of life. You shall not find water of life except in a Man (225v) who is to appear in the world, clothed in this world’s clothes. If you find Him, you will find the water of life with Him. He will feed you with His food from the eternal Tree of Life. Water of life will be flowing from His hands.

He said in his treatise entitled the Book of Treasures: The treasure of life is the God Adonai, who is to appear in the universe. Those in the graves will hear His voice and will rise.

Yanfus the wise said: Glory (?) to you, o thrice-blessed, who is God the eternal (?), who shall die and abolish death clearly, when He will rise after three days.

Plato the wise said: No, by Him who sent me, verily they do not know what they speak, nor what they do. By this he means the priests of the sons of Israel who deny his words cited above.

Zoroaster the Magian said to his disciples in the Book of the Elements of Science [3]: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood, will remain in me and I in him.

To the Awesome Father, and to the Son who helped and assisted, and to the Holy Spirit who perfected may there be Glory now and ever and unto ages of ages, Amen. [4]

1 This is the Arabic term for Saturn.
2 MS: stable. But I suspect the original reading was "second" which is easily misread as "stable" in Arabic letters. This would indicate that the MS was copied (directly or indirectly) from a manuscript in Arabic letters.
3 So in the text. However "of the World" is a possible reading, if a small emendation is made.
4 The last sentence (a copyist’s addition) is written in Syriac rather than Karshuni.

andrewcriddle

Thanks for this Roger.

I've a couple of specific points.

In this text the son of Hermes is called Natana. In the Greek Hermetic literature the son of Hermes is called Tat. The translator says this text was apparently originally in Arabic Script before being converted to Garshuni. In Arabic Script the confusion between initial n and initial t is very easy. Hence I suspect that the son of Hermes was originally something like Tatana

I also have a striong suspicion that Arposh was originally Orpheus.

On a more general level.

This text is full of exaggerated Christian claims about Pagan writers anticipating Christ. At face value the claim about Zoroster should be regarded with the same dubiousness as the claims about Plato and Aristotle.

Something like the claim in the prophecy attributed to Zaradosht could easily have been rewritten to produce this, given the degree of freedom shown in rewriting things attributed to Plato Aristotle et al.

Not only does this text clearly tell us nothing about Mithraism, it may tell us little about what Zoroastrians genuinely claimed about Zoroaster.

Andrew Criddle