Roger Pearse

It's certainly an interesting idea, and the best suggestion that we have so far.

Is there any real evidence of a Syriac version of this predating the Arabic versions (the Book of the Bee being very late; influence could come in either direction)?

If not, could we see this as arising from the milieu of Hunain ibn Ishaq or (more likely) his people (he did, after all, compile a list of sayings of the philosophers) in the 10th century, who was looking for Greek manuscripts and finding them, but often rather corrupt.

andrewcriddle

Hi Roger

you might be right that we are dealing with transmission originally from Greek to Arabic. My main problem is that the prophecy attributed to Zoroaster in the Book of the Bee does seem to be based on the earlier (c 800) Syriac work of Theodore bar-Koni.

Andrew Criidle

Roger Pearse

Ah, you're right of course -- I had forgotten Theodore. Greek wouldn't be translated directly to Arabic, of course; a Syriac middle-stage would usually be involved, even if this was all at the same time by the same person.

Now I've come across (in Wikipedia of all places) a hint of another trail: that treating Zoroaster as Baruch, and originating in the Jewish Encyclopedia I think.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baruch_ben_Neriah#_note-22

The Arabic-Christian legends identify Baruch with Zoroaster, and give much information concerning him. Baruch, angry because the gift of prophecy had been denied him, and on account of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, left Palestine to found the religion of Zoroaster. The prophecy of the birth of Jesus from a virgin, and of his adoration by the Magi, is also ascribed to Baruch-Zoroaster.[23] It is difficult to explain the origin of this curious identification of a prophet with a magician, such as Zoroaster was held to be, among the Jews, Christians, and Arabs. De Sacy[24] explains it on the ground that in Arabic the name of the prophet Jeremiah is almost identical with that of the city of Urmiah, where, it is said, Zoroaster lived. However, this may be, the Jewish legend mentioned above (under Baruch in Rabbinical Literature), according to which the Ethiopian in Jer. xxxviii. 7 is undoubtedly identical with Baruch, is connected with this Arabic-Christian legend. As early as the Clementine "Recognitiones" (iv. 27), Zoroaster was believed to be a descendant of Ham; and, according to Gen. x. 6, Cush, the Ethiopian, is a son of Ham. According to the "Recognitiones",[25] the Persians believed that Zoroaster had been taken into heaven in a chariot ("ad cSlum vehiculo sublevatum"); and according to the Jewish legend, the above-mentioned Ethiopian was transported alive into paradise,[26] an occurrence that, like the translation of Elijah,[27] must have taken place by means of a "vehiculum." Another reminiscence of the Jewish legend is found in Baruch-Zoroaster's words concerning Jesus: "He shall descend from my family",[28] since, according to the Haggadah, Baruch was a priest; and Maria, the mother of Jesus, was of priestly family.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church Baruch is venerated as a saint, and as such is commemorated on September 28 (which, for those who follow the traditional Julian Calendar, falls on October 11 of the Gregorian Calendar).

23. Compare the complete collection of these legends in Gottheil, in "Classical Studies in Honor of H. Drisler," pp. 24-51, New York, 1894; Jackson, "Zoroaster," pp. 17, 165 et seq.
24 "Notices et Extraits des MSS. de la Bibliothèque du Roi," ii. 319
25 iv. 28
26 "Derek Ere? Zu??a," i. end
27 II Kings ii. 11
28 Book of the Bee, ed. Budge, p. 90, line 5, London, 1886

I've also had a quick peek at the Bocados de Oro (Sayings of gold), the Old Spanish translation of an Arabic collection of sayings. This refers to Sabians alright, but Zoroaster isn't in the index. Unfortunately the library didn't have it to lend to me, but I hope that this will be rectified in time.

andrewcriddle

On the identification of Zoroaster and Baruch http://www.iranica.com/newsite/artic.../v3f8a037.html may be of interest. (There are other relevant articles online but they seem to be subscription only)

The identification of Baalam and Zoroaster may also be relevant but I can't find a good online reference.

Andrew Criddle

Clivedurdle

Everyone take a deep breath, what with Plato talking about the Most High, Baruch and Jeremiah being identified with Zarathustra, everything being translated and interpreted across so many cultures and languages and time periods it makes Chinese Whispers look easy, maybe Umberto Eco in both his novels and his academic works has a serious point!

We are negotiating what we see.

Let me chuck something else on the fire - it is all Greek to start with! The idea of the Most High so spectaularly taken up by Darius and Cyrus is originally a Greek idea!

And Xianity is therefore Greek via Persian and Judaism!

Roger Pearse

Baruch is of interest to Iranian studies chiefly because he was identified with Zoroaster by the Syriac authors Ishodad of Marv (9th cent.) and Solomon of Basra (13th cent.), an identification perpetuated by some of the Arabic historians (see the material collected by Richard Gottheil, “References to Zoroaster in Syriac and Arabic literature,” in Classical Studies in Honour of Henry Drisler, New York, 1894, pp. 24-32, as well as Joseph Bidez and Franz Cumont, Les Mages hellenises. Zoroastre, Ostane�*s et Hystaspe d'apre�*s la tradition grecque, Paris, 1938, repr. Paris, 1973, I, pp. 49ff., and the texts referred to and published in the second volume).

Gottheil appears here also. I have ordered this volume and will scan the relevant article and put it online (I think the volume contains other interesting material). I would guess that Bidez and Cumont have already covered the ground, tho, as they have sections on Solomon of Basra (fr.16) and Ishodad (fr. 17).

The identification of Zoroaster with Baruch in The book of the bee by Solomon of Basra we have already discussed.

I'm going to scan these fragments of Mages Hellenises now and post them.

Let us know if you find anything.

All the best,

Roger Pearse

Roger Pearse

From Mages Hellenises, fragment 16, from Solomon of Basra, The book of the Bee:

#16. Salomon, évêque de Basra (vers 1220 ap. J.C.) Le livre de l'Abeille [Book of the Bee], éd. Budge, Oxford, 1886, ch. xxxvii, p. 81. — Ce chapitre a été commenté par Kuhn, Eine zoroastrische Prophezeiung dans Festgruss an Rudolf von Roth, Stuttgart, 1898, p. 218 s. ; cf. Gottheil, op. cit., p. 29.

Ce texte a perdu beaucoup de sa valeur depuis que le Père Messina a reconnu qu'il était emprunté �* Théodore bar Kônaï (fr. S 15) ; mais il offre certaines variantes intéressantes ; c'est pourquoi nous reproduisons ici la traduction de Budge:
[This text has lost much of his value since Fr. Messina recognised that it was borrowed from Theodore bar Konai (fr. S 15); but it offers certain interesting variants; this is why we will reproduce here the translation of Budge:]

The Prophecy of Zârâdôsht concerning the Lord.

This Zârâdôsht is Baruch the scribe (1). When he was sitting by the fountain of water called Glôsha of Hôrîn, where the royal bath had been erected, he said to his disciples, the king Gûshnâsâph (2) and Sâsân and Mahîmad : « Hear, my beloved children, for I will reveal to you a mystery concerning the great King who is about to rise upon the world. At the end of the time and at the final dissolution, a child shall be conceived in the womb of a virgin and shall be formed in his members, without any man approaching her. And he shall be like a tree with beautiful foliage and laden with fruit, standing in a parched land; and the inhabitants of that land shall be gathered together (3) to uproot it from the earth, but shall not be able. Then they will take him and crucify him upon a tree, and heaven and earth shall sit in mourning for his sake ; and all the families of the nations shall be in grief for him. He will begin to go down to the depths of the earth, and from the depth he will be exalted to the height ; then he will come with the armies of light, and be borne aloft upon white clouds ; for he is a child conceived by the Word which establishes natures ». Gûshnâsâph said to him : « Whence has this one, of whom thou say est these things, his power? Is he greater than thou, or art thou greater than he?» Zârâdôsht said to him : « He shall descend from my family ; I am he and he is I ; he is in me and I am in him. When the beginning of his coming appears, mighty signs will be seen in heaven, and his light shall surpass that of the sun. But ye, sons of the seed of life, who have come forth from the treasuries of life and light and spirit, and have been sown in the land of fire and water, for you it is meet to watch and take heed to these things, which I have spoken to you, that ye await his coming ; for you will be the first to perceive the coming of that great king, whom the prisoners await to be set free. Now, my sons, guard this secret which I have revealed to you and let it be kept in the treasure-houses of your souls. And when that star rises of which I have spoken, let ambassadors bearing offerings be sent by you, and let them offer worship to him. Watch, and take heed, and despise him not, that he destroy you not with the sword ; for he is the king of kings and all kings receive their crowns from him. He and I are one. »

These are the things which were spoken by this second Balaam, and God, according to His custom, compelled him to interpret those things ; or he sprang from a people who were acquainted with the prophecies concerning Lord Jesus-Christ and declared them aforetime.

Cf. ch. XXXI, p. 72 : The Jews stoned Jeremiah in Egypt... This (prophet) during his life said to the Egyptians : « A child shall be born — that is the Messiah — of a Virgin and He shall be laid in a crib, and He will shake and cast down the idols. » From that time and until Christ was born the Egyptians used to set a virgin and a baby in a crib, and to worship him because of what Jeremiah said to them.

(1) Cf. Ishô'dad fr. S 17, n, 4 ; Bar-Bahloul it. S 22, et l'Introd., p. 49.
(2) Lire Goushtasp et Mâhiman ; cf. Théodore, fr. S 15, p. 127, n. 2.
(3) Or according to another reading « shall strive with one another » [Budge].

Roger Pearse

S 17. The commentaries of Ishô'dad of Merv, bishop of Hadatha, edited and translated by Margaret Dunlop Gibson (Horae semiticaè, V-VI), Cambridge, 1911.

Ishô'dad de Merv, katholikos des Nestoriens (circa 850), écrivit des commentaires de l'Ancien et du Nouveau Testament.
[Ishodad of Merv, Catholicos/Patriarch of the Nestorians (ca. 850 AD) wrote commentaries on the Old and New Testament]

P. 15 (f. 10 a). A propos de la venue des Mages [Concerning the coming of the Magi] :

Now they were three sons of kings and nine from among the notables of their lands (1) ; and the king of the Persians, who sent the Magians, was called Pir-sabour, and these came by the guidance of the likeness of a star : Lo we saw a star in the East, because in the midst of the star was shown the likeness of a Virgin embracing her son (2), and it is evident from many things that it was not a real star, not an imagination, not an automaton, but an Angel, who shone like a star from Persia to Bethlehem.

P. 19 (f. 11 b). And it is asked : « Whence did the Magians receive that, when the star was shown to them, the King of Kings was born, aand that they ought to bring him threefold gifts? Some say it was from Daniel; to wit, that Magian men came from Sheba to Babylon, to the palace, during the time when Nabuchadnezar reigned, to offer gifts to the king and to learn Chaldaism, and it was said to them by Daniel, that when the Messiah should be born, the kings of Sheba and Seba ought to bring Him gifts ; but these wrote in a library (biblioqh/kh), that is to say in their own archives, and in their records (u9pomnh/mata), that is to say in a book of remembrances. Others say, from Balaam they received it (3) ; but, to tell the truth, it was announced by Zerdusht, chief of their dogma, that is, he was constrained by divine power, like Balaam and Caiaphas ; or because he was of the nation of Israel, and cognizant of the Scriptures ; and some say that he was Baruch, the pupil of Jeremia (4), and for the reason that the gift of prophecy was not given to him, as he coveted, and also by the reason of that bitter captivity and the devastation of Jerusalem and of the Temple etc., he was offended and went out to the heathen and learned twelve languages (6) and wrote in them that vomit of Satan, that is to say that book of theirs that is called the Abhasta. For it is written there (6) that as Zerdusht was sitting at a fountain of water, a place that had been established as a bathing-place for the ancient kings, he opened his mouth and said to his disciples : « Hear, o my beloved and sons, whom I have educated in my doctrine ; for in the latter days a virgin, a daughter of the Hebrews, shall without conjugal intercourse bring forth a son, in whom somewhat of the Divine nature shall dwell, and He shall do wonderful miracles and signs, and at His birth a star shall be shown to you. Go bring him offerings three gifts, gold, myrrhe and frankincense ; as He is the King of Kings etc. », then he spoke to them at length about this passion and death and resurrection and ascension etc. But the Magians had no reward for their labour, and it was not by their will that they came and not even afterwards did they believe in the truth ; because there was also no reward to Balaam for that prophecy about our Lord.

(1) Les Mages sont au nombre de douze. Cf. fr. S 12, p. 119, n. 4, et S 19, p. 134, n. 3. Les noms de ces douze « rois persans » sont donnes dans le Livre de l'Abeille (ch. xxxix, p. 84 trad. Budge) et ailleurs, avec de nombreuses variantes. Cf. Wirth, Aus orientalischen Chroniken, 1894, p. 207.
(2) Cf. la Caverne des Trésors, supra, fr. S 13a, p. 123, n. 1 et infra, p. 135, l'r. S 21.
(3) Cf. l'Introduction, p. 48.
(4) Cf. le Livre de l'Abeille, fr. S 16, p. 130, note 1.
(5) Cf. Bar-Bahloul, i'r. S 22.— Ailleurs sept langues sont énumérées ; cf. Théodore bar Kônaï, fr. S 6, p. 104, n. 5 et l'Introduction, p. 40 ; p. 49, n. 4.
(6) La suite est une déformation de la prophétie de Zoroastre transmise par Théodore bar Kônaï, fr. S 15.
[Next is a corrupt version of the prophecy of Zoroaster transmitted by Theodore bar Konai]

Roger Pearse

French:

S 18. Les commentaires d'Ishô'dad sont la source d'un morceau qui a été placé en tête d'une rédaction de l'Évangile arabe de l'Enfance, conservée dans le Cod. orient. 32 de Florence, lequel est daté de 1299. Cette pièce a été traduite par le Père P. Peeters, op. cit. (supra, fr. S 11), p. IX de son introduction.

Il y eut �* l'époque du prophète Moïse un homme appelé Zaradust, qui fut l'inventeur de la doctrine du magisme. Un certain jour, comme il se trouvait assis auprès d'une fontaine, occupé �* instruire les initiés es science du magisme, il leur dit au milieu de son discours <...> (1) : « Voici que la Vierge concevra sans le secours d'un homme. <Elle enfantera> sans que soit brisé le sceau de sa virginité et <...> sa bonne nouvelle dans les sept climats de la terre (2). Les Juifs le crucifieront dans la Cité sainte, qui a été fondée par Melchisédec. Il se relèvera d'entre les morts et montera au ciel. Comme signe de sa nativité vous verrez �* l'Orient une étoile plus brillante que la lumière du soleil et des étoiles qui sont au ciel, car en fait ce ne sera pas une étoile mais un ange de Dieu. Quand vous le verrez, hâtez-vous de vous rendre �* Bethléem. Vous adorerez le roi nouveau-né et vous lui offrirez vos présents. L'étoile sera votre guide vers lui. » Or, cette parole était un trait de prophétie, et le métropolite Josué, fils de Nûn (3), dit que ce Zarâdust n'est autre que Balaam l'astrologue. La prophétie se réalisa �* la fin des temps.
(1) Il manque un mot, ici et dans les lignes suivantes.
(2) C'est pour ce motif qu'une tradition tardive attribuait �* Zoroastre une traduction en sept langues de l'Avesta ; cf. supra, Théodore bar Kônaï, fr. S 6, p. 104, n. 5 et l'Introduction, p. 40.
(3) C'est �* dire Isô'dâd de Merv, dont l'auteur de cet évangile a reproduit le récit en l'enjolivant. Cf. supra, fr. S 17.

English:

S 18. The commentaries of Ishodad are the source of a piece which has been put at the head of a version of the Arabic Infancy Gospel, preserved in Cod. orient. 32 of Florence, dated to 1299. This was translated by Fr. P. Peeters, op. cit. (supra, fr. S 11), p. IX of his introduction.

There was in the time of the prophet Moses a man called Zaradust, who was the inventor of the doctrine of magism. One day, when he was sitting next to a fountain, he said to them in the middle of his discourse <...> (1) : "See a virgin will conceive with the help of a man. <She will get with child> without losing her virginity <...> her good news in the seven climates of the earth. (2). The Jews will crucify him in the holy city, which was founded by Melchizedek. He will rise from among the dead and will mount up into heaven. As a sign of his nativity, you will see in the East a start brighter than the light of the sun and stars which are in heaven, because it will in fact not be a star but an angel of God. When you see it, hasten to Bethlehem. You shall worship the newborn king and will offer him gifts. The star will be your guide to him." But, this word was a bit of prophecy, and the metropolitan Joshua son of Nun (3), says that this Zarâdust is no other than Balaam the astrologer. The prophecy is realised at the end of time.

(1) A word is missing, here and in the following lines.
(2) This is why a late tradition attributed to Zoroaster a translation in seven languages of the Avesta; cf. supra, Théodore bar Kônaï, fr. S 6, p. 104, n. 5 and the Introduction, p. 40.
(3) I.e. Isô'dâd of Merv, whom the author of this passage has reproduced and expanded. Cf. supra, fr. S 17.

Roger Pearse

S 19. Prière magique, tirée d'un recueil inédit d'incantations et de charmes contre diverses maladies et traduite par Gottheil, op. cit,. p. 31 :
[A magical prayer, taken from an unpublished compilatrion of incantations and charms against various maladies, and translated by Gottheil, p. 31]

On edhra (1) and boils. Let him say a blessing three times and (repeat) : « Zardosht the prophet prophesied saying : A time will come, when they will see a star in the heavens having the likeness of a mother with a son in her arms (2). The time came and they saw the star. Twelve kings (3) set out from Persia to go to Jerusalem. Before the cock could crow, they had reached Jerusalem. They saw king Herod, who said to them : « Whence come ye, and wither are ye going? » They answered : « A king has been born in Bethlehem, and we have come to worship him. » Then the star fell down in front of them ; they went and worshipped the boy who had been born. They opened their treasure chests and brought him offerings : gold and myrrh and frankincense. They asked for a set of swaddling clothes ; they then went to Persia, made a great fire, and threw the swaddling clothes of Our Lord upon the fire. Before the swaddling clothes of our Lord the fire went out (4). In this manner may the edhra go out and leave, and he plucked from the body of N. N. the son of N. N. and all the evil boils, (just) as that fire went out in the presence of the swaddling clothes of our Lord. Amen. »

(1) An unknown malady.