god fearers sabians

8/13/2019 God Fearers Sabians

1/88

God-Fearers: A Solution to the Ancient Problem of the Identity of the Sabians

(Times New Roman version)

Contents: Premise (pp.1-3) 1) The Etymologi al !o"el (pp.3-#) $) The %rigins o& the Name

(pp.#-') 3) The e rew Root SHUBH (pp.*-+) ,) Conversion (pp.+-1 ) ) Pagan !onotheism(p.11) #) The /Pio0s Roman Emperors (pp.11-13) ')The C0lt o& the !ost- igh 2o". Titlesan" %nomasti s (pp.13-1 ) *) Eusbeia an" Gnsis (pp.1 -1#) +) in enti0s4 Tom (1#-1*) 1 ) Tertium Genus (pp.1*-$$) 11) 5a ians 6 /7"herents o& the Prevailing Religion (pp.$$-$3) 1$) Hypsistarii, Sebmenoi/Phobomenoi tn Then, Metuentes, Theosebis, Massaliani8Sabbtistai, aeli!olae, Huna"# (pp.$3-$#) 13) The 5a ians a or"ing to Earlier 9slami 5o0r es(pp.$#-$+) 1,) The irst ;atin Translation o& the $urn: 5a ians 6 Christians< (pp.$+-3$) 1 )arr=nians4 C0lt o& the !ost- igh 2o" (pp.3$-3#) 1#) 7 5tri tly Etymologi al Proposal (pp.3#-3*) Con l0sions (pp.3*-,1) ;ist o& 7 reviations (pp.,3-, ) Notes nrs.1-3,$ (pp.,'-+$).

Premise

The aim o& the present wor> is to she" some light on a long-stan"ing mistery8 thei"entity o& the 5a ians. ive years ago8 in"ee"8 we p0 lishe" a short st0"y ?0st on thesame s0 ?e t 1 where we presente" a theory that no o"y else ha" ever a"van e": thes0 stantial e@0ivalen e o& the 5a ians with the loose religio0s gro0p o& the 2o"-earers $ (or8 even etter8 2o"-Aorshippers8i%e% "evotees o& the !ost- igh 2o" 3)8whose importan e an" wi"e, "i&&0sion geographi ally an" hronologi ally is nowa epte" . 7lmost twenty-&ive years ago (1+'')8 the eB eptional ar haeologi al"is overy in the site o& the an ient ity o& 7phro"isia o& a ig stele#8 pro a ly pla e"at the entran e o& the lo al synagog0e8 mentioning the names o& &i&ty-&o0r /pio2o"-&earers (sioi theoseb&s) esi"e those o& siBty-nine ews (pl0s three proselytes' )in their @0ality o& "onors*8 in &a t8 seeme" &inaally to have p0t an en" to a &r0itless"is 0ssion8 whi h ha" een going on &or no less than siBty years8 a o0t the eBisten eo& this gro0p+. Dn&ort0nately8 the e"ition in 9talian o& o0r essay an" the small n0m ero& li raries an" s holars we o0l" onta t at that time limite" its impa t8 in spite o&the &avo0ra le impression it ma"e 0pon the s holars who ha" the possi ility to rea"the st0"y. This is one o& the main reasons why we have "e i"e" to ta>e 0p the s0 ?e t againthe se on"8 an" more important one8 is that we have gathere" new an" relevant pie eso& in&ormation in s0pport o& o0r theory "0ring re ent last years8 a ir 0mstan e thatallows 0s not only to a"" &0rther "etails to the pi t0re alrea"y "rawn in o0r previo0sst0"y8 0t also to 0n"erline the eBtent to whi h

Pag. 1


2/88

the &a ts olle te" relate to one another with more a 0ra y an" to point o0t etter theweight o& ea h one o& them. inally8 we have pai" more attention to themetho"ologi al aspe ts o& the resear h8 sin e we elieve that the main a0se o& the0ns0 ess&0l res0lts o& the "i&&erent a0thors who have een on erne" with the5a ian /enigma "epen"s on metho"ologi al errors in other wor"s8 we will showthat there was a systemati &a0lt in the s ienti&i means o& approa hing the matter8espe ially on erning the etymologi al sol0tions to the pro lem o& the meaning o& theterm /5a ian 8 as well as how the histori al val0e o& teBt0al evi"en e has een ta>eninto a o0nt.

Ae thin> it is onvenient to stress again the ever-lasting vali"ity o& the/Prin iple o& E onomy : 0n"er the same on"itions8 it is etter to hoose a theorywhi h in eBplaining the &a ts worth less eB eptions that is8 the est theory is thesimplest one. The theory still most wi"ely a epte"8 as we are going to onsi"er now8 is &ar&rom eing the simplest one. Tho0gh many s holars have spent their energies tosolve /the 5a ians4 mysteries1 8 tho0gh no "o0 t the pi t0re o& the religio0s elie&s

an" pra tises o& the arranians (that is to say8 the sole representatives o& /the peopleo& the 5a ians11 whose histori al eBisten e has een prove" with ertainty) is nowm0 h etter "etermine"1$ than a h0n"re" an" &i&ty years ago8 when 'ie Ssabier un((er Ssabismus appeare" in 5t. Peters 0rg8 the lea"ing i"eas eBpresse" y the R0ssianorientalist Faniel Chwolson in this mon0mental wor>13 are still ommonly a epte"8in parti 0lar: 1) the "i&&eren e etween /tr0e 5a ians (theSabi#n @0ote" threetimes y !0hamma" in the )ur#n si"e y si"e with ews an" Christians8 witho0ta""ing any more in&ormation a o0t them1,) an" /&alse 5a ians (normally i"enti&ie"with the inha itants o& arr=n8 the 50mero-Ga ylonian !oon-2o"S*n4s an ient

0lti apital in Dpper !esopotamia8 whose piety was still alive "0ring the !i""le7ges 1 $) the i"enti&i ation o& /tr0e 5a ians with the small aptismal gro0p o&!an"aeans who live" in !0hamma"4s times (as they "o now) in the marshy 5o0th-!esopotamian region8 an" who were alle" sometimes y the ni >nameSubbi orSubba y their neigh o0rs1#. Chwolson4s style o& arg0ing seems easy8 an" it an e synthesiHe" as &ollows:sin e !0hamma" o0l" not in l0"e a pagan omm0nity in the /People o& the Goo> 8to whi h ews an" Christians s0rely elonge"8 the arranians annot 0t lie when pro&essing themselves /5a ians (an" in this sense the &amo0s story o& themeetingI"isp0te etween Caliph al-!a4mJn an" the arranians ontaine" in al- Na"Km4s +ihrist hapter L plays a "e isive role8 as the per&e t thing &or this o asion

1' on the other han"8 i& the arranian people are not theSabi#n mentione" inSuras998 an" LL99 la oni verses8 there is no "o0 t that the Prophet ha" some o"y elsein min": 0t who are the mem ers o& this 0n>nown monotheisti omm0nity< The phoneti li>enessSubbi-Sbi#n provi"es Chwolson with the answer he wishes1*. G0t this sol0tion is only apparently easy: it re@0ires oth a &alsehoo" on the parto& the arranians who wante" to "e&en" at any ost their an ient religio0s tra"itions8an" an intereste" mis0n"erstan"ing y the 9slami a0thorities who were well-"ispose" to t0rn a lin" eye on a pagan omm0nity outran!e in eB hange &ormoney (the well->nownleit moti- o& the Near-Eastern peoples4 innate orr0ption)moreover8 it lets a

Pag. $


3/88

very small religio0s gro0p grow 0p in !0hamma"4s min" 0ntil it e omes aDniversal Religion li>e Christianity an" 0"aism8 as it re@0ires a rather &ree 0se o&the r0les o& Etymology (an" it is not s0rprising that very soon the latter point inChwolson4s thesis was itterly riti iHe"). This is why we say that Chwolson &ails notonly in wor>ing o0t the simplest theory8 0t ?0st a simple one8 0nless one 0ses thewor" as a &a le8 rather than as something worthy to the wor" 5 ien e. 9t goes witho0t saying that i& all the pie es o& evi"en e in the new pattern whi hwe are going to provi"e were "emonstrate"1+ eyon" any "o0 t8 we wo0l" not havespent so many wor"s arg0ing an" riti iHing a oo> written a h0n"re" an &i&ty yearsago8 even i& as we have alrea"y sai" its theoreti al iss0es are those whi h are to e&o0n" in most en y lopae"ias an" "i tionaries. G0t we elieve that all means arevali" to show how m0 h the opening o& an alternative horiHon on the 5a ian pro lemis nee"e": it will lea" the s holars4 e&&orts in a "ire tion that might have een totallyignore"8 witho0t the material olle te" here. 9n other wor"s8 we hope that8 with the

help o& o0r s0ggestions8 new evi"en e will ome to light8 strengthening o0rarg0ments4 vali"ity.

The Etymolo.i!al Mo(el

9t is impossi le to e grate&0l eno0gh to the 9talian s holar 2iovanni 5emerano&or the wor> whi h he has arrie" o0t thro0gho0t his li&e (he is now ninety-two yearsol"M) in the &iel" o& Etymology. 9n &a t8 no o"y e&ore him8 ha" prove" in the sam"egree the 0n elieva le onservative power o& lang0age an" the pra ti alonse@0en es o& this &a t on a histori al level. or those who "o not yet >now thislearne" man or the str0ggles he ha" to &ight to ma>e his revol0tionary position>nown8 we nee" only to @0ote his main wor>8 e ori.ini (ella !ultura europea $ (The0ri.ins o" the European !ulture) an" the more re ent oo> #in"inito1 un e2ui-o!omillenario $1 ( 3n"inity1 a millenary mista4e)8 whi h another 9talian s holar8 the philosopher Eman0ele 5everino8 on e alle" /0na &esta "ell4intelligenHa . Ahy s0 ha title< 7n" why sho0l" it represent /a &east o& the intelligen e or to ;atin (more remotely8 to 5ans rit as well). The iss0es lin>e" to s0 h awrong 0se o& Etymology4s r0les were o&ten @0ite &0nny: let 0s re all here only ton e ommon etymologi al eBplanation o& the wor" /9talia 8 whi h the/9n"oe0ropean !irage went as &ar as onne ting to the ;atin term-itulus8 o tainingonse@0ently the 0rio0s res0lt: /9talia 6 /Terra "ei itelli (/the Calves4

Co0ntry )M$, 7gainst s0 h mira les o& ingen0ity8 in virt0e o& whi h everything e omes possi le8 5emerano rightly raise" the plain o ?e tion that the initial /i in the wor"


4/88

Pag. 3

/9talia is long8 whereas in the wor"-itulusit is short$ this rie&ly means that in the&irst ase the vowel /i elongs to the wor"4s root8 while in the se on" one it "oesnot: nothing else is ne essary to "emonstrate that s0 h an in&eren e is wrong8 an"with it tho0san"s an" tho0san"s o& others. 9t is now easy to 0n"erstan" why5emerano &elt the nee" to re onsi"er "0ring his long an" not always happy li&e$#ro0ghly twenty-&ive tho0san"s wor"s$'8 oth ommon no0ns an" proper names8 in ol"2ree>8 ;atin8 9talian8 ren h8 5panish8 2erman8 English8 5lavi 8 together with theirallege" original 9n"oe0ropean roots systemati ally olle te" y lassi al ling0ists.Th0s to a great eBtent8 he too> on the tas> o& rewriting E0rope4s ling0isti history8 aa tivity whi h oin i"e" event0ally with rewriting the history o& the E0ropean 0lt0reitsel&: a h0ge tas>8 in"ee"M 7s we are writing these pages8 we realiHe that it is the $'th o& an0ary8 a "atewhi h 9taly an" other E0ropean o0ntries8 pl0s 9srael an" the D.5.7.8 "e i"e" a &ew

years ago to ele rate as a /!emorial Fay 8 in or"er to show to the new generationsthe atro ities o& the olo a0st theShoah 5 "0ring the past 5e on" Aorl" Aar8 sothat no o"y ever &orgets NaHi- as ist ar arity an"8 a ove all8 so that s0 h horrorsho0l" never repeat itsel& in the o0rse o& h0man history. The present re&eren e toanti-5emitism is not as0al. 9n &a t what 5emerano alls the /9n"oe0ropean !iragesaw the light ?0st at the eginning o& L9L ent0ry together with the irth o&Comparative ;ing0isti s8 0t it owe" its eBisten e to something that ha" nothing to"o with a s ienti&i an" ne0tral interest in an ient lang0ages: it was a &loating mine8 itwas ra ism$*. The pro0" sense o& their own s0periority over 5emiti pop0lations

eBpresse" y the 2ermans an" other E0ropean peoples starte" &rom an 0n ons io0shate that slowly trans&orme" itsel& into an open will o& "estr0 tion an" it was ?0sthe same a s0r" spirit o& sel&-eB ellen e that invente" the legen" o& the ea0ti&0l an"terri le 9n"o-E0ropean ra e8 oming &rom the "eep 7sian steppes8 ri"ing on their &astwil" horses8 whose assigne" "estiny was the on@0est o& the worl". /Ae have eensear hing everywhere - 5emerano says - 0t8 in spite o& o0r sin ere e&&orts8 we hav&o0n" no tra e o& the 9n"oe0ropeans at all$+. Nor o& their imaginary lang0age8 o&o0rse. Tho0gh s0 h a primary lang0age never eBiste" on the &a e o& earth8 it ha" a very ig in&l0en e as every o"y >nows - on a 0lt0ral level anyway. 9ts most importante&&e t in the &iel" o& the h0man s ien es was the onstr0 tion o& a strong high wal etween the 7ryans an" most o& the Near Eastern peoples settle" alongapproBimately the same nat0ral or"er-line8 the E0phrates river8 whi h in 9mperialtimes "ivi"e" the Roman 5tate &rom Persia so that no o"y was a le to ross it nor toloo> eyon" it any longer. The E0ropeans pre&erre" to e lin" rather than tore ognise any sort o& >inship with their 5emiti neigh o0rs. Ae have alrea"y stresse"the onse@0en es o& s0 h an attit0"e in onne tion to the term /9talia : it is etter to e a>in to alves than to 7ra s an" ewsM P0tting asi"e h0mo0r8 the s an"al o& the long silen es that the rea"er so o&tenmeets when opening any ol" 2ree> or ;atin etymologi al "i tionary (with s0 hla oni eBpressions as /etymology: 0n>nown 8 /ignor e 8 /in onn0e 8 /0n e>annt )3


5/88

was real8 0t no s holar ever won"ere" or raise" o ?e tions in &ront o& the va 00m:in spite o& s0 h a great "istan e in terms o& spa e an" time8 it was to the an ient

Pag. ,

9n"ian iviliHation that ling0ists sho0l" ontin0e to present their @0estions i&5ans rit "oes not answer8 the answer "oes not eBist at all31. 7n" yet ?0st one stepa ross a m0 h loser or"er was nee"e" to &ill a lot o& those empty spa es: 0t whowo0l" e o0rageo0s an" &earless eno0gh to "o it< Geyon" s0 h a thin an" har" to ross or"erline8 in &a t8 a very ri h treas0re lies:the 7 a"ian leBi on 3$. There8 in the interiors o& s0 h a gol"en mine availa le toling0ists at least sin e the mi""le o& the L9L ent0ry338 even the right meaning o& theno0n /9talia was hi""en together with a /host o& other ones8 so that it was not"i&&i 0lt at this point to onne t the 9talian term with the 7 a"ian lemmaattalu 6/o i"ent8 west8 s0nset 8 oming th0s to the entirely intelligi le res0lt /9talia 6/Co0ntry o& the Aest3,. Ae have alrea"y sai" it: sol0tions m0st e easy or they are

not real ones. Ahat "i" the ol" 2ree>s have in min" when naming the 9talian penins0la Esperia8 0t /the o0ntry o& the west < %n the other han"8 the initialletter o& the 7 a"ian wor" per&e tly agrees with &irst /i o& the 9talian no0n y@0antity: th0s the present sol0tion is satis&ying not only &rom a logi al point o& viesin e it allows 0s to throw away a meaningless "e&inition in eB hange o& ameaning&0l one8 0t also &rom the str0 t0ral re@0irements o& Phoneti s8 ?0st assho0l" e. 9n the Near Eastern 7nti@0ity8 7 a"ian was the &irst international writingnormally in 0se8 e a0se it was the lang0age that was 0se" &or royal han ellery a ts

an" all other sorts o& "o 0ments "0ring almost &i&teen h0n"re" years. That is themain reason why 7 a"ian has to e hosen instea" o& 5ans rit: the &ormer waswi"ely sprea" many ent0ries e&ore the latter ame into eBisten e. %ne sho0l"reverse the way &ollowe" y lassi al s holars 0ntil now: when an ol" 2ree> or a;atin root seems to go a > to the 9n"ian milie08 these are ?0st s0r&a e impressions or8even etter8 mirror e&&e ts when s0 h a ase "oes happen8 in &a t8 the 5ans rit rootgoes systemati ally a > in its t0rn to an 7 a"ian ante e"ent8 ommon to othE0ropean lassi al lang0ages an" to 9n"ian ones3 . The &in"ing o& a new original &ramewor> to e applie" in etymologi al resear hrepresents a real Coperni an revol0tion3# not only in the &iel" o& ;ing0isti s: itimplies also an alternative histori al mo"el &or the "evelopment o& the Near Eastan ient iviliHations an" &or their m0t0al relationships8 in other wor"s a new i"earegar"ing the progress o& man>in" an" its main starting points. 7s the entirely0neBpe te" "is overy o& E la y 9talian ar haeologists ha" alrea"y shown at the en"o& the siBties an" even more in the neBt "e a"es8 y stressing the a sol0te importan eo& this part o& the 7n ient Aorl"8 one o& the most signi&i ant / 0lt0ral engines in theo0rse o& h0man history lay geographi ally in the 5yro-!esopotamian area: the art o&writing8 namely the most ommonly a epte" re&eren e-mar> &or the eginning o& thehistori al age8 &lo0rishe" in that region when men were still wan"ering partially insha"ows along the Nile an" 9n"o river valleys3' .

9n the neBt pages we will per&orm an operation whi h not even o0r o0rageo0san" &earless pro&essor 5emerano8 notwithstan"ing his sin ere passion &or the tr0th


6/88

manage"8 sin e s0 h a thing was o0tsi"e his own range o& a tivities. 9&8 as 5emeranohas prove" with ertainty8 the in re"i le en"0ring power o& 7 a"ian &orms has to ere ogniHe" in the E0ropean lassi al lang0ages as well as into mo"ern ones8 there isno reason &or not s0pposing that a similar phenomenon ha" happene" in the Near

Pag.

Eastern ling0isti sphere. 9n reality8 the in&l0en e o& 7 a"ian on the lang0ages o& the5emiti ran h is among the &a ts more ommonly a epte" y s holars8 asorientalists have re ogniHe" &rom a long time similar inter-ling0isti relations8 oth&rom a "ia hroni an" syn hroni point o& view: 0t m0 h wor> m0st still e "one inthis sense an"8 as it is evi"ent that the E0ropean 0lt0ral onteBt re@0ires it8 many past errors m0st e orre te" in this &iel" o& resear h too. Ahat &aile" to e0n"erstoo" 0p to now8 in &a t8 is the &0ll importan e o& the entral role o& th7 a"ian lang0age8 so that it appears to e the primary pattern whi h one sho0l"ma>e re&eren e to when8 as general r0le8 etymologi al pro lems are at sta>e. Ae shall

try to show8 there&ore8 how strong the onservative power o& the 7 a"ian ling0isti 0l> ha" een even in re&eren e to the pro lem whi h we are on erne" with8 the5a ians: o vio0sly8 it is a matter o& Etymology8 0t we elieve that o0r etymologi alsol0tion is worthy o& interest8 y omparing it to the other ones whi h were propose"till now8 &or the simple reason that it is not an a stra t hypothesis8 goo" &or somes holarly min"s8 as those were on the ontrary8 it stan"s on soli" theoreti al gro0n"s8 e a0se it agrees not only with phoneti general r0les8 0t also with the histori al"evelopments o& religions sin e 7nti@0ity 0p to the !i""le 7ges thro0gho0t the NearEastern area. ;ast 0t not least8 o0r theory also &0l&ils the "0ties involve" y the

alrea"y @0ote" /Prin iple o& E onomy : &or the &irst time8 it ma>es a lean sweep o&the arti&i ial "i&&eren e /tr0e 5a ians - /&alse 5a ians in a satis&a tory way8 namelywitho0t resorting as . Pe"ersen in the twenties (an" . ?arpe who &ollowe" hisopinion more re ently) "i" to the on ept o& 2nosis3*. 9t is tr0e8 in &a t8 thatPe"ersen4s sol0tion gets over Chwolson4s in ongr0ities y &in"ing a single name &orthe s0 ?e t implie" y !0hamma"4s wor"s an" y the religio0s-histori al &ramewor>to ome8 with the well >nown "i&&i 0lties o& a or"ing several sel&-style" or allege"/5a ian omm0nities to the $oran4s enigmati gro0p however the i"ea o& ren"eringin oth ases the 5a ians e@0al to 2nosti s "oes not eBplain anything8 e a0seon epts li>e 2nosis an" 2nosti ism are in every o"y4s opinion so haHy an" loosethat they an never help to solve a pro lem o& i"entity8 mostly when the pro lem in@0estion is represente" y s0 h a ompleB phenomenon as 5a ianism.

The 0ri.ins o" the 6ame

Ae sho0l" repeat here what we wrote in o0r previo0s st0"y. Gy o serving the0n ertainty an" the hesitations that an ient Oorani ommentators an" 9slamitra"itionists - 0t also !0slim !i""le 7ges4 historians8 geographers8 heresiologists


7/88

et . - show when the s0 ?e t /5a ians omes into play8 it is "i&&i 0lt not to have theimpression o& "ealing with a non-7ra i wor". 9n &a t there is no m0t0al onsentamong all these learne" men a o0t the tr0e meaning o& the wor" an" its ling0istiroot8 neither a o0t the right way o& writing an" prono0n ing it: so8 one may 0s0ally&in" esi"e the 7ra i pl0ral written &ormSbi#n8 the olle tive &ormsSbi#a an"

Pag- #Sba in the meantime8 a or"ing to one o& the most &amo0s an ientmu"assirn8 al-ama>hsharK8 Oorani sayers wo0l" have &re@0ently prono0n e" the wor"al Sbn8witho0tham7a 3+. Those are ?0st a han"&0l o& eBamples8 0t we elieve that they ares0&&i ient to grasp the ling0isti on"itions o& the pro lem. Con&0sion in reases8 esi"es8 when one thin>s over the eBisten e o& two "i&&erent8 tho0gh very loselinter-relate" 7ra i roots8SB# an" SB8 8 an" onse@0ently o& two orrespon"ingver al &orms8 saba#a an" sab8 &rom whi h the nameSbi (sing.)ISbi#n (pl0r.) isgenerally s0ppose" to "erive, . Ae hope that o0r 3 Sebmenoihave eBplaine" thevario0s semanti val0es o& these ver s,1 learly eno0gh8 an" we &in" it 0nne essary8there&ore8 to loo> a > to the histori al reasons that pro a ly gave irth to s0 h

"i&&erent meanings on e again. No "o0 t8 the &a t that the wor" "oes appear &or the &irst time within the)ur#nannot prove anything a o0t its own origins8 e a0se it is not y evi"en e o& this >in"that one may >now whether the no0n elongs or not to the 7ra i ling0isti tra"ition:as the latest resear h has shown with more an" more ertainty8 poetry writings whi htra"itionally were onsi"ere" to e o& p0re 7ra i pro"0 tion8 e a0se o& theiromposition going a > to the so- alle" 9yym al 9rab8 elong on the ontrary to the!0slim age an" are not a le8 there&ore8 to give a real portrait o& the li&e o& thoslegen"ary "ays8 nor to in&orm 0s a o0t the lang0age really spo>en in s0 h a "istant

past,$

. 5o8 when one "oes not &in" the ver s saba#a/sab nor the name(s)Sbi/Sbi#n (Sbi#a et .) among the lyri al wor"s 0se" y the poets o& the 9yymal 9rab8 it "oes not mean that this gro0p o& terms is really ol"8 sin e the)ur#n as8on the other han"8 it never ease" o& eing onsi"ere" s0 h in the !0slim worl" isthe p0re 7ra i ling0isti prototype,3. ;i>ewise8 we are not helpe" y the teBt0al evi"en e ontaine" within severalha(ith an" s*ra4s writings,, 8 whi h . Aellha0sen alrea"y olle te" an" ommente"on &or the most part one ent0ry ago, : the &a t that the ver saba#a an" the no0nSbi ,# (the latter eing 0se" always in its sing0lar &orm,' ) are applie" in these teBts inre&eren e to !0hamma" an" to the earlier mem ers o& the !0slim omm0nity,* "oesnot imply that s0 h wor"s were o& ommon 0se in !0hamma"4s times or e&ore him y the 7ra i spea>ers. Conse@0ently8 F.5. !argolio0th seems to e right wheneBpressing the opinion that / saba#a8 Qhe hange" his religion48 appears to e anin&eren e &rom the appli ation o& the name to !0hamma" an" his &ollowers,+. 9na sen e o& other elements8 it is s0rely more orre t to &ollow this way o& reasoning8an" th0s to thin> that at least in relation to one ( 0t a very important one8 as weshall see) o& the semanti val0es o& the rootSB# one has to "o with a vi io0s ir le.The reason why the 7ra i ver saba#a o0l" e applie" to 9slam4s &irst proselytesan" to the Prophet who was anno0n ing 7llah an" is oly Aor" to man>in" wo0l"not e that its meaning was /to hange religion or /to e onverte" at those earlytimes alrea"y on the ontrary8 the ver al &orm wo0l" have een &or e" to in l0"ealso that spe ial meaning later on8 only e a0se all these people an" !0hamma"


8/88

with them - were 0s0ally "es ri e" y their !e an opponents y an epithet li>e/5a ians .

Pag. '

The Hebre: ;oot 5 DG

7 t0ally s0 h an opinion8 to whi h we s0 s ri e" witho0t reserve in o0r previo0sst0"y8 o0l" only e hal& a tr0th. There eBists in &a t the e rew rootSHUBH whi his very interesting &or o0r p0rposes8 even i& no o"y as &ar as we >now evere ognise" any inter-ling0isti relation etween it an" the two 7ra i roots whi h weare "ealing with. A.;. olla"ay8 &or eBample8 when s0rveying in hapter 9 o& hisTheroot SHUBH in the 0l( Testament, vario0s instan es o& /the root in ognatelang0ages 8 re or"s the ver ta:aba whi h /o 0rs in lassi al 7ra i in a greatvariety o& meanings8 some o& them paralleling e rew 0sage. 7 or"ing to ;ane4s

eons among the /less ass0re" proposals a a o Garth4s s0ggestion8 a or"ing to whi h /the a"?e tives sobhbh8 sobhbh Q"isloyal8 &aithless48 an" the no0nmeshbh Q&aithlessness48 are to e"isting0ishe" &rom the 5emiti roott:b 8 an" to e rather onne te" with the7ra i root s#b6 syb8 Q&ree8 0ntrammele"4 $.

7ll this is rather strange8 all the more so as the rootSHUBH has een st0"ie" at

length y s holars8 who have analyse" the a 0n"ant o 0rren e o& the relate" ver s8no0ns an" a"?e tives thro0gh %l" Testament teBts8 in or"er to "eepen8 in parti 0lar8the on eption o& apostasy an" repentan e in an ient e rai so iety3. Now8 it istr0e thatSHUBH an" SB# ISB8 "iverge &or many aspe ts an" so an e only in part parallele"8 0t their onvergen e is all the more stri>ing at least &or one essential point: oth roots show a hara teristi am ig0ity when eBpressing the relation etween !an an" 2o"8 an am ig0ity whi h sho0l" e seen we elieve - as aonse@0en e o& the histori al "i&&i 0lties o& &o 0sing the i"ea o& religio0s Conversi

9n other wor"s8 oth roots whi h - it is worth stating here in l0"e into theirsemanti &iel" some asi meanings o& physi al motion witho0t &0rther impli ation8s0 h as /to ret0rn8 to revert (in ownership)8 to hange into ( e rew) an" /to in line8to e in line"8 to ten"8 to lean (7ra i )8 show in re&eren e to religio0s meanings8also in l0"e" y &0ll right into their semanti &iel"8 a never-en"ing os illation8 a"iale ti s 2oo"-Evil eing "estine" to never stop8 whi h reveals itsel& to eessentially the same in oth ases. 9&8 then8 the e rew root may eBpress the i"ea o&/going away &rom 2o" 8 s!% o& /apostasy 8 an" also at the same time that one o&/ret0rn to 2o" 8 s!% o& /repentan e 8 the 7ra i root on the other si"e "oes not easeto hesitate etween the i"ea o& /in lining in the wrong "ire tion (&ar &rom 2o") 8 s!%o& /apostasy 8 an" that one o& /in lining in the right "ire tion (towar"s 2o") 8 s!% o&/ onversion 8 even i& the latter semanti val0e seems to &a"e in the a >gro0n" inomparison with the &ormer one a or"ing to leBi ographers an" other interpreters, .


9/88

To "well 0pon the reason why the semanti n0an e o& / onversion repla e" in7ra i the semanti n0an e o& /repentan e eBpresse" y the e rew root wo0l"seem at &irst sight a waste o& time8 0t we "on4t &in" it ompletely 0seless to spen"

Pag. *

some wor"s 0pon that aspe t anyway. 7ra ians8 or rather !0slims8 "i" not get the%ne Tr0e 2o" &rom the eginning8 an" ha" to wait &or tho0san"s o& years &o!0hamma"4s prophe y an" the han e to t0rn themselves to 2o" y reno0n ing theirol" i"ols. 9t was the histori al event o& 7llah4s Revelation y the Prophet thatren"ere" the i"ea o& Conversion ompletely real. 9n"ee"8 even e&ore the eginningo& the !0slim era8 it was possi le &or any 7ra to onvert himsel&. G0t to Ahat< ToAhom< There were persons among the 7ra s onverte" to Christianity or to 0"aism8o& o0rse8 namely Christian an" ewish 7ra ian omm0nities whose importan e wassometimes &ar &rom meagre mostly sin e the &i&th ent0ry C.E. onwar"s8 0t it was aminority phenomenon8 hie&ly in relation to entral 7ra ia4s "esert regions#8 an" in

any ase it la >e" time to in&l0en e the leBi on o& lassi al 7ra i'

. The main pro lem &or the ews8 on the ontrary8 was always to go astray8 to &orget the ;aw o&2o" an" to &all "own into i"olatry the plain wor" /Conversion 8 whi h every o"yta>es &or grante" nowa"ays8 meant nothing &or them8 sin e they were the ele t an"th0s they o0l" ris> losing 2o" only e a0se o& their sins. There was no nee" to loo>&or im8 e was stan"ing esi"e them8 with them8 sin e* the Covenant etween iman" 7 raham ha" een ma"e on e &or all: that is why the e rew root eBpresses thei"ea o& /going away an" oming a > to the "epart0re point+8 rather than that oneo& /t0rning onesel& towar"s a ertain "ire tion .

7s we shall o serve8 the sit0ation hanges when ews ome in lose onta t withother peoples8 that is when Proselytism egins to grow till it e omes a so iallysigni&i ant phenomenon oth in Palestine an" thro0gho0t the Fiasporaomm0nities# . G0t in or"er to name these men an" women8 whose n0m er in rease"as time passe"8 who hear" the all o&=ah: an" who &elt the nee" o& / rossing the o0n"ary an" e oming a ew #1 or o& ta>ing part o& gro0ps "evote" to the e raireligion &ollowing some o& its many pre epts#$8 there generally eBiste" other te hni alterms8 or rather terms whi h gaine" over the o0rse o& ent0ries an 0nam ig0o0ssense#3.

on-ersion

7 t0ally8 the general i"ea o& Conversion ha" a signi&i ant histori al "evelopment8an" th0s in the &irst perio" o& the Christian era it was ?0st at its very eginning8tho0gh the pro ess ha" starte" ent0ries e&ore an" was to progress &or manyent0ries. 9t is not possi le to "is 0ss here the history o& the on ept o& Conversion8nor to &ollow the very slow evol0tion o& the spirit0al sense in the h0man so ieties o&the an ient worl". Ae m0st limit o0rselves to loo> at some o& 2ree> ver sIno0ns


10/88

most 0s0ally employe" eyon" the term alrea"y note" to translate the event in@0estion8 s0 h asepistr>phein/epistroph> an" metano>in/metnoia #,8 or to loo> at the parallel wor"s in e rew when the teBts to analyHe are &or eBample the %l"Testament writings# 8 to realiHe how long an" tort0o0s was the way lea"ing to a &0llons io0sness o& that

Pag. +

phenomenon: there ame into light a spe ial >in" o& religio0s &eeling8 a psy hologi alevent wholly "i&&erent &rom any other one8 an" a s0 se@0ent hain o& a tiona""resse" towar"s a well "etermine" goal8 whi h nee"e" only a single wor" in or"erto e learly "enote". G0t where were the "i&&i 0lties< Ahat was so "i&&i 0lt to0n"erstan" an" to say y 0sing ?0st one wor"< To tell the tr0th8 spea>ing o& s0 h atheme rings a o0t a h0ge pro lem8 an" this may eBplain why8 also in mo"ern times8very &ew s holars &eel li>e ta>ing into onsi"eration this s0 ?e t: 7.F. No >4son-ersion% The 0l( an( the 6e: in ;eli.ion "rom 9le to a presentation o& thea"van e in this same worl" o& other &orms o& religion8 many o& them eastern iorigins8 an" o& other ways o& li&e whi h also won a"herents . No >#' stresses ?0st&rom the o0tset a on ept0al "istin tion8 namely etween the psy hologi al pro esso& /Conversion an" a less in"ing on"ition o& getting spirit0ally involve" s0 h as/7"hesion to a new religio0s 0lt an"Ior to new "eities generally importe" into

one4s o0ntry &rom the o0tsi"e y inva"ers#*

. Nevertheless8 i& the "istin tion is s0relyimportant &or &o 0sing on what happens in a man4s so0l when he has to ma>e withthis sort o& spirit0al an" o&ten pra ti al too - hoi es8 it is m0 h less signi&i ant&rom an histori al point o& view.

9n the latter sense8 what really o0nts a lot is another &a tor8 that is the "eeptrans&ormational pro ess whi h a so iety 0n"ergoes when it is investe" y a strongreligio0s stream8 y a high spirit0al &ever. 9t is not a i"ental that some s holars have presente" the religio0s gro0ps whi h are at the entre o& o0r attention 0n"eralternative names s0 h as /5ympathiHers#+ or ?0st as /7"herents ' 8 instea" o& the0s0al /2o"- earers ( Phobomenoi tn Then8 Metuentes 'eum) an"Ior /2o"-Aorshippers (Sebmenoi tn ThenITheoseb>is8 olentes 'eum ) '1: these namesseem to orrespon" etter to histori al &a ts8 sin e the people in @0estion o&ten "i"not hange very m0 h their way o& li&e an" their ha its8 limiting themselves to eing present at the synagog0e4s rites in @0ality o& simple atten"ants an" to o eying tosome pre epts o& 0"aism that generally en?oye" a large sympathy among pagans8 &orinstan e Sabbath4s o servan e with an"les an" oil lamps4 lighting "0ring ri"aynight or a stention &rom por>'$ .

5o8 what is really the r0 ial &a tor &or the histori al "evelopment o& religio0si"eas8 an" there&ore &or the h0man history itsel&8 is not the more or less spirit0al seinvolving o& in"ivi"0als in a new &aith or in new religio0s elie&s it is the ra"i alhange o& the religio0s horiHon "0ring the perio" in l0"e" we may &ollow here

No >4s hronologi al mo"el &rom /7leBan"er the 2reat to 70g0stine o& ippo . 9t


11/88

is a spa e o& time m0 h longer than hal& a millenni0m8 0t it is "i&&i 0lt to onsi"er ashorter one &or eBamining what happene" in men4s so0ls an" in their sensi ility inrespe t to the role whi h religion ha" &or h0man "estiny'3 .

Pag. 1

Pa.an Monotheism

Dn&ort0nately8 it is only very re ently that people have eg0n to e ons io0s notonly that a ompleB so ial-religio0s movement spe ially "evote" to %ne !ost- igh2o" histori ally eBiste" an" was pro&o0n"ly an" wi"ely "i&&0se" in the allege"/Pagan Aorl" (into E0ropean8 Near Eastern8 North 7&ri an regions in l0"e" in the

Roman Empire8 an" even eyon" it)8 0t also that this event event0ally ma"e it possi ile to spea> a o0t a phenomenon s0 h as /Pagan !onotheism', . Thirty yearsago8 in &a t8 an" even less8 pro a ly s0 h an eBpression wo0l" have een seen ?0st asa lasphemy: the on ept o& / enotheism was the maBim0m that people weregenerally "ispose" to a"mit in re&eren e to the Pagans4 horiHon o& tho0ght' theon ept0al spa e o& /!onotheism was apologies &or the p0n a monopoly o& theReveale" 2reat Religions8 a sort o& private property o& 0"aism an" Christianity.

G0t the new &ramewor> o& ;ate 7nti@0ity4s /pagan piety whi h egins step ystep to e "rawn in the last years wea>ens to a ertain eBtent the tra"itional o0n"ary

line etween Reveale"8 or Propheti 8 Religions an" Pagan Religions'#

8 e a0se - asthe latest resear h ma>es more an" more lear what one tho0ght to e still ineBisten e "0ring the &irst ent0ries o& the Christian Era plainly "i" not eBist anylonger. 9t is o& se on"ary importan e to >now whi h 50pernat0ral Geings people elieve" in8 whi h new8 or ol"8 "eities they were "evote" to8 as well as whi h >in" o&hopes an" eBpe tations they pla e" in them: what "eeply hange" was people4sattit0"e o& min" towar"s Religion in general8 not only in the sense that8 a&ter aertain histori al perio"8 people egan to see> into Religion an answer to their &ears8a sol0tion to their pro lems a o0t "eath8 a virt0al salvation ( soter*a)'' to their so0ls.

Every o"y >nows8 &or instan e8 that sin e the se on" ent0ry C.E. a new &aith in%riental 0lts (Cy ele8 9sis8 !ithra8 !Sn8 5a aHios8 Fyonisos et .)'* sprea" in theRoman Empire &or the same reasons that previo0sly ha" gaine" &ollowers to 2ree>!ysteri Religions8 %rphism an" Ele0synian !ysteries'+8 namely the novi e4s hopeto o tain his own so0l4s salvation a&ter having s0 ess&0lly passe" the initiation rites y r0le an" a&ter having onse@0ently entere" to e part y &0ll right o& someomm0nity o& /Ele ts . 9n"ee"8 it is not s0 h a thing whi h we mean y saying/ hange o& people4s attit0"e o& min" 8 an" there&ore perhaps an eBample is nee"e" toeBplain etter what we wish to eBpress.


12/88

The ?Pious@ ;oman Emperors

9n her estseller Ha(rian#s Memoirs the ren h writer !arg0erite o0r enar too8a or"ing to a histori ally well- onsoli"ate" opinion8 lets the ol"-age" emperor4shoi e &or his s0 essor to the imperial see &inally &all on /a ertain senator

7ntonin0s8 whose /greatest are in respe t o& the ol" weary &ather (who was o&tenPag. 11

present with him at the 5enate4s assem lies) ha" ro0ght him the ni >name /Pio0s :&or a"rian this "etail seeme" s0&&i ient to onsi"er him a tr0stworthy person* .The ane "ote was always so s0 ess&0l that no o"y ever "o0 te" a o0t itstr0th&0lness8 an" there wo0l" e no pro lem. The pro lem arises8 nevertheless8 whenone realiHes that8 0nli>e what happens in eBplaining in s0 h a simple way the allege"origin o& 7ntonin0s4 ni >name8 no reason is given to eBplain why Roman emperors

a&ter him ontin0e" &or many ent0ries to e name" in the same way i%e%ontin0e"to "isplay8 as Roman 9mperial oinage shows at great length8 esi"e their own propernames an" the tra"itional epithet 9u.ustus (Sebasts in Roman Empire4s 2ree>oinage) *1 a &0rther an" meaning&0l one s0 h as Pius ( Euseb>s) *$.

Ahat has happene" sin e that time< Ahy ha" Roman Emperors to "e lare openlytheir religio0s &eelings8 to eBhi it p0 li ly their stri t religio0s o servan e< 9t isnoteworthy that this 0sage "i" not ease with the en" o& the perio" o& the so- alle"/ oster-Emperors *3 whose h0man @0alities &or la > o& any "egree o& >inship etween them (that is in a sen e o& any &amily4s "ynasti line) ha" to e &irst o& all

wis"om8 ?0sti e an" o0rage it is not possi le8 in other wor"s8 to &in" any spe ial lin> etween the eginnings o& s0 h "isplaye" /"evo0tness y Roman Emperors an" theh0man @0alities whi h they ha" to possess in or"er to e onsi"ere" worthy o&s0 ee"ing to the throne8 as i& this "evo0tness was ?0st another way o& naming/Philosophy 8 a "is ipline whi h !ar 0s 70reli0s was the est entitle" among theCaesars to entr0st the government o& the 5tate to*,.

G0t even more stri>ing is the hoi e o& the wor" itsel&8 pius/euseb>s8 when onere&le ts over the well->nown ir 0mstan e that the term pietas in ;atin8 ?0st li>eeus>beia in 2ree>8 is @0ite a haHy synonymo0s o& o0r /Religion* : the i"ea o& pietas/ eus>beia8 in &a t8 ha" previo0sly so m0 h to "o with ivi a&&airs an"m0ni ipal "0ties*# that there were "ignities o& the state8 magistra ies8 ?0st having theassignment o& earing the religio0s servi e on the ontrary8 it ha" very little to "owith spirit0al &eelings. Ahen 7ntonin0s together with his s0 essors p0 li ly statesto e /Pio0s 8 there&ore8 he is not simply a"mitting to e the Ponti"e< Ma


13/88

&or i""ing ir 0m ision &or onverte" ews 0n"er penalty o& "eath+ : an event whi hhistori ally stoppe"8 or ra"i ally restraine" anyway8 the pro ess o& 0"aiProselytism)+18 a&ter having lost the mat h on the attle-&iel"8 too> their revenge on a0lt0ral level8 &or ing the Romans to p0t asi"e their tra"itional religio0s toleran etowar"s s0 ?e te" peoples8 an" almost to ompete with them in religio0s a&&airs+$.

7 p0HHling "o 0ment o& the spirit0al tren" in a tion sin e the eginnings o& o0rEra onwar"s thro0gho0t the Roman Empire is a 0rio0s apo ryphal orrespon"en e

Pag. 1$

0s0ally title" 9ntoninus an( the ;abbi +3. Goth hara ters are not etter "e&ine" y theanonymo0s a0thor o& the teBt8 "ating a > to the 999 . C.E.8 an" elonging apparentlyto the Palestinian ewry4s "o trinal milie0. G0t the interest whi h it represents &or thes holar is 0n@0estiona le eyon" any philologi al o servation. 9t provi"es in &a t&0rther proo& o& a moral an" intelle t0al lan"s ape where the in&l0en e o& the morelevant &eat0re o& ewish 0lt0re8 the &aith in %ne (!ost- igh) 2o"8 is sprea"ing

aro0n" with more an" more strength+,

till it arrives8 as we have sai"8 to e (@0asi-)0niversally a >nowle"ge" in terms o& something "i&&erent &rom a stri tly religio0sign: it has alrea"y gaine" the stat0s o& the iviliHe" man4s typi al re&eren e-mar>+ 8witho0t whi h no highly-"evelope" 0lt0re might lossom. ere8 long e&oreCostantine4s Conversion to Christianity+#8 the Roman Emperor is seen as eing rea"yto em ra e !onotheism8 to whi h "o trine there&ore the ewish tra"itionist8 theRa i8 gra"0ally e"0 ates him y sweeping away his nat0ral 0n ertainties an"ma>ing him &inally onvin e"+'.

The ult o" the Most Hi.h Go(1 Titles an( 0nomasti!s

To e a valoro0s military omman"er is no longer eno0gh to e 3mperator 8 Prin!eps8 'u< in other wor"s8 the Emperor annot possess the moral @0alitiesne essary &or eing a goo" hie&8 o0rage8 ?0sti e an" wis"om8 witho0t proving thathe is at the same time a religio0s man. 9& the Roman Emperors o& the 2ol"en 7ge an"later on too> 0pon themselves the responsi ility o& Religion in s0 h a stri>ing way8that o0l" not happen o0tsi"e o& the pre"ominantly spirit0al horiHon o& the perio".The pop0lar i"ea o& Religion hanges8 or rather it has hange" alrea"y.

The or"erline etween euseb>s/eusebia an" theoseb>s/theosebia is not assharp as it seems+*. 9t is tr0e that the gro0p o& the &irst no0ns 0s0ally re&ers to /pagan piety8 while the se on" one is as ri e" to people who were mat0ring in themselvesthe i"ea o& an" the onse@0ent "evotion to %ne 50preme Feity8 who8 to s0m 0p8 werspirit0ally lose to a !onotheisti on eption ++. G0t it is ?0st the histori al"evelopment o& the events that re"0 es s0 h "i&&eren es. 7s long as the i"ea o& %ne50preme Feity was entirely monopoliHe" y the ews8 a massive o0n"ary-line etween their religio0s views an" the other ones was &0lly ?0sti&ia le: only/5ympathiHers or /7"herents to 0"aism in a""ition to native ews an"


14/88

Proselytes8 o& o0rse - ha" the right to ear s0 h a hono0ra le title astheoseb>s 1 .G0t with the rise o& Christianity the religio0s 0niversal pattern egins to move8 an"varia le &a tors ome into play whi h were not &oreseen or &oreseea le y any o"y: itis not y han e8 &or eBample8 that ?0st the epithetseuseb>s an" theoseb>s (o&ten in as0perlative &orm) in the &i&th ent0ry C.E. have e ome a sort o& hono0ra le titletra"itionally orne y Christian ishops or Christian pio0s men1 18 while at the eginnings o& the Christian Era (9-999 .) one almost always &in"s it in 0"aionteBts8 even i& no o"y o0l" e very s0re o& s0 h 0"aiHers4 sin ere piety8 an">now with ertainty whether their spirit0al approa h to 0"aism was "0e to a real/sympathy towar"s that /eBoti

Pag. 13

religion as a whole8 or towar"s a single aspe t o& it8 as it o&ten appears to have eenthe &aith in %ne !ost- igh 2o". 7n evi"ent in"i ation o& this >in" o& spirit0al attit0"e omes &rom the &iel" o&

%nomasti s: the growing 0se o& names s0 h asTheo!tistes8Theo(orus8Theo(oulos y in"ivi"0als who hoose to give to their sons similar names is a lear testimony o&that. 7s 5tephen !it hell rightly stresse"8 in &a t8 /the pre&iBtheo sho0l" not e0n"erstoo" in a loose sense as re&erring to any go"8 0t pre isely to the highest8 theone an" only go"8 whom they revere"1 $. G0t even more relevant &or o0r p0rposes isa omplementary hain o& proper names8 whose semanti 0l> is represente" y theon ept o& /piety 8 an" whose ren"ering in 2ree> is there&ore seiHe" y the wor"seusbeiaI(theo) s>beia. Ae have to "o with a ling0isti reality whi h we elieve to e@0ite 0nparallele" thro0gho0t the whole history o& %nomasti s8 e a0se there eBists a

real /host &or s0re no less than one h0n"re"M - o& these names: we limit o0rselvesto iting ?0st the eginning o& this never-en"ing hain8 to s0ggest the "imensions thats0 h a so ial-religio0s phenomenon too>8 spe ially in imperial times:Sbaos, Sbos,Sbbos, Sbeos, Sbbeos, Sabb>os, Sabin, Sabia, Saba, Sab, Sbeis, Sbbeis,Sbis, Sa*b>os, Sabb>, Sabe, Sab>s, Sab>, Sabs, Saba*os, Sabba*os1 3. 9&8moreover8 one onsi"ers that ea h no0n o0l" e onne te" with several pre&iBess0 h as theo an" e0 1 , 8 an" that the pla e o& the &irst letter8 si.ma8 o0l" e o 0pie" y a 7eta or even y atau 7eta 1 (whi h 2ree> letters are a ommon alpha eti altrans ription o& the 5emiti alpha ets4 emphati si ilant)1 #8 one an easily imaginehow h0ge the n0m er o& the possi le ompo0n"s might eM The pro lem is that sometimes the tr0e nat0re o& these names is8 in o0r opinion8mis0n"erstoo" y s holars as a onse@0en e o& the /9n"oe0ropean !irage on eagainM 7 rie& s0rvey o& 2re o-5yrian epigraphi &in"ings is eno0gh to e ome awareo& that: here8 in &a t8 very o&ten the proper nameSbaos re 0rs whi h8 a or"ing tothe s ienti&i "ominant opinion8 sho0l" e the written ren"ering in 2ree> o& the7ra ian name Sabah (hypo>oristi>onShubayh) 1 ' . 7gainst s0 h a ling0istiorrespon"en e8 two important &a tors play a r0 ial role yet: 1) a very meagre

presen e8 in"ee"8 o& the nameSabah thro0gho0t the orpus 3ns!riptionumSemiti!arum 1 *8 whi h y no means ?0sti&ies a similar /host o& these names in 2re o-5yrian epigraphy $) the interpretation o& the name given y "i&&erent s holars8 who"o not agree with ea h other an" who onse@0ently ma>e one thin> that the allege"orrespon"en e Sbaos-Sabah is real only in a small n0m er o& ases1 +.


15/88

To s0m 0p8 we elieve thatSbaos (an" most o& the names with similar spellingsin 2ree> writing) is nothing else than one o& the several &orms o& the ommone rew anthroponim Sambathios (/Sabbath o servant )8 to whi h s0 ?e tT hri>ower "e"i ate" a lassi al st0"y11 : oth the hypo>oristi>onSabbs8Sambs8alrea"y re or"e" y T hri>ower1118 an" the e rai eBpressionShabbos .oy8 pointingat the /stranger a le to arry o0t the a tivities &or i""en to ews in "ays o& rest11$8seem to prove it s0&&i iently. 9t is worth remem ering that to give to one4s sons s0 hnames shape" y the no0nSabbath was &ashiona le among the Pagans who as &oreBample 0venal4s &amo0s &athermetuens sabbata113 sympathiHe" with 0"aism8sin e that was a very impressive aspe t &or pop0lar imagination11,. G0t in themeantime we

Pag. 1,

annot r0le o0t that a ling0isti interse tion o& these names with those lin>e" with the(theo) sbeia4s i"ea8 as well as with those other wor"s phoneti ally lose to it whi h

we have o serve"8 ha" o&ten ta>en pla e.

Eusbeia an( Gnsis

9t is "i&&i 0lt to say how m0 h the histori al phenomenon o& the rise o&

Christianity ontri 0te" to the new pop0lar i"ea o& Religion whi h e omes strongeran" stronger as time passes y11 . 50rely &or a ertain perio" it in rease" theon&0sion8 an" not only e a0se o& the "i&&i 0lties in "isting0ishing etween ews an"Christians8 an" th0s to re ogniHe Christianity as an a0tonomo0s 0lt y the Romangovernment an"8 more in general8 y /the others11#. 7 t0ally8 as 5. !it hellopport0nely pointe" o0t8 /the 0lt o&Thes Hypsistos an" the monotheistion eptions o& a wi"e-sprea" an" pop0lar religio0s 0lt0re were the see"- e"s intowhi h ewish an" Christian theology o0l" rea"ily e plante". Aitho0t them8 thetrans&ormation o& an ient patterns o& elie& &rom pagan polytheism to th pre"ominantly monotheisti systems o& 0"aism8 Christianity8 an" 9slam wo0l" notonly have een &ar less ti"y an" 0ni"ire tional than it was8 it might not have o 0rre"at all 11' .

That is one o& the reasons why8 in o0r opinion8 the on ept o& / enotheismnee"s to"ay to e onsi"ere" ol"-&ashione" an" o0t-o&-"ate. 9t o0nts &or little that theighest 2o" r0les y imsel& or with the help o& more or less n0mero0s s0 or"inate"eities. Piety o 0pies now a spa e m0 h larger than e&ore8 namely the moral-ethi alone it has e ome a sort o& intelle t0al a&&air8 a @0ality whose a sen e loo>s li>e eing in open on&li t with the on ept o& evolve" iviliHation in itsel&. 7s was tohappen in the 9slami worl"8 when 2ree> philosophy an"8 more generally8 elleni0lt0re egan to e >nown an" love" y !0slims8 &or many o& whom it was

in on eiva le that Plato or 7ristotle ha" wor>e" o0t their "o trines a o0t the50preme 2oo" or the Primal Ca0se witho0t eing !onotheists11*8 in the Roman


16/88

worl" too a !onotheisti tren" @0ite rapi"ly e ame the ommon ha it o& min" o&every e"0 ate" person. 5o8 i& Ci ero might still stateA !o.nitionem (eorum, e 2uaoritur pietas8 th0s maintaining in the &oregro0n" the i"ea o& the pl0rality o& go"s11+85ene a ha" ma"e a r0 ial an" irreversi le step &orwar"s y writing a senten e s0 has 'eum !olit 2ui no-it 1$ . G0t here8 there is also something more than that: onere ogniHes in &a t that a strong lin> etween Religion an" Onowle"ge8 Eusbeia an"Gnosis1$1 has ome alrea"y into eBisten e8 a ir 0mstan e whi h ears witness towhat we were saying a o0t the 0lt0ral &ramewor> gaining gro0n" sin e the 99ent0ry onwar"s into ;ate 7nti@0ity. Ds0ally8 the onne tion etween these two &a 0lties8 y stressing mostly these on" one8 is seen as a "isting0ishing mar> o& ermetism: one &in"s in theorpus Hermeti!um a senten e stating that /Piety is the Onowle"ge o& 2o"1$$8 or verysimilar ones. The reason is lear: >nowle"ge is no longer the min"4s ontemplation o&

Pag. 1

eternal tr0ths it has e ome a tion8 te hni al operation8 an" there&ore it annot 0tinvest the sphere o& oliness8 e a0se it m0st &or e all the powers o& Nat0re an"Far>ness the will o& go"s8 angels an" "emons - in or"er to &0l&il what one "esiresG0t esta lishing s0 h a lin> ha" happene" long e&ore entering into the ermetists4 program1$38 sin e &or many people it was alrea"y a &a t o& ommon sense.

That is not to laim that people "i" not try to "e&en" the originality an" the0ni@0eness o& their own religio0s position: !. 5imon &or instan e ha" rightly stresse"how are&0l Aestern Christianity was in sele ting the ;atin "ivine attri 0te &ornaming the 50preme eight o& 2o" in its lit0rgy. Christians8 in &a t8 were per&e tly

aware o& the "anger that their 2o" might e on&0se" with other ighest Feities8 an"so they pai" spe ial attention to that8 y wavering &or a long time etween epithetss0 h as Summus8 9ltissimus8 E


17/88

0n"o0 tly a 5a aHios priest8 it shares its spa e with a Christian emetery8 so that itseems to e a part o& s0 h a &0nerary ompleB1$*. %ne o& the most "iligent s holarswho sear he" into the real nat0re o& the mon0ment8 the 9talian ar haeologist ather20ar"0 i8 engage" himsel& in "e&en"ing at any ost the eBa t lo aliHation where8a or"ing to him8 the tom sho0l" have een8 y arg0ing that8 in spite o& allappearan es8 it lay ertainly o0tsi"e the Christian ompleB1$+. Ae "o not &ollow20ar"0 i in his learne" an" ompli ate" analysis o& the 0n"ergro0n" la yrinth o&this emetery8 sin e we are not intereste" in >nowing whether he is right or not13 8even i& it seems to 0s that his arg0ments leave m0 h to e "esire" anyway131. Ahat isreally interesting8 we elieve8 is that "is 0ssions a o0t s0 h a pro lem sho0l" havearisen8 e a0se s0 h a &a t itsel& "emonstrates that an am ig0ity histori ally eBists.

Aitho0t paying 0n"0e attention to some religio0s onne tions ma"e in asyn retisti >ey y C0mont long time ago (1*+')13$8 &or whi h he was itterlyriti iHe" 1338 we may remem er here what the great s holar wrote8 ta>ing as a starting

Pag. 1#

point the &amo0s teBt o& the ;atin historian aleri0s !aBim0s a o0t the ews4eBp0lsion &rom Rome y praetor Corneli0s ispal0s in 13+ G.C.E. ( 3u(aeos, 2uiSaba7i Co-is !ultu ;omanos in"i!ere mores !onati erant, repetere (omos suas!oe.it ) 13,: /;a mention trange "0 0piter 5a aHi0s "ans e teBte a g n ralement teBpli@0 e par 0ne on&0sion ave le 9ahv e aoth8 le Fie0 "es arm es8 "e la Gi le.Cette on&0sion8 &on" e s0r 0ne assonan e &ort0ite8 parait ertaine8 mais elle n4est p"0e8 omme on sem le le roire8 = 0ne simple erre0r "es Romains. Fans lesSymposia4 problmata "e Pl0tar@0e8 0n "es onvives " montre "o tement @0e le

Fie0 "es 0ives n4est a0tre @0e Fyonisos-5a aHios. Ta ite onnait a0ssi etteassimilation et roit "evoir eBpress ment la repo0sser. En&in ean ;y"0s8 "ans 0n passage oJ il r s0me sans "o0te Corn li0s ;a on8 no0s a&&irme @0e Fyonisos85a aHios etSabath sont "es synonymes13 .

9n or"er to give an answer to some &0n"amental @0estions a o0t the 5a ians8in l0"ing the orre t etymology o& the name itsel&8 assonan e is in &a t not lessimportant than /real ling0isti relationships8 e a0se it o0nts &or m0 h what peopleso0ght to re ogniHe in ertain wor"s8 mostly when they were o& &oreign origin13#.7lso8 then8 a wrong etymology s0 h as that re >one" y some lassi al s holar inrelation to the names o& two an ient 9tali pop0lations s0 h as theSabini an" theSabelli - the allege" root o& whi h sho0l" e8 a or"ing to them8 the 2ree> parti ipial&orm that we alrea"y >now (oi) sebmenoi 13'8 an" whose tr0e roots are8 on theontrary8 on e again 7 a"ian ones meaning respe tively /people in lose proBimity8in the neigh o0rhoo"s ( sb in it*) an" /people in high position8 in elevate" pla e( sb elu) 13* - is an evi"en e whi h helps the st0"ent to 0n"erstan" what people ha" atthat time in their min"s8 even i& here we only have to "o with learne" men or at leastwith people spea>ing 2ree>.

;et 0s ret0rn to in enti0s an" his wi&e4s 0n"ergro0n" &0nerary ham er. Aehave o serve" that it is not impossi le &or a priest o& 5a aHios to e 0rie" in aChristian emetery8 pro a ly e a0se this go" was pop0larly seen as not so "i&&erent&rom the ather 2o" worshippe" y Christians: in spite o& what is generally a"mitte" y s holars8 &or instan e8 we &in" it "i&&i 0lt to r0le o0t any lose relationship


18/88

etween the ronHe votive han"s (representing the go"4s han" lessing his elievers)13+ an" a well->nown Christian gest0re as thebene(i!tio latina 1, . 9n"ee"8 tho0ghresear h on erning this s0 ?e t has re ently ma"e great progress8 there is @0ite a lotto investigate a o0t 5a aHios8 its origins an" its nat0re1,18 e a0se even its name still>eeps many se rets an" sha"ows: &or the moment8 we will limit o0rselves to sayingthat8 y re ogniHing &or the &irst time in the no0n saboi (whi h re 0rs among thewor"s rie" o0t y 5a aHios4 elievers "0ring the "an ing pro essions in hono0r o&him Ueuo* sabo* ues 9ttesV1,38 a or"ing to Femosthenes4 grotes@0e tale) the presen eo& the alrea"y @0ote" 7 a"ian no0n sbu (/people8 pop0lation8 army8 servants )8 a pioneer s0 h as 5emerano has opene" a way whi h may e very &ar rea hing1,$8tho0gh Chwolson ha" hastene" to eB l0"e this evi"en e8 along with many otherelements1,, .

;oo>ing at the walls o& the ellar8 one soon noti es8 among the &ig0res whi hi ia meets in her ?o0rney a&ter-"eath8 two sing0lar hara ters who annot 0t attra to0r attention: !er 0ri0s 1, 8 who es orts her to Pl0to4s ( 'is Pater ) transm0n"aneo0rt

Pag. 1'

o& ?0sti e8 an" a 2oo" 7ngel ( 9n.elus Bonus) 1,#8 who intro"0 es her to seven/happy g0ests (bonorum iu(i!io iu(i!ati) ta>ing part in a an@0et1,' . 9s it a simpleoin i"en e to &in" here some tra"itional &ig0res o& an ermeti environment s0 h asermesI!er 0ri0s an" 7gatho"aimonI7ngel0s Gon0s8 whi h all teBt0al so0r es0niversally point to as eing the two greatest arranian prophets


19/88

0s0ally employe" into 5yria -Christian literat0re to translate the 2ree> no0ns Ethnoi8 Ethni4i8 Hellenes8 an" it is onse@0ently ass0me" as an e@0ivalent &or /Pagan1 18tho0gh the same 7ra i term Han*" in 9slami 0sage is onsi"ere" on the ontrary asa lose synonym &or /!0slim : in !0hamma"4s min"8 the name Han*" "e&ines in &a ta sort o& primary !onotheist8 in parti 0lar the religio0s position o& 7 raham who/was not a ew8 nor was he a Christian8 0t he was a Han*" 8 a !0slim8 an" not o& thePolytheists 8 a or"ing to theSura 9994s &amo0s verse1 $. Ae have to on&ess that we have never 0n"erstoo" the itter opposition to thesemanti orrespon"en e etween the names Han*" I Huna"# an" SbiISbi#n8 propose" long ago y Pe"ersen1 38 whi h s holars have generally maintaine"1 , . 9t iss0&&i ient to rea" the titles o& the 5a ian Th= it i n W0rra4s wor>s to realise that theyan e eB hange" witho0t "i&&i 0lties: it is tr0e that8 in three ases o0t o& &o0r8 w&in" Hanp an" ?0st in oneSbhy 1 8 0t the &a t is very pro a ly "0e to therelatively re ent "e ision to ass0me the nameSbi#n y the arr=nian people at thattime (Th= it "ies in + 1 C.E.)8 the sole aspe t o& +ihrist 4s story a o0t the meeting etween Caliph al-!a4mJn an" arranians in *$3 C.E.1 # whi h we &in" onvin ing

an" whi h we there&ore s0 s ri e to witho0t reserve1 '

.Pag. 1*

%n the other han"8 thro0gho0t the passionate harang0e in "e&en e o& his own an"his oreligionists4 position (whose teBt8 as in the ase o& the wor>s4 titles in 5yria 8was literally han"e" "own to 0s y Garhae re0s4hrono.raphy )8 Th= it i n W0rra"enotes all o& them elievers in a religion whi h8 in his opinion8 is the most an ientan" the no lest one y the 5yria term Hanp on e again8 while &or "e&ining the

religion itsel& he 0ses the a stra t no0n Hanpt 1 *

. 9t is not "i&&i 0lt to 0n"erstan"that he "oes not mean y similar eBpressions what we 0s0ally "o y saying /Pagansor /2entiles on one si"e8 an" /Paganism or /2entilism on the other8 tho0gh at &irstsight it seems that there is no leBi al alternative1 +: the est thing wo0l" e not totranslate these wor"s at all8 as ?arpe - when ren"ering the whole teBt in ren h -rightly "i"1# 8 0t the pro lem still remains anyway.

9t seems onvenient to re all here an apparently o"" opinion o& Roger Ga on8who8 in spite o& his ompeten e in 7ra ian-9slami iviliHation8 was in no "o0 twhen @0ali&ying Th= it8 namely the most important eBponent o& the 5a ian- arranian0lt0re8 as /the greatest philosopher among all the hristians 1#1 li>ewise8 whenspea>ing a o0t the religio0s on&li t that arose at a ertain moment etween Th= itan" his &ellow- itiHens8 the great orientalist 20stav l0gel "i" not hesitate manyent0ries later (in his 'issertatio (e arabi!is s!riptorum .rae!orum interpretibus,1*,1) to state that Th= ita !oetu et so!ietate Christianor0mremotus et e


20/88

on&0sion ha" really happene" e a0se people o&ten were not a le to "isting0ishing&rom the othernown arg0ment o& therise o& Christianity in terms o&Tertium Genus 1#'. 9t is worth-while remem ering

Pag. 1+

!. 5imon4s omments on this s0 ?e t: /FSs lors @0e l4Eglise vi torie0se ten" seson@0Xtes ?0s@04a0B limites "0 mon"e ivilis et ten" = se on&on"re ave l0i8 elle e

reven"i@0e l4h ritage et lors@0e les PSres "0 9 e siS le r pon"ent a0B 0i&s8 ils parlent non pl0s simplement en hr tiens8 mais a0 nom "es gens "0 "ehors8 appell s =rempla er 9srael: E!!lesia e< .entibus 1#*. 9t is this s0perimposition o& the Ch0r h onthe elleni iviliHation whi h reate" a histori al on&0sion "i&&i 0lt to lear 0p1#+.%n one han"8 a&ter having won the long str0ggle o& laiming its right o& eBisten eChristianity re eives ella"4s inheritan e8 e a0se elleni 0lt0re was the previo0sivilisation while now the iviliHation is the Ch0r h itsel& on the other han"8 thewor" / ellenes was >eeping8 in ertain onteBts s0 h as the 5yria one alrea"yo serve"8 its nat0ral meaning o& an ethni al gro0p ompletely in"i&&erent8 i& nohostile an" oppose"8 to the Ch0r h1' : it is the ol" 2ree e4s mythi al worl" whi hs0rvives in the olle tive imagination with its anthropomorphi "eities8 with itsapri io0s go"s8 with its 0p to "ate &antasti &ig0res. G0t s0 h a worl" eBists only as alan"s ape o& the past8 so that it easily "isappears into the ig an" 0n"i&&erentiate"mass o& ar aro0s polytheists.

This &a t may eBplain why8 in the 2ree> version o& 7risti"e4s 9polo.y8 the/2ree>s ompletely vanish:Tr*a .ne eis*n en t(e t 4smo, n eis* oi par# um*nle.omnon then pros4yneta* 4a* 3ou(a*oi 4a* $hristiano* 1'1. The /2ree>s 8 as itwere8 split themselves in two parts8 oth having e ome invisi le: the /goo" 2ree>s 8masters o& >nowle"ge an" eternal sym ols o& "evelope" iviliHation8 have eens0""enly in l0"e" into the Christian omm0nity the / a" 2ree>s 8 the naives an"&ier e polytheists o& the past8 have on the other han" een in l0"e" into the gro0p o&the 0n elievers1'$. The sit0ation hanges in the 5yria version8 where one omes


21/88

nearer to !0hamma"4s pattern o& worl" religions8 sin e one rea"s: /This is evi"ent toyo08 >ing8 that h0man ra es are "our : Gar arians an" 2ree>s8 ews an" ChristiansY1'3.7 t0ally8 one might have &o0n" an eBa tly orrespon"ing prototype o& the OoraniteBt8 i& the /2ree>s ha" een part here as it is the ase &or the 5a ians in the)ur#n o& the set o& the elievers (the /People o& the Goo> )8 0t it is not so: the5yria eB erpt o& the 9polo.y "isplays a s>et h-map o& the histori al progress o&Religion8 y means o& the signi&i ant e@0ation Religions-Peoples whi h &rom thi"ate e omes very ommon1', 8 0t these &o0r gro0ps are sharply "ivi"e" into twohalves8 the omma leaves no "o0 t: into the latter the !onotheists are pla e"8 theews an" the /Thir" New People 8 the Christians into the &ormer8 as a whole8

9"olaters (Gar arians) an" Polytheists8 namely the / a" 2ree>s o serve" a ove8where s0 h a presen e is a nat0ral iss0e o& what has een sai" e&ore a o0t thee lesiasti al negative onnotation o& the term Hanp.

En passant 8 a phenomenon o& eBtreme gravity ha" happene": the histori alremoval o& a so- alle" /thir" gro0p o& /2ree>s 8 a h0ge m0ltit0"e o& persons whosen0meri al vol0me was8 as we sai"8 s0rely not smaller in ;ate 7nti@0ity than that o&

the 0"ai omm0nity or o& the Christian one: the Pagan !onotheists8 the 2o"-earersIAorshippers 1' . Christian engagement in or"er to sweep away this 0neasyreligio0s reality goes on &or ent0ries8 sin e any tra e o& its eBisten e m0st e totallyerase"8 even i& some stronghol"s o& the opposite &iel" ontin0e to o&&er resistan ethe >nives. arr=n is one o& the most stri>ing eBamples o& that: arr=nians8 in &a t8

Pag. $

were normally i"enti&ie" with the /2ree>s 8 even long e&ore the ity e ame an

a tive entre &or the translation o& 2ree> s ienti&i an" philosophi al teBts into 5yriaan" 7ra i 8 &or whi h learne" wor> it has to e viewe"8 in a""ition to its otherrelevant &eat0res8 as one o& the most important worl" hannels &or the transmission othe elleni 0lt0re to the Aest "0ring the !i""le 7ges 1'#. 9n Cal e"on Co0n il4stime8 the ity was alrea"y >nown as Hellenopolis or Hellnon Polis8 to e 0n"erstoo"as /City o& the Pagans in"ee" (as the ;atin version o& the same Co0n il4s 9!tseBpli itly states: Pa.anorum !i-itatis) 1'' 8 e a0se o& its strong onservative spirit inreligio0s matters an" its soli" lin>s with 2ree>- ellenisti e"0 ation1'*. 7lso 7ra sontin0e to perpet0ate s0 h a portrait o& the arranians8 y seeing them as the 2ree>iviliHation4s heirs or merely as the 2ree>s themselves: the philo- elleni P0rity4sGrethren8 &or instan e8 "e lare: / 2ree>s have got y (to"ay4s) people "i&&erentnames8 among whi h 5a ians (Sbi#n)8 arr=nians an" Hat"n ( Hani"n


22/88

%n the other han"8 !e"ieval !0slim leBi ographers8 an" also some orientalists8insiste" on the 7ra i origin o& the name1*38 y seeing it as a "erivation &rom the7ra i ver hana"a8 /to "e line8 to t0rn away &rom an" onse@0ently assigning it themeaning o& /one who t0rns asi"e or se e"es &rom his omm0nity in the matter o&religion 1*, while ather ;ammens on his si"e pointe" o0t to the lose onne tionsamong the 7ra i ver s ( &orm)tahanna"a, tahannata an" ta#allaha (the last ver eing - in i"entally - the &inal eBpression o& the saying arve" 0pon the "oor o& themaDma# o& the arranian 5a ians still at the eginnings o& the 9 .IL ent0ry C.E.a or"ing to al-!a4sJ"i: we will ret0rn to that)1* in relation with /les &ormes"iverses "e l4as tisme heH les an iens 7ra es1*#.

9n reality8 we seem to remain always in the same semanti &iel"8 with theimmanent "iale ti s 2oo"-Evil alrea"y o serve" when "is 0ssing the e rew rootSHUBH : everything "epen"s on one4s point o& view1*'. G0t Han*" is stri tlyasso iate" with the !0slim on ept o& "itra8 the /nat0ral "isposition 8 an" may eonne te" there&ore with the primary onstit0tion o& man>in": /5et thy &a e then8han*" -&ashion towar"s the goal ((*n) 2o" hath "ispose" within the nat0re o& man (or

a or"ing to the onstit0tion 2o" hath onstit0te" man)8 &or no hange an ee&&e te" in the reation o& 2o"1**. ;eaving asi"e the Oorani 0sage o& the term8 weshall loo> rie&ly at the main &eat0res o& those as eti s see>ing 2o"1*+ a o0t whomseveral 7ra so0r es provi"e evi"en e. They are not ews nor Christians8 e a0sethey are sai" to &ollow themillat 3brah*m8 the /way o& 7 raham 8 an" in 7 raham4stimes these 0lts "i" not eBist yet1+ . 9t is8 however8 @0ite strange that8 when theyome in

Pag. $1

onta t with a Christian o0ntry an" "well there &or a ertain time8 it is not 0n0s0al&or them to onvert to Christianity: three o0t o& &o0r Huna"# re or"e" y 9 n 9sh=@ inthe S*ra 1+18 e ame Christians8 D ay" 7ll=h i n ahsh in 7 yssinia an" Dthm=n i n0wayrith at Costantinople8 only Aara@a i n Naw&al (the o0sin o& !0hamma"4swi&e Oha"K?a) remaining in the region o& i?=H4 the &o0rth also8 ay" i n 7mtravelle" a roa"8 thro0gh 5yria an" !esopotamia8 in @0est o& the tr0e religion 0t80nli>e the others8 he "i" not &in" what he was loo>ing &or: anyway8 /he a an"one"the worship o& i"ols8 a staine" &rom eating that whi h ha" "ie" o& itsel&8 an" &ro loo"8 an" &rom things sa ri&i e" to i"ols8 an" &or a"e the 0rying alive o& in&antse pro laime" that he worshippe" the ;or" o& 7 raham1+$.

Sabians 9(herents o" the Pre-ailin. ;eli.ion

Ahat "oes one learn &rom these stories< 7t least two things. The &irst wo0l" seemto orro orate an eB eptionally &itting "e&inition o& the 5a ians y al-GKrJnK to whi hwe shall t0rn at on e: eB eptional e a0se it is 0ni@0e &or its eBa tness an" learness8an" also e a0se the great Persian polygraph shows that he is a le to improve a


23/88

"e&inition o& the /real 5a ians 8 given y him within hishronolo.y almost thirtyyears e&ore8 whi h in o0r previo0s st0"y we &o0n" alrea"y very interesting an"s0ggestive. 7 t0ally we have to "o with two passages8 that are respe tively ontaine"in hapter 999 an" hapter L 999 o& the oo>8 0t their remar>a le similarity allows0s to @0ote here only the &irst teBt: it is worth noting8 however8 that the writer &elt nee" to repeat twi e what he ha" ome to >now on the s0 ?e t8 e a0se this "etails0ggests that he was per&e tly aware o& the spe ial importan e o& s0 h an eBplanationo& the histori al rising o& 5a ianism. e writes: /The 5a ians are the remnant o& theewish tri es who remaine" in Ga ylonia8 when the other tri es le&t it &or er0salemin the "ays o& Cyr0s an" 7rtaBerBes. Those remaining tri es &elt themselves attra te"to the rites o& the !agians8 an" so theyin!line( (werein!line( 8i%e% 5= i) towar"s thereligion o& Ne 0>a"neHar8 an" a"opte" a system miBe" o& !agism an" 0"aism li>ethat o& 5amaritans in 5yria1+3.

Aell8 we per eive" that a similar version o& the &a ts s0""enly opene" a win"owon the tr0th: what more o0l" one "esire than this< 9t was the eBtremely plain"es ription o& the phenomenon o& Proselytism in relation to the ewish people1+,8 o&

its &irst hronologi al mani&estation 1+, is

or rather it was in this sense that we weretempte" to interpret the eB erpt: it seeme" in &a t to on&irm on the whole o0rhypothesis a o0t the e@0ation 5a ians2o"- earers8 y laying the &o0n"ation stoneo& the theoreti al 0il"ing. Tho0gh pointing to the same "ire tion8 however8 thehronolo.y 4s teBt says literally something slightly "i&&erent8 0t in or"er to0n"erstan" what s0 h a thing wo0l" e we have to loo> at al-GKrJnK4s omplementary"e&inition o& the 5a ians whi h we starte" &rom8 the one ontaine" in his $itb alta"h*m8 the Boo4 o" 3nitiation in the Elements o" the 9rt o" 9strolo.y.

Pag. $$

ere8 in the relevant se tion "ealing with the / oros ope o& Religions1+ 8 where

the seven planets are p0t in orrespon"en e with ?0st as many 0niversal religions8 one&in"s the !oon - namely the lowest o& the seven heavenly o"ies8 nat0rallyasso iate" with arr=n e a0se o& the 50mero-Ga ylonian 0lt o& the !oon-2o"S*nwhose worship was still alive in this an ient ity8 pro0" o& its religio0s tra"itions8"0ring the !0slim !i""le 7ges 1+# pla e" in parallel with the 5a ians8 ?0st as onemight have eBpe te". G0t really s0rprising is the &orm0la y whi h al-GKrJnK "elimits5a ianism8 sin e 5a ians e ome now the /7"herents o& the Prevailing Religion(alla(h*na bi (*n 4ulli .libin) 1+'. Per&e tly &ittingM 9mpe a leM 9t is impossi le to"e&ine in a etter way the i"ea o& what has een alle"8 to 0se a in&eli ito0seBpression in"ee"8 /mi"-Conversion1+*. 7 general 0t not generi &orm0la8 whereamong many other things one re ogniHes also the "evotional position o& the &o0r Huna"# whom we have met a ove: to ma>e Conversion a well-i"enti&ie" phenomenon8 one nee"s not only a private spirit0al &eeling enlarge" to massive"imensions8 0t also a "ominant religion8 namely a 0lt a le to have a prevalent position over the others. 9n any ase8 that was how the pro ess "evelope" in theo0rse o& history: only when a single religion8 Christianity8 e ame the o&&i ialReligion o& the Roman Empire8 in &a t8 "i" Conversion egin to e a >nowle"ge" asa lear8 0n@0estiona le &a t8 representing a so ial an" religio0s reality that people


24/88

o0l" event0ally on eive witho0t "i&&i 0lties an" there&ore eBpress witho0t ling0istiam ig0ities.

Hypsistarii, Sebmenoi/Phobomenoi Ftn Then , Theosebe*s, Massaliani, Euphemitai, aeli!olae, Huna"#

/7"herents o& the Prevailing Religion : let 0s pay attention to the &irst term./7"herents simply means /5ymphatiHers1++8 /Close to 8 /To get rea"y &or 8 it "oesnot mean / 0ll Converts 8 whi h is eBa tly the ase o& the 2o"- earers. Pro a ly al-GKrJnK sho0l" have a""e" to the last wor"s o& his "e&inition the attri 0te/!onotheisti 8 sin e we always have to "o with people who ma"e the &0n"amentalstep to t0rn themselves to the &aith in %ne !ost- igh 2o"8 in %ne 50preme Feity$

in re&eren e to whom the other lesser "eities play o&ten the role o& heavenlymessengers8 o& angels8 as the %ra le &rom %enoan"a that is &rom the Northe;y ian site where one o& the rare Hypsistarii4s 0lt-pla es has een &o0n" eBpli itlystates y 7pollo4s mo0th: /Gorn o& itsel&8 0nta0ght8 witho0t a mother8 0nsha>ea lenot ontaine" in a name8 >nown y many names8 "welling in &ire8 this is 2o". Ae8 hisangels8 are a small part o& 2o"$ 1. G0t it is tr0e8 also8 that a&ter the &inal vi tory o&Christianity 2o"- earers4 omm0nities whose names histori ally range &rom Hypsistarii8 Hypsistariani8 toTheosebis8Sebmenoi tn Then8 aeli!olae et . - 0talso the lonely in"ivi"0als see>ing a&ter 2o" >nown y the name Huna"# in the Near

Pag. $3

Eastern "esert regions &elt the attra tion o& Christianity y o&ten a hieving theirspirit0al way thro0gh a &0ll Conversion to the Cross8 while in previo0s times theywere gravitating aro0n" the prevalent !onotheisti gro0ps settle" thro0gho0t thegeographi al areas where they live"8 whi h as a r0le were ewish ones. 7l-GKrJnK4s &irst-@0ote" teBt also t0rns the rea"er4s tho0ght to the ewish onteBeven i& the Persian writer seems to elieve that the ewish presen e along theE0phrates an" Tigris valley is onne te" to a religio0s reality that will ome alonga&ter several ent0ries8 namely the migration &rom Palestine into 5o0thern!esopotamia o& some emero aptist se ts as El>esaits an" !an"aeans$ $. G0t i& oneinterprets the in&ormation y means o& al-GKrJnK4s se on" eB erpt8 one sees rather treal in&l0en e that oroastrianism ha" on e rai religion8 e a0se it was pre isely"0ring the /Ga ylonian aptivity that some typi al &eat0res o& e raism s0 h as the ?0Btaposition 2oo"-Evil an" 2o"-5atan or on epts s0 h as the ;ast 0"gement an"the Res0rre tion o& the Fea" ame into eing$ 3. To s0m 0p8 we have s0ppose" thatal-GKrJnK4s &irst teBt was only to e onne te" with s0 h a histori al phenomenon onthe other han"8 it ha" relations with the histori al rising o& ewish Proselytism8 an"remin"e" &or eBample a well->nown teBt0al passage y oseph0s mentioning thetrans&er o& the ews &rom Ga ylon to 7sia !inor y 7ntio h0s 999 at the en" o& the 999ent0ry G.C.E.$ , : it was &rom this original 0l> that many well-organiHe" ewish


25/88

omm0nities sprea" thro0gho0t 7sia !inor an" elsewhere8 eBerting a strong spirit0alattra tion on the s0rro0n"ing 2entile milie08 as ar haeologi al &in"ings have prove"with ertainty. 9n 7&ro"isia$ 8 in parti 0lar8 2entiles4 involvement in the lo alsynagog0e appears to have een really massive8 sin e more than hal& o& the peopleatten"ing the 0lt-pla e were 2entiles whose stat0s range a ross the entire so ialspe tr0m8 &rom the highest ivi positions an" li eral pro&essions to ra&tsmen an"simple wor>ers$ #: it is worth noting8 on e again8 that s0 h people were not &0ll-onverts8 0t plaintheosebe*s8 2o"- earers8 whereas only three in"ivi"0als arere or"e" in the engrave" ins ription mentioning the "onors4 names o& the ene&i ent

instit0tion whi h they ontri 0te to as proselytoi$ ' 8 namely people legally onverte"to 0"aism $ *. Pro a ly the Roman laws prohi iting ir 0m ision an" onversion to0"aism sin e a"rian4s times playe" a signi&i ant role in s0 h a meagre n0m er o&

persons laiming eBpli itly that /passing o& the o0n"ary whi h 0venal so greatly&eare" an" itterly mo >e": here8 in &a t8 most o& the no- ews pre&er to remain in thmore ne0tral religio0s position o& 0venal4s pater metuens sabbata8 worshippingnubes et !aeli numen an" a staining &rom!arne suillam rather than that o& the son

who "e i"es to ma>e the last step an" th0smo< et praeputia ponit witho0t anyreserve$ +.Geyon" s0 h vag0e elements8 we >now very little a o0t the 2o"- earers4 0lti

pra ti es. rom %enoan"a4s teBt one learns that sometimes their 0lt ha" solar&eat0res8 e a0se o& the %ra le4s pres ription to the &aith&0l to pray in "ire tion o& trising s0n8 namely &a ing east8 gaHing 0p at heaven an" o&&ering prayers to the aseeing 7ether$1 . 7 ten"en y to solar !onotheism omes also o0t &rom . Dstinova4sspe 0lations a o0t the 9ranian a >gro0n" o& the religio0s position o& thethiasoi8 the0lti asso iations alle" eispoieto* a(elpho* sebmenoi then hypsiston8 0t also

syno(os o&thiaseitai or thiastai worshippingThes Hypsistos in Tanais an" inPag. $,

several other 2ree> olonies on the Northern shore o& the Gla > 5ea in the &irst hal&o& the 99 . C.E.$118 tho0gh we re?e t her general on l0sions$1$. Ae sho0l" not "wellhere on the onne tion esta lishe" y E. 5 h0rer more than one ent0ry ago etweenthese gro0ps o& !onotheisti or @0asi-!onotheisti elievers an" themetuentesatteste" y epigraphi an" literal evi"en e in the ;atin Aest$138 0t a ove all with the sebmenoi (tn then)8 the phobomenoi (tn then)8 the Hellenes whom 5aint Pa0lreg0larly meets in the o0rse o& his in"e&atiga le mission$1, in the synagog0es o& 7sia!inor an" 2ree e where he prea hes the evangeli al message ( 0t in other meeting- pla es also8 mostly a&ter Pa0l4s last theologi al rea> with the ews$1 : /Th0s 9 shallgo to 2entiles ) $1#8 an" who onse@0ently appear to e the original 0l> o& theemerging Christianity a or"ing to ;0>e4s 9!ts.

or the 0lti &eat0res o& the Aesternmetuentes8 what we have o serve" in0venal4s satyri al verses$1' is perhaps eno0gh in re&eren e to 2o"- earers4 pra ti esin 9!ts one m0st rather stress the r0 ial "e ision o& er0salem4s Co0n il ( 1 C.E.)$1*8where the "0ties o& s0 h 2entile Converts to Christianity were &iBe" on e an" &or all:/Ahere&ore my senten e is8 that we tro0 le not them8 whi h &rom among the 2entilesare t0rne" to 2o": 0t that we write 0nto them8 that they a stain &rom poll0tions o&i"ols8 an" &rom &orni ation8 an" &rom things strangle"8 an" &rom loo"$1+. Ahat isthat< 9t is ?0st the moral-religio0s o"e whi h8 a or"ing to ra ini al tra"ition8 every


26/88

man is o lige" to &ollow8 an" in parti 0lar the stranger8 the /resi"ent alien ( .ertoshb8 .er ash sha#ar ) in the 5tate o& 9srael$$ : the so- alle" /Noa hite ;aws $$1.There eBist vario0s versions o& s0 h pres riptions$$$8 0t it is interesting to noti enow that a&ter this histori al "e ision Christians Converts oming &rom 2entilism8namely 0n ir 0m ise" Christians ( E!!lesia e< Gentibus) $$38 2o"- earers8 at least the sebmenoi/phobomenoi (tn then)I Hellenes onta te" y Pa0l an" other apostles8 Huna"# 8 at least the Han*" ay" whose "evotional pra ti es are the only ones to eeBpli itly state" in theS*ra $$,8 5a ians8 whom many tra"itions onsi"er as Noah4sheirs an" onse@0ently &ollowers o& the /Noa hite ;aws$$ 8 an" &inally arranians8whose apital ity is sai" to have een &o0n"e" y Noah or y some o& his relatives (ason or a nephew) a&ter the loo"$$#8 appear to share to some eBtent the same ethi al-religio0s "0ties. G0t let 0s go on he >ing the availa le teBt0al evi"en e a o0t 2o"- earers4 elie&s an" rites. Ahat 2regory o& NaHianH0s witnesses a o0t the Cappa"o ian gro0palle" y him Hypsistarii is @0ite interesting8 sin e he is spea>ing a o0t his own

&ather8 onverte" to Christianity y some ishopsen route to the Co0n il o& Ni aea

(3$ C.E.)8 th0s han"ing "own a "ire t an" personal eBperien e: /The C0lt was amiBt0re o& two elements8 elleni error an" a"heren e to the ewish law 9ts&ollowers re?e t the i"ols an" sa ri&i es o& the &ormer an" worship &ire an" lamplighthey revere the sabbath an" "o not to0 h ertain &oo"s8 0t have nothing to "o withir 0m ision. To the h0m le they are alle" ypsistarians8 an" the Panto4rator is theonly go" they worship$$'. There may e little "o0 t a o0t the relations etween this gro0p o& "evotees o&the ighest Fivinity an" the /enigmati $$* omm0nity o& worshippers o& the go"Sabbatist>s mentione" in a Cili ian ins ription "ating a > to 70g0st0s4 time an"

elsewhere alle"etair>a tn Sambati stn $$+

. The mem ers o& s0 h a 0ltiPag. $

asso iation8 "enoting themselves y the termeta*roi8 s0rely revere" theSabbath8even i& they o0l" not e native ews nor proselytes: as T heri>over rightly pointe"o0t8 in &a t8 ews wo0l" never re&er to their 2o" as /the 2o" o& theSabbath $3 . Aeare8 there&ore8 "ealing with a 2entile environment8 namely with o servers o& theewish /5eventh Fay o& rest whose ellenisti organiHation appears to e similar tothat o& the other gro0ps o& pagan elievers in a Trans en"ental Feity.

7 passage &rom 2regory o& Nyssa4s ontra Eunomium is another lassi al so0r ea o0t Hypsistiani: that is the name8 in"ee" very similar to the previo0s one re or"e" y the other 2regory8 y whi h he "enotes the mem ers o& this !onotheisti gro0p8 0t witho0t a""ing any relevant in&ormation eB ept &or the a >nowle"gement o&attri 0tes s0 h as /the highest an" Panto4ratorgiven to 2o" y them an"8 at thesame time8 their re?e tion o& a Christian attri 0te s0 h as / ather in re&eren e to 2o"$31.

The testimony o& Epiphani0s a o0t Messalians (/Those who pray )8 even alle" Euphemitai(/Those who less )8 happens "0ring the same perio" (3'# C.E.) an" isontaine" in his Panarion where the s0 ?e t is "is 0sse" at length. The Cyprian

ishop "isting0ishes etween a Christian se t y this name an" the /Paganomm0nity$3$8 &or oth o& whi h he shows very little sympathy in"ee"8 0t we are &or


27/88

the moment only intereste" to re or" what the &amo0s heresiologist >nows a o0t thelatter: /They are simply pagans who a"mit the eBisten e o& go"s 0t worship noneamong them they a"ore one 2o" only8 whom they all 7lmighty. They alsoonstr0 t &or themselves ertain ho0ses or spa io0s areas8 li>e "ora8 whi h they all

proseu!hai. %& ol" there were ertain pla es o& prayer among the ews whi h wereo0tsi"e the ity8 an" among the 5amaritans8 as we &in" as well in the 9!ts o" the 9postles8 where ;y"ia8 a seller o& p0rple goo"s8 met those with Pa0l Now theseearlier !essalians8 who "erive themselves &rom pagans an" who appeare" on thes ene e&ore those at present who "erive &rom the Christian religion8 have themselvesonstr0 te" on the one han" ertain small pla es in ertain regions whi h are alle"

proseu!hai or eu4teria8 while in other lo ations they have 0ilt &or themselvessomething li>e h0r hes8 where they gather at evening an" morning with m0 hlighting o& lamps an" tor hes an" lengthy singing hymns an" a lamations to 2o" ythe Healo0s among them8 thro0gh whi h hymns an" a lamations they &on"ly thin> toon iliate 2o" $33. %ne hanges geographi al area with Cyril o& 7leBan"ria8 whose in&ormation is

worthy o& attention mostly e a0se o& the name o& the gro0p that he mentions8 &orre 0rs again 0n"er the &orm o&Theosebe*s8 whi h we have alrea"y en o0ntere". Theylive in Phoeni ia an" Palestina8 worship Hypsistos Thes 0t also other "eities s0 has the 50n an" the !oon8 Earth an" eaven8 an" the rightest stars: ?0st as was thease &or 2regory o& NaHianH0s4 Hypsistarii8 also Cyril laims thatTheosebe*s4 elie&san" rit0al 0stoms are neither ewish or Christian8 0t are a sort o& miBt0re o& oth$3,.

9n Northern 7&ri a8 &inally8 one &in"s a gro0p >nown y the nameaeli!olae inthe &irst years o& the ent0ry8 e a0se it is mentione" in two onstit0tions o& theTheo(osian o(e (, * an" , + C.E.) $3 : these aeli!olae - whosemaior se"0 ing

many Christians into a sa rilegio0s se on" aptism also 5aint 70g0stine is shown tohave een in onta t with$3# - are harge" with eing a hereti al 0"aiHing se t an"are onse@0ently o0tlawe" y the emperors onori0s an" 7r a"i0s8 even i& it is not

Pag. $#

lear whether s0 h legal meas0res were ever s0 ess&0l$3'. et it is spe iallyimportant &or o0r p0rposes that the same name is 0se" twi e in Be7a ;atin translationo& 9!ts: sin e the wor" is 0se" to ren"er the 2ree> term sebmenoi $3*8 in &a t8 one anass0me with 5 h0rer that their elie&s were @0ite similar to those o& the 2o"- earersalrea"y atteste" in 7sia !inor an" elsewhere$3+. rom this rie& hronologi al an" geographi al s0rvey emerges a real religio0s&rontier8 whi h some a0thors have also re ogniHe"$, . or the rit0als8 it is not possi leto go eyon" the evi"en e8 so that one m0st limit onesel& to say that8 even whenorganiHe" omm0nities are on erne"8 2o"- earers4 religio0s pres riptions werea sol0tely not rigi" ones an" th0s an e viewe" as a r0le within the loose horiHonin l0"e" y the /Noa hite ;aws $,1. There was pro a ly sometimes a solar aspe t inthe 0lt8 the weight o& whi h it is not possi le to "etermine pre isely in the "i&&erentomm0nities8 an" whi h might also e totally a sent. 7ll this eBplains why - we

elieve - several !0slim interpreters o& the !i""le 7ges eBpli itly laim that the5a ians are /a religio0s gro0p whi h has no 0lt8 s ript0re an" prophet8 a"mittingonly theta:h*( 8 the pro&ession o& &aith: QThere is no go" 0t 2o"4 ( 9llah ill#


28/88

9llah) $,$: a religion whi h has no 0lt loo>s li>e a para"oB8 0t a&ter what we havelearnt a o0t 2o"- earers it eases to appear as s0 h. 9n the meantime8 this evi"en e among many other &in"ings - proves that the !an"aean hypothesis a o0t Oorani5a ians is on the wrong roa" an" sho0l" onse@0ently e given 0p.

The Sabians 9!!or(in. to +irst 3slami! Sour!es

F0ring the &irst two ent0ries o& the 9slami Era8 Near Eastern a0thors "o not"isting0ish etween /real an" /&alse 5a ians: this "istin tion8 in &a t8 ame to thelight only in the &irst hal& o& the 999 .I9L C.E. .8 namely a&ter the arranianass0me" the name /5a ians to "e&ine their religio0s position in relation to theGagh"a" Caliphate8 "0ring a perio" when the inter-religio0s "ialog0e was @0ite

intense$,3

. These s holars seem the etter so0r e8 there&ore8 &or 0n"erstan"ing or atleast &or oming as near as possi le to the very nat0re o& the 5a ians mentione" y!0hamma" in the )ur#n $,, : a t0ally one won"ers at these interpreters4 honesty o&min"8 e a0se they generally appear not to &ear eing too lose to the teBt an" a""ingvery poor in&ormation to what it literally eBpress. 7s &ar as the three Oorani passages re or"ing theSbi#n are on erne"8 the oly TeBt shows the &ollowinghains o& (0niversal) religions: Gelievers (Those who elieve8 !0slims)8 the ews8 theChristians8 the 5a ians (Sura 998 #$) Gelievers8 the ews8 the 5a ians8 the Christians(Sura 8 #+) Gelievers8 Those who are the ews8 the 5a ians8 the Christians8 the

!agians8 Dn elievers (Those who set 0p go"s Uwith 2o"V8 Pagans o& ol") (SuraLL998 1').Aell8 with great oheren e all these so0r es state that the 5a ians are a religio0s

gro0pbet:een the ews an" the Christians8 orbet:een the ews an" the !agians8 or Pa

god fearers sabians

Documents