The Phoenician Solar Theology. An Investigation into the Phoenician Opinion of the Sun Found in Julian's Hymn to King Helios.

Aus der Bibliothek von Prof. Wolfgang Haase, langj�igem Herausgeber der ANRW und des International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT) / From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - Einband berieben, sonst ein sehr gutes Exemplar / binding rubbed, otherwise a very good copy. - This is the first examination of the fragments of the solar theology of the Phoenicians. Beginning from the Emperor Julian�s fourth-century statement that in the opinion of the Phoenicians �the sunlight which is sent forth everywhere is the immaculate action of pure mind itself,� this book contends that there existed an authentic and ancient Phoenician solar theology, similar to that described by Julian, reaching back to the sixth or fifth century BCE. Such a theology is described in Damaskios� quotation from Mochos, the Sidonian philosopher. A passage from Philo of Byblos, preserved in John Lydus, and referring to �the noetic light,� strengthens this argument. Phoenician funerary inscriptions are examined, together with relevant artistic evidence and some surviving accounts of Phoenician thought. Altogether, a portrait of Phoenician spiritual thoughtemerges: a native tradition not dependent upon Hellenic thought, but related to other Semitic cultures of the ancient Near East, and, of course, to Egypt. Many themes and motifs from ancient Phoenician religion are discussed, such as the phoenix bird (the �Phoenician� bird) which was associated with the concept of immortality, and the possibility that there was a Phoenician cult of �Yhwh�. The book abstracts seven ideas from the extant material as axial concepts. In light of this analysis, it can be seen that Phoenician religion possessed a unique organizing power, in which the sun, the sun god, life, death, and humanity, were linked in a profound system, which seems to have been common amongst the Phoenician city states. / Contents Analytic Table of Contents Abbreviations Figures Summary Introduction Chapter 1 The Question and the Method Chapter 2 Julian and the �Solar Pericope� Julian The Genre of the Hymn to King Helios The Solar Pericope Chapter 3 The Remaining Phoenician Pericopes The Aphrodite Pericope The Edessa Pericope The Semele Pericope The Arithmetic Pericope Julian�s �Phoenicians� Chapter 4 Julian and His Sources Julian�s Sources for Hymn to King Helios Plato Aristotle Other Writers in Greek and Latin Pythagoras and Others Chapter 5 Julian and lamblichos lamblichos� Philosophy lamblichos and the Phoenicians lamblichos and Julian What Acquaintance with Semitic Culture Did lamblichos and Porphyry Possess? Julian�s Own Contributions Chapter 6 The Phoenicians �Phoenicia� as a Division within the Greek Mediterranean Phoenicia and Greece Chapter 7 The Sun Goddess of Ugarit Sapsu Ugarit and Phoenicia Chapter 8 Phoenician Solar Religion: The Funerary Inscriptions The Sun in Phoenicia (1) The Name (2) Funerary Inscriptions Chapter 9 Phoenician Solar Religion: Miscellaneous Evidence (3) The Karatepe Inscriptions (4) Athenian Bilingual Inscription (5) Sun Disks (6) The Sign of Tanit (7) The MRZH (MZRH) (8) Temples and Betyls (9) City Names (10) A Month Named After the Sun (11) Coins (12) The Sun Barque (. (13) Onomastic Evidence (14) The Solarization of Other Cults (15) Astart and Deities Associated with Venus (16) The Phoenix Bird (17) The Astrological Bowl The Sun in Mesopotamia and Egypt Chapter 10 Mochos, Eudemos, and Philo of Byblos Mochos and Eudemos Oulomos Philo of Byblos Philo and Phoenician Solar Theology Chapter 11 Other Late Evidence Pausanias Lydus Could lao Be a Phoenician Solar Deity? Conclusion Bibliography Ancient Sources Modern Authors. ISBN 9781593332105