Leontopolis (Deutero-Jerusalem)

Discussion about the Hebrew Bible, Septuagint, pseudepigrapha, Philo, Josephus, Talmud, Dead Sea Scrolls, archaeology, etc.
Post Reply
Ethan
Posts: 976
Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2018 1:15 pm
Location: England
Contact:

Leontopolis (Deutero-Jerusalem)

Post by Ethan »


Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 13.62
But then the son of Onias the high priest, who was of the same name with his father, and who fled to king Ptolemy, who was called Philometor, lived now at Alexandria, as we have said already. When this Onias saw that Judea was oppressed by the Macedonians and their kings, out of a desire to purchase to himself a memorial and eternal fame he resolved to send to king Ptolemy and queen Cleopatra, to ask leave of them that he might build a temple in Egypt like to that at Jerusalem and might ordain Levites and priests out of their own stock.

The chief reason why he was desirous so to do, was, that he relied upon the prophet Isaiah, who lived above six hundred years before, and foretold that there certainly was to be a temple built to Almighty God in Egypt by a man that was a Jew. Onias was elevated with this prediction, and wrote the following epistle to Ptolemy and Cleopatra: "Having done many and great things for you in the affairs of the war, by the assistance of God, and that in Celesyria and Phoenicia, I came at length with the Jews to Leontopolis, and to other places of your nation, where I found that the greatest part of your people had temples in an improper manner, and that on this account they bare ill-will one against another, which happens to the Egyptians by reason of the multitude of their temples, and the difference of opinions about Divine worship.

Now I found a very fit place in a castle that hath its name from the country Diana; this place is full of materials of several sorts, and replenished with sacred animals; I desire therefore that you will grant me leave to purge this holy place, which belongs to no master, and is fallen down, and to build there a temple to Almighty God, after the pattern of that in Jerusalem, and of the same dimensions, that may be for the benefit of thyself, and thy wife and children, that those Jews which dwell in Egypt may have a place whither they may come and meet together in mutual harmony one with another, and he subservient to thy advantages; for the prophet Isaiah foretold that "there should be an altar in Egypt to the Lord God; 1 and many other such things did he prophesy relating to that place."


13.69
King Ptolemy and queen Cleopatra to Onias, send greeting. We have read thy petition, wherein thou desirest leave to be given thee to purge that temple which is fallen down at Leontopolis, in the Nomus of Heliopolis, and which is named from the country Bubastis; on which account we cannot but wonder that it should be pleasing to God to have a temple erected in a place so unclean, and so full of sacred animals. But since thou sayest that Isaiah the prophet foretold this long ago, we give thee leave to do it, if it may be done according to your law, and so that we may not appear to have at all offended God herein."

In one part is reads "a castle that hath its name from the country Diana" and later "which is named from the country Bubastis", an example have poor and inconsistent translations of Josephus we have today.

13:66
Where I found that the greatest part of your people had temples in an improper manner, and that on this account they bare ill-will one against another, which happens to the Egyptians by reason of the multitude of their temples, and the difference of opinions about divine worship. Now I found a very fit place in a castle that hath its name from the country Diana; this place is full of materials of several sorts, and replenished with sacred animals;

καὶ πλείστους εὑρὼν παρὰ τὸ καθῆκον ἔχοντας ἱερὰ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο δύσνους ἀλλήλοις, ὃ καὶ Αἰγυπτίοις συμβέβηκεν διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἱερῶν καὶ τὸ περὶ τὰς θρησκείας οὐχ ὁμόδοξον, ἐπιτηδειότατον εὑρὼν τόπον ἐν τῷ προσαγορευομένῳ τῆς ἀγρίας Βουβάστεως ὀχυρώματι βρύοντα ποικίλης ὕλης καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν ζῴων μεστόν


13:70
King Ptolemy and queen Cleopatra to Onias, send greeting. We have read thy petition, wherein thou desirest leave to be given thee to purge that temple which is fallen down at Leontopolis, in the Nomus of Heliopolis, and which is named from the country Bubastis; on which account we cannot but wonder that it should be pleasing to God to have a temple erected in a place so unclean, and so full of sacred animals.

ἀντέγραψαν γὰρ οὕτως: ‘βασιλεὺς Πτολεμαῖος καὶ βασίλισσα Κλεοπάτρα Ὀνίᾳ χαίρειν. ἀνέγνωμέν σου τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἀξιοῦντος ἐπιτραπῆναί σοι τὸ ἐν Λεόντων πόλει τοῦ Ἡλιοπολίτου ἱερὸν συμπεπτωκὸς ἀνακαθᾶραι, προσαγορευόμενον δὲ τῆς ἀγρίας Βουβάστεως. διὸ καὶ θαυμάζομεν, εἰ ἔσται τῷ θεῷ κεχαρισμένον τὸ καθιδρυσόμενον ἱερὸν ἐν ἀσελγεῖ τόπῳ καὶ πλήρει ζῴων ἱερῶν

ἀγρίας Βουβάστεως (ἄγρ-, ἀγορ- = יער)
ἀγρίας : of animals, wild, living in fields, of countries, wild, uncultivated, of men, savage and fierce
ἀγρεύς : hunter, epithet of Aristaeus (son of Cyrene and Apollo)
ἀγρότερος : fond of the chase, huntress, of the nymph Cyrene, Artemis the huntress.
ἄγροικος : dwelling in the field, of men, countryman, rustic, of fruits.

Bastet - Goddess of cats, cosmetics, childbirth, depicted with a Lioness or cat head.
Gk. αἴλουρος

The other goddess of cats and lionesses is Sekhmet and her major cult centre was Leontopolis, She symbolises Hunting and thus equates with Artemis, more-so then Bastet. She was also the protector of the Pharaoh during warfare, the same function as the Biblical יהוה צבאות.

Lord of Hosts (יהוה צבאות) as a feminine noun suffixed onto יהוה. The initial צ is guttural that can represent the σκ, for example the σκύμνος (Skúmnos) "lion's whelp" for Σκευᾶ (Sceva) in Acts 19:15. (צבוא, צבא, שבע).

λέαινα is the feminine word for lion hence lioness, the Latin is Leaena, that is more fitting since the place is associated with lioness goddesses. Magna Leaena (Great Lioness) also the meaning of Magdalene, the Book of Mark was originally in Latin so the form takes Magna Leaena rather then μέγαλα λέαινα or מגדול לביא also the epithet of Fulvia. cf. LVIA/לביא.

Isaiah 1.26
The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
עיר הצדק קריה נאמנה
δικαιοσύνης μητρόπολις πιστὴ
Image

Isaiah 19.18
The city of destruction
עיר ההרס יאמר לאחת
πόλισ-ασεδεκ κληθήσεται ἡ μία πόλις
Image

The Septuagint as "πόλισ-ασεδεκ" for עיר ההרס in Isaiah 19.18, so why not עיר הצדק/πόλισ-ασεδεκ in Isaiah 1.26.

הצדק commonalty interpreted as δίκαιος, but δίκ- is דינ־, the meaning of צדק is through ἔνδικος, the Archaic form is ἴνδικος. "עיר הצדק" [πόλις ἡ ἔνδικος]

(ἔνδικος) πόλις, a city in which justice is done, Pl.Hp.Ma.292b
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/mor ... ek#lexicon

Nomus of Heliopolis
Josephus 12.388 : ἐν τῷ νομῷ τῷ Ἡλιοπολίτῃ (In the Nomus of Heliopolis)
Josephus 13.285 : τὸν ναὸν ἐν τῷ Ἡλιοπολίτῃ νομῷ (The temple in the prefecture of Heliopolis)

This similar to the נאמנה in Isaiah 1.26 read as "faithful", but compare with נאות "habitation, pasturage", נאמנה is read as πιστὴ, with the effeminate ending for ἀλάθεια or ἀλάθειαν and πιστὴ cognates בטחה "faith" as in Fides publica, bona Fides, Pistis, πιστος, εὔπιστος .

Amos 1:2 - נאות הרעים 'habitations of the shepherds'
Septuagint reads 'αἱ νομαὶ τῶν ποιμένων', the cognate reading is οἱ νειοί τῶν θυραυλῶν (or ἀγραύλων)

Sept. as μητρόπολις for קריה, most often the Septuagint reads both קריה and עיר as πόλις and no distinction is made in translations, μητρόπολις appears thrice in Sept, the other in Joshua 14:15, האדם הגדול/μητρόπολις and in 2 Samuel 20:19 עירואם/μητρόπολιν.

ההרס
1. θάρσος, θάρρος 'courage' (epithet of Athena), θαρσῶ (verb) courage, fear not, in bad-sense, make bold,
*Exodus 19:21; פן־יהרסו/μή θαρσῶσιν (Subjunctive) "lest thy pluck up courage"

2. πέρθω, πορθέω 'waste, ravage, sack, get by plunder, take at the sack of a town'
*Psalm 11:3; הרסון/πέρσαν [verb 3rd pl aor ind or part sg aor act neut nom/acc/voc]
*Exodus 15:7; תהרס/πέρσεις or πέρσας [Verb 2nd Aor or fut] or a noun, πόρθησις 'sack of a town'

3. ἤλιος 'sun' (?)
*Joshua 24:30; בתמנת־סרח Sept. ἐν Θαμναθ-ασαχαρα
*Judges 2:9; בתמנת־חרס Sept. ἐν Θαμναθ-αρες

4. ἀγρίας 'savage' (?), Isaiah 19.18
Land of Onias (wiki)
According to Josephus, the temple of Leontopolis existed for 343 years though the general opinion is that this number must be changed to 243. He relates that the Roman emperor Vespasian feared that through this temple Egypt might become a new center for Jewish rebellion and therefore ordered the governor of Egypt, Lupus, to demolish it.[11] Lupus died in the process of carrying out the order; and the task of stripping the temple of its treasures, barring access to it, and removing all traces of divine worship at the site was completed by his successor, Paulinus,[12] which dates the event to c. March - August 73
Last edited by Ethan on Sun Sep 22, 2019 3:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
https://vivliothikiagiasmatos.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/joseph-yahuda-hebrew-is-greek.pdf
Ethan
Posts: 976
Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2018 1:15 pm
Location: England
Contact:

Re: Leontopolis (Deutero-Jerusalem)

Post by Ethan »

There was a Leontopolis in Lebanon.

Strabo 16.2
Next to Berytus is Sidon, at the distance of 400 stadia. Between these places is the river Tamyras and the grove of Asclepius and Leontopolis.

Heliopolis (Lebanon)

Strabo 16.11 (Ἡλιούπολις καὶ Χαλκὶς)
At no great distance were Heliopolis and Chalcis

Josephus 14.37 ( Ἡλιούπολιν καὶ τὴν Χαλκίδα)
He also conquered the place called Lysias, of which Silas a Jew was tyrant. And when he had passed over the cities of Heliopolis and Chalcis, and got over the mountain which is on the limit of Colesyria


Bubastus (Egypt)

Strabo 17.28

There also are the city Bubastus and the Bubastite Nome, and above it the Heliopolite Nome. There too is Heliopolis, situated upon a large mound. It contains a temple of the sun, and the ox Mneyis, which is kept in a sanctuary, and is regarded by the inhabitants as a god, as Apis is regarded by the people of Memphis. In front of the mound are lakes, into which the neighbouring canal discharges itself. At present the city is entirely deserted. It has an ancient temple constructed after the Egyptian manner, bearing many proofs of the madness and sacrilegious acts of Cambyses, who did very great injury to the temples, partly by fire, partly by violence, mutilating [in some] cases, and applying fire [in others]. In this manner he injured the obelisks, two of which, that were not entirely spoilt, were transported to Rome. There are others both here and at Thebes, the present Diospolis, some of which are standing, much corroded by fire, and others lying on the ground.

The plan of the temples is as follows.

At the entrance into the temenus is a paved floor, in breadth about a plethrum, or even less; its length is three or four times as great, and in some instances even more. This part is called Dromos, and is mentioned by Callimachus, “‘this is the Dromos, sacred to Anubis.’” Throughout the whole length on each side are placed stone sphinxes, at the distance of 20 cubits or a little more from each other, so that there is one row of sphinxes on the right hand, and another on the left. Next after the sphinxes is a large propylon, then on proceeding further, another propylon, and then another. Neither the number of the propyla nor of the sphinxes is determined by any rule. They are different in different temples, as well as the length and breadth of the Dromi.

Next to the propyla is the naos, which has a large and considerable pronaos; the sanctuary in proportion; there is no statue, at least not in human shape, but a representation of some of the brute animals. On each side of the pronaos project what are called the wings. These are two walls of equal height with the naos. At first the distance between them is a little more than the breadth of the foundation of the naos.59 As you proceed onwards, the [base] lines incline towards one another till they approach within 50 or 60 cubits. These walls have large sculptured figures, very much like the Tyrrhenian (Etruscan) and very ancient works among the Greeks.

There is also a building with a great number of pillars, as at Memphis, in the barbaric style; for, except the magnitude and number and rows of pillars, there is nothing pleasing nor easily described,60 but rather a display of labour wasted.

At Heliopolis we saw large buildings in which the priests lived. For it is said that anciently this was the principal residence of the priests, who studied philosophy and astronomy. But there are no longer either such a body of persons or such pursuits. No one was pointed out to us on the spot, as presiding over these studies, but only persons who performed sacred rites, and who explained to strangers [the peculiarities of] the temples.

A person of the name of Chæremon accompanied the governor, Ælius Gallus, in his journey from Alexandreia into Egypt, and pretended to some knowledge of this kind, but he was generally ridiculed for his boasting and ignorance. The houses of the priests, and the residences of Plato and of Eudoxus, were shown to us. Eudoxus came here with Plato, and, according to some writers, lived thirteen years in the society of the priests. For the latter were distinguished for their knowledge of the heavenly bodies, but were mysterious and uncommunicative, yet after a time were prevailed upon by courtesy to acquaint them with some of the principles of their science, but the barbarians concealed the greater part of them. They had, however, communicated the knowledge of the additional portions of the day and night, in the space of 365 days, necessary to complete the annual period; and, at that time, the length of the year was unknown to the Greeks, as were many other things, until later astronomers received them from the persons who translated the records of the priests into the Greek language, and even now derive knowledge from their writings and from those of the Chaldeans

Βούβαστος πόλις , ὁ Βουβαστίτης νομὸς, Ἡλιοπολίτης νομός, Ἡλίου πόλις, τὸν βοῦν τὸν Μνεῦιν , Μέμφει ὁ Ἆπις, Θήβαις

Strabo (68 BC to 23 CE) writing before Josephus details Bubastus nome and Heliopolite Nome, but no mention of a Jewish temple, thus plausible that Josephus fabricated this history, from its beginning to end.

Josephus 7.420
Now Lupus did then govern Alexandria, who presently sent Caesar word of this commotion; who having in suspicion the restless temper of the Jews for innovation, and being afraid lest they should get together again, and persuade some others to join with them, gave orders to Lupus to demolish that Jewish temple which was in the region called Onion and was in Egypt, which was built and had its denomination from the occasion following: Onias, the son of Simon, one of the Jewish high priests fled from Antiochus the king of Syria, when he made war with the Jews, and came to Alexandria; and as Ptolemy received him very kindly, on account of hatred to Antiochus, he assured him, that if he would comply with his proposal, he would bring all the Jews to his assistance; and when the king agreed to do it so far as he was able, he desired him to give him leave to build a temple some where in Egypt, and to worship God according to the customs of his own country; for that the Jews would then be so much readier to fight against Antiochus who had laid waste the temple at Jerusalem, and that they would then come to him with greater good-will; and that, by granting them liberty of conscience, very many of them would come over to him

He mentions 'Onias, the son of Simon' who died in Syria. (Josiah son of Amon)
*'fled to the asylum of Daphne, near Antioch, where Menelaus, aided by the royal governor Andronicus, had him secretly assassinated,

Perhaps he meant Onias II (son of Simon) or Onias I who was apparently the son of Jaddua (Son of Jonathan).
during reign of דריוש הפרסי (Darius of Persia) (Nehemiah 12:11) yet contemporary of Alexander the Great according to Josephus, thus that particular Darius could only have being the third (336–330 BC).

And now Lupus, the governor of Alexandria, upon the receipt of Cæsar’s letter, came to the temple, and carried out of it some of the donations dedicated thereto, and shut up the temple itself. And as Lupus died a little afterward [about A.D. 75], Paulinus succeeded him. This man left none of those donations there: and threatened the priests severely, if they did not bring them all out. Nor did he permit any who were desirous of worshipping God there, so much as to come near the whole sacred place. But when he had shut up the gates, he made it intirely inaccessible: insomuch that there remained no longer the least footsteps of any divine worship that had been in that place. Now the duration of the time from the building of this temple till it was shut up again was three hundred and forty-three years


According to Josephus, the temple of Leontopolis existed for 343 years. 75 CE minus 343 years is around 268 BCE
The first book of Maccabees regards Onias I as a contemporary of King Areus I (309-265 BCE).
https://vivliothikiagiasmatos.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/joseph-yahuda-hebrew-is-greek.pdf
Ethan
Posts: 976
Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2018 1:15 pm
Location: England
Contact:

Re: Leontopolis (Deutero-Jerusalem)

Post by Ethan »

Josephus 4.605
Its river Nile is navigable as far as the city called Elephantine

That is the sole mention of Elephantine in Josephus, no mention of any Jewish colony and yet a so-called Jewish historian, Its not even mentioned in the Bible, yet they Elephantine Papyri prove its existence. Perhaps the lack of mention was deliberate.

So far as we learn from these texts Moses might never have existed, there might have been no bondage in Egypt, no exodus, no monarchy, no prophets. There is no mention of other tribes and no claim to any heritage in the land of Judah. Among the numerous names of colonists, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David, so common in later times, never occur (nor in Nehemiah), nor any other name derived from their past history as recorded in the Pentateuch and early literature. It is almost incredible, but it is true

Elephantine

[box=]Herodotus 2.30
In the reign of Psammetichus, there were watchposts at Elephantine facing Ethiopia, still in my time the Persians hold these posts as they were held in the days of Psammetichus; they are Persian guards at Elephantine. [/box]

Ἐλεφαντίνῃ
πρὸς Αἰθιόπων
αἱ φυλακαὶ
ἐν Ἐλεφαντίνῃ Πέρσαι φρουρέουσι
https://vivliothikiagiasmatos.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/joseph-yahuda-hebrew-is-greek.pdf
Post Reply