Agatho work = Egyptian God Kneph work

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billd89
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Agatho work = Egyptian God Kneph work

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WORK IN PROGRESS -- I'm using this as a workbook page, sorry. Many edits to come...

Barren women symbolically 'mated' with Zeus Sabazios; such was the legend of Alexander's birth.

The Milky Way was conceived as a Serpent, Arch or Ladder:
Image

Assuming the 'Alexander Romance' (c.300 AD) contains older folklore regarding the mythic foundation of Alexandria, this passage is of great interest:
1.32.6-7 : δράκων συνήθως παραγενόμενος ἐξεφόβει τοὺς ἐργαζομένους, καὶ ἐγκοπὴν ἐποιοῦντο τοῦ ἔργου διὰ τὴν τοῦ ζῴου ἐπέλευσιν. μετεδόθη δὲ τῷ Ἀλεξάνδρῳ τοῦτο· ὁ δὲ ἐκέλευσε τῇ ἐρχομένῃ ἡμέρᾳ ὅπου ἂν καταληφθῇ χειρώσασθαι [ἑνὸς εἰργάζοντο]. καὶ δὴ λαβόντες 〈τὴν〉 ἐπιτροπὴν παραγενομένου τοῦ θηρὸς κατὰ τῆς νῦν καλουμένης Στοᾶς τούτου περιεγένοντο καὶ ἀνεῖλον. ἐκέλευσε δὲ ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος ἐκεῖ αὐτῷ τέμενος γενέσθαι καὶ θάψας κατέθετο· καὶ πλησίον ἐκέλευσε στεφάνους στέφεσθαι εἰς μνήμην τοῦ ὀφθέντος ἀγαθοῦ δαίμονος.


1.32.6-7 : a Serpent of huge size and majestic bearing attacked the laborers and hindered their work. Alexander the Great bade his men assemble on the following day to slay the monster. This was done on the site of the later Stoa. An elaborate tomb was built for the Serpent, and Alexander had garland-shops erected near by ‘in order that the Beast, commonly thought to do service in temples — it is called Agathos Daimon — , might itself be worshipped as a deity’.



Agatho Daimon, a Serpent deity, is a tutelary god of Alexandria in (pre-)Hellenistic times; a cult of Alexander subsumed this Great Serpent cult.

Outstanding scholarship on this work generally, and for this key passage see Krzysztof Nawotka, The Alexander Romance by Ps.-Callisthenes: A Historical Commentary, [2017], pp.106-8:
6–7 δράκων … ἀγαθοῦ δαίμονος: the aitiological story of the cult of Agathos Daimon (Agathodaimon) in Alexandria. Agathos Daimon was a 'deity of blessing,' attested in private cult in Greece from the Fifth C. BC (Ar. Eq. 85,106) but rarely, if ever, represented in the form of a snake (Dunand 1981,278, no.6; Graf 2002), quite unlike the Agathos Daimon of Alexandria. Agathos Daimon attained an enormous following in Alexandria and in the western Delta, attested profusely in coins, Greek inscriptions and papyri of the Imperial age. His origin in Alexandria is a matter of dispute, with two conflicting views either painting Agathos Daimon as a Greek cultural importation later identified with Serapis and with Egyptian gods Šai (Shai), Knephis, Khnum, Soknopis (for this view see: Fraser 1972, i, 209–212) or as a Hellenized native Egyptian household god (Quaegebeur 1975, 170–176). Quaegebeur points out the near absence of Greek sources of the Ptolemaic age for the cult of Agathos Daimon, contrasted with the abundance of Egyptian attestations of the god Šai in this age and the poignant evidence of the Oracle of the Potter which predicts the desertion of Alexandria accompanied by local gods Knephis and Agathos Daimon leaving the city for Memphis, thus ending the age of chaos brought to Egypt by the Macedonian invaders (see Dillery 2004). Since the Oracle of the Potter is an epic of retribution expressing anti-Greek sentiments, it provides strong evidence for the Egyptian nature of Agathos Daimon. In all probability the cult of the Egyptian household god Šai achieved very early prominence in Alexandria, either already in Alexander’s lifetime or in the early Ptolemaic age, while the Hellenizing feature of the name Agathos Daimon and the Oracle of the Potter attests that it was prominent in Alexandria by the end of the Third C. BC(Ogden 2009a, 158–159), with a peak in popularity in the Imperial age (Fraser 1972, i, 209, ii, 356–357). This god was represented as a serpent, often with a beard or with the double crown (pɜ sḫmtj or pschenet) or sometimes with a human head crowned with a kalathos like Serapis (Dunand 1981). The elaborate story about the origin of the cult of Agathos Daimon related in the Alexander Romance may represent the local tradition told by priests and believers (Jouguet 1941–1942, 160).
7 τῆς νῦν καλουμένης Στοᾶς: this generically-named Stoa was in the central area of the city called Meson Pedion, the place of the episode of the snake-killing (iii 32.5). The reference is probably to the papyrologically-attested τετράγωνος στοά in the place called Τετράπυλον (Calderini, s.vv. Ἀλεξάνδρεια: Στοά, Τετράπυλον; Fraser 1972, i, 209). This temple of Agathos Daimon, the protective hero or Genius of Alexandria, is attested as late as 361 AD (Amm. xxii 11.7: speciosum Genii templum. Calderini s.v. Ἀλεξάνδρεια: Ἀγαθοῦ δαίμονος τέμενος). The most famous building in the area of Meson Pedion was the tomb of Alexander (on {p.107} it see commentary to iii 34.6). Whether the tomb of Alexander or the temple of Alexander and the temple of Agathos Daimon had anything in common is a matter of scholarly hypothesis (Taylor 1927; Chugg 2003; Chugg 2004, 229– 256).

8 Κοπρία: this place, known from Philo (Flacc. 56) and Theophanes (Chronographia, pg cviii, 292a), was somewhere in the eastern part of Alexandria (Calderini, s.v. Ἀλεξάνδρεια: Κοπρία).

9 αβγδε: the division of Alexandria into five quarters or “letters” (γράμματα) is well attested in ancient evidence, literary (J. bj ii 494–495; Philo Flacc. 55– 56), epigraphic (Breccia 1911, 71) and in papyri (bgu 1151, 1127; M. Chres. 107; P. Oxy. 46.3271 and 55.3756), see Calderini, i, 79–80; Alston 2002, 157–160. On the basis of this evidence we cannot, however, determine which section of the city belonged to which “letter” (Haas 1997, 142). Here these letters introduce a riddle, paralleled by those known from the Life of Aesop (28–30). The ability to devise tricks and to handle intellectual challenge are the prime virtues of Alexander in the Alexander Romance (Stoneman 1995, 166–167).

10 καθιδρυμένου δὲ τοῦ ἡρῴου: certainly a heroon or temple of Agathos Daimon is meant here (see commentary to i 32.7).

11 ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος καθίδρυσε Τύβι κε′ ⟨τὴν πόλιν⟩ καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ ἡρῷον: 25 Tybi fell on 7 April in 331 BC and this day certainly remained the official holiday of Alexandria until the date of composition of the Alexander Romance, as one may read from the custom of feeding snakes on 25 Tybi surviving “to this day” (i 32.13: ὅθεν καὶ μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο τοῦτον τὸν νόμον φυλάττουσι παρ’ Ἀλεξανδρεῦσι). An April date is corroborated by a horoscope of the city of Alexandria in the Third C. AD surviving in a Codex Batavus (Leid. B.P.Gr. 78: Weinstock 1953, 178) which puts γέννεσις Ἀλεξάνδρειας at 16 April, even if mistakenly dating the foundation of Alexandria to 330 BC (Weintstock 1953, n. 2 to p. 178, referring to O. Neugebauer; cf. Fraser 1972, ii, 3). Thus the tradition of the foundation of Alexandria puts the date firmly in April, most probably on 7 April 331 BC (Jouguet 1940; Jouguet 1942, 172–174; Bagnall 1979). This date of the foundation of Alexandria is concomitant with the version of events known from Diodorus (xvii 52), Curtius (iv 8.1) and Justin (xi 11.1) that Alexander established the city after the expedition to Siwah and not prior to it (so Plu. Alex. 26.3–10; Arr. An. iii 1.5). Since the founding of Alexandria was an elaborate endeavour which had to be well-prepared, one can imagine Alexander visiting the place on his way to Siwah and postponing the actual ceremony until the return from Siwah {p.108} (Bosworth 1980, 263–264; Nawotka 2010, 207–208), and in fact until April 331 BC. The heroon is the temple of Agathos Daimon known as the protective spirit (heros/Genius) of Alexandria (Amm. xxii 11.7. Fraser 1972, ii, 356–357). θυσία τελεῖται αὐτῷ τῷ ἥρωι ⟨ὡς ὀφιογενεῖ⟩: the text is here (purposely) ambiguous, switching from the aitiological story of Agathos Daimon and the custom of feeding snakes on 25 Tybi to a “serpent-gendered (ὀφιογενής) hero.” Since this statement appears in the context of the foundation story, this hero is probably the ktistes of Alexandria, Alexander sired by a snake. This would mean that in the Alexandria of the late antiquity at least, Alexander was identified with Agathos Daimon (Taylor 1927; Jouguet 1940; Chugg 2004, 154–147).

Enormous number of important points summarized here:
1) The Alexandrian Great Serpent deity was indigenous ('Egyptian' - local) and previously associated with Šai (Shai), Kneph, Khnum, Soknopis.
2) The Greek-named 'Agathodaimon' was a syncretistic Genius assimilated (c.330 BC) to the much older, pre-existent folk-deity (i.e. Serpent God called Shai) in whatever names/forms It was worshiped by local Egyptians, Phoenicians, Jews, Samaritans, etc. This unknown Semitic deity of Rhakotis/Naukratis may have had both Sky and Ocean facets, celestial and chthonic features subsumed by the 'new' Greek cult.
3) Agathodaimon's (i.e. Shai's) inclusion within the 'new' civic cult of the Ptolemies (i.e. Serapis) intensified after c.250 BC.

If 'Shai' is etymologically connected to šai in Arabic meaning 'an Unknown Thing' and translating to דבר in Hebrew, then we may perceive some clues here to the Unknown God. This Hebrew root appears over 2,500 times in the Bible; the noun has a vast and complex set of metaphysical and occult meanings. So דבר may represent both the positive, i.e. 'The Word', Logos of YHWH, or the Henad) and the negative, i.e. 'Pestilence', punishment sent by God. It is also (rarely) means shepherding - the pasture of one's faithful flock - and is a metaphor for the Torah. The feminine form of the noun (דברה) means cause, reason, manner or "in the "order of Melchizedek", in Psalm 110:4. By the time the Pentateuch was composed (c.272 BC), related god-concept(s) would have have been distantly abstracted from the Serpent form of crude Egyptian zoolatry, and conceptual Thothic similarities were already apparent. See LINK. IF this etymology of Shai is correct, then the Alexandrian Semitic (and specifically, the 1st C. BC Jewish) interpretation of the Great Serpent in Sethian material reappears not coincidentally but as a lingering Judaic (mytho-poetic) continuity and Gnostic evidence far earlier than most 20th C. scholars have assumed.

If 'Agathodaimon' represents Kneph (=Yahu/YHWH, as proven in Elephantine papyri), the Judeo-Chaldean connection is established archaeologically. Kneph portrayed as 'a serpent with the head of a hawk' is a Basilisk.

A few unfinished thoughts, implications ...
1. Elephantine papyri establish that 'Israelite religion' was a) highly syncretistic yet b) lacked almost all familiar Torah myths 450 BC.
2. Yahu was already assimilated to Kneph at one temple site by 400 BC.
3. In Egypt, the Israelite God becomes the Unknown God, 400-300 BC; Semitic Great Serpent Cult indigenous to or appears at? Rhacotis/Alexandria.
4. Unknown God/Kneph was forcibly assimilated to Macedonian Agathodaimon at Alexandria, 330-275 BC. Unknown God/Great Serpent Cult spreads in Alexandrian-styled offshoots, to Askelepios etc.
5. Serapis inaugurated and promoted as Ptolemaic state cult 300-200 BC. Jewish cult separated and promoted as Mosaic religion.

Semites follow three paths: a) Alexandrian (Greek) assimilation model, b) Judeo-Greek heterodox model, c) Judeo-Egyptian heterodox model.

While c) Egyptian Religion is in sharp decline 50 BC - 100 AD; b) prevails throughout Egypt. Abroad, a) spreads as Graeco-Judaic cults 150 BC-125 AD. Judaism (Religion) formed and collapsed c.300 BC-135 AD. Gnosticism appeared and flourished 150 BC - 250 AD. Chrestianity/Xianity appeared and took root c.25 BC - 125 AD.

Rabbinical Judaism would also preserve traces of a Serpent cult or cults; the importance of cosmopolitan Alexandria suggests one avenue of influence.
Avot d'Rabbi Natan 39: “By six names is the serpent called: Nahash [נחש], Saraph שרף (‘fiery serpent’),Tanin תנין [‘sea serpent’?],Tzifoni צפענים/צפעוני (‘basilisk’), Efeh אפעה (‘viper’), Akhshuv עכשוב (‘asp’)” (Judah Goldin, trans., The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan [1955; Yale Judaica Series 10; repr., New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983], p.163).

Saraphim (שְׂרָפִים) are winged serpents (metaphor for poisoned arrows?); Naḥashim are snakes associated with sorcerers.

https://www.jstor.org › stable
winged serpents in isaiah's inaugural vision' - jstor
by KR Joines · 1967 · Cited by 55 — to be identified as winged serpents and are Egyptian symbols of and regal

H.WILDBERGER , Jesaja , S. 245 ; "However, there is sufficient linguistic and archaeological evidence to suggest that the seraphim are to be identified as winged serpents and are Egyptian symbols of sacral and regal sovereignity "

Winged Serpent in Isaiah 14:30a
https://books.google.com/books?id=zCCPO3HBtNoC&pg=PA228

AC Skinner, Serpent Symbols and Salvation in the Ancient Near East and the Book of Mormon [2001]:
In a fascinating dialogue with Osiris, the Egyptian god of the netherworld and of final judgment, 2 Atum predicts the destruction of
the world he created and his own reversion back to the form of a serpent or snake. 3 As Henri Frankfort says, “The primeval snake . . . survives when everything else is destroyed at the end of time.” 4 Thus the serpent was strongly and continually associated with creation and eternal existence in the ancient Egyptian ethos. The Egyptians portrayed life itself by the image of the rearing serpent, and a serpent biting its tail was a common Egyptian emblem for “eternity.”

Mithras liturgy??
"Recently, the papyrus became a ritual of initiation into the mysteries of the Alexandrian god Pscha—Aion, the God of Eternity. This initiation is said to have been performed with theatrical elements: it was like a guided tour in a"

http://cista.net/Origins-of-Chrestianit ... d-god.html
Interestingly, there is another cult that used the epithets Hypsistos and Theos Hypsistos: the Hypsistarians who, while they recognized other gods, considered theirs as being above all. Part of their ritual is described in an inscription carved on one of the blocks of the Hellenistic inner face of the city wall of Oenoanda in northern Lycia:
Born of itself, untaught, without a mother, unshakeable, not contained in a name, known by many names, dwelling in fire, this is god. We, his angels, are a small part of god. To you who ask this question about god, what his essential nature is, he has pronounced that Aether is god who sees all, on whom you should gaze and pray at dawn, looking towards the sunrise. (Mitchell 1999: 193–4)
According to descriptions of their practices, the Hypsistarians stood in the open air facing east, looking up to heaven and offering their prayers. Lamps and fire were an essential part of their cult, which was associated with heaven and the sun (Mitchell 1999: 91), and, by the dedication of light, it was thought possible to establish a link with the deity (Mitchell 1999: 92).

Aion
https://www.encyclopedia.com/environmen ... -maps/aion

THE ORIGINS OF THE ARABIC LEGENDS OF THE PYRAMIDS - jstor
by A FODOR · 1970 · Cited by 45 — third is that of Sab, son of Hermes.2 Hermes was identified with the Hebrew. Enoch and the Arab Idris, and Agathodaimon with Seth, the son of..


https://www.europeana.eu/en/item/322/Mu ... oire_76163
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/547376

John W Rittenbaugh
To distinguish between aion and kosmos, kosmos gives the over-all picture of mankind alienated from God during all of history, and aion represents any distinct age or period of human history as marked out from another by particular characteristics.
...
This is the spirit from which we must be converted. It is the unseen foundation and fountain of our pre-conversion conduct, and it is the same spirit still motivating us when we act carnally or in the flesh. Despite conversion, it remains within us, compressed like a spring that is ready to jump into action and influence our conduct.


https://www.jstor.org/stable/3260162
https://www.researchonline.mq.edu.au/vi ... 78/SOURCE1
https://skemman.is/bitstream/1946/14311/1/George.pdf
https://histos.org/documents/2014A08Bar ... dKings.pdf


καί φησιν ὁ Ἐπήεις ἀλληγορῶν , (ὁ ὀνομασθεὶς παρ’ αὐτοῖς μέγιστος ἱεροφάντης καὶ ἱερογραμματεὺς, ὃν μετέφρασεν Ἄρειος Ἡρακλεοπολίτης) κατὰ λέξιν οὕτως · τὸ πρῶτον ὂν θειότατον ὄφις ἐστὶν ἱέρακος

Pp 174-5 sirius shopdu sycnellus Ecloga chronographica 72
https://books.google.com/books/about/Be ... AED-kQCJkC


https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bit ... 0Ogden.pdf


Greek version!!!
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... raphic.pdf

Goddess Sopdet in Ancient Egyptian Religion - EKB Journal ...
by ME Ali — Sopdet was known as the wife of god sah (Orion) and mother of god ... a cow , a lioness headed serpent





Translate??? Useful???
https://horla.blogs.sapo.pt/metaforas-d ... ronze-2718

Automaton Seraphim

In the Hebrew Bible the nāḥāš śārāp (שרף נחש), plural nāḥāšîm ha śərāpîm (השרפים נחשים), or simply śārāpāp (שׂרף), plural śərāpîm (שׂרפים), is not always a mythological entity. Deuteronomy 8:15 speaks of the danger of crossing the natural habitat of the scorpion (מוליכ) and of nāḥāš śārāp (שרף נחש). There is also the nāḥāš ṣepaʿ (צפע נחש), plural nāḥāšîm ṣepaʿîm (צפענים נחשים). So if we had to classify this into taxonomic categories nāḥāš would be a genus containing the species śārāp, ṣepaʿ and perhaps others.

A biblical legend states that once the Israelite population camped on a mountain and began to cry misery because in a house where bread is lacking everyone shouts and no one is right. Knowing that the problem of human laziness in taking care of one's own life would not be solved, YHWH sent a group of nāḥāš ha śərāpîm (השרפים נחשים) to bite (נשכו) people there, causing several people to die. (Numbers 21:6) The people asked Moses to take action. So the prophet was given the task by Elohim YHWH to make (עשה) a śārāp (שרף) and place it on a pedestal (נס).

The sight of that man-made sculpture implied a cure for this particular ailment through an unexplained cause-and-effect relationship (Numbers 21:8). Was this a scepter similar to the caduceus of the Greek god Hermes or the emblem of the Mesopotamian god Ningishzida worshipped at Gishbanda?

At the time when Isaiah instructed King Hezekiah to carry out religious reform, all the bāmoṯê-type altars where the Israelites worshiped YHWH were destroyed and their votive statues seized for metal recycling. One of the objects that Hezekiah despoiled was a serpent statue made of copper (הנחשת נחש), named Nəḥuštān (נחשתן), which was said to be the mythological statue forged by Moses (2 Kings 18:4). Note that nəḥuštān is a variant of the root nāḥāš (נחש), which, in turn, is a transliteration or corruptylation of the word nāga (नाग), existing in Sanskrit and Pali, which designates a type of deity in Hindu mythology shaped like a giant cobra cobra.

The Deuterocanonical book opines that Moses' caduceus was merely a focal point to which the Israelite would look pleading for healing when wounded by the "arrows of the dragon" (ιοβολων δρακοντων), which are the teeth of the śərāpîm (Wisdom of Solomon 16:5 and 16:10). However, two questions remain unanswered: Why of the construction of an image to heal serpent bites? Why did the serpent built by Moses or a physical replica of the mythological object eventually become a permanent object of worship?

The argument that this construction was the fulfillment of a divine decision, which in essence, as we have seen, would be in line with the passage itself in question, is not without correctness, however, it is also not without redundancy. A second argument that YHWH would have used the serpent, just as he could have used any other symbol, fails to consider the cultural exchanges that permeated the various societies located in the Eastern Mediterranean, including their own religious beliefs, among which are those that considered the magical powers of the serpent images, which not only the pagan peoples but also a considerable portion of the Jews must have believed. Faced with the questions presented, it is very difficult to avoid the following question: Since YHWH is powerful, why did he decide to build an image, instead of extirpating evil simply by commanding it to cease to exist?[3]

If we were talking about historical facts it would be plausible to assume that the Israelites interpreted an attack of poisonous snakes as divine punishment; confusing the natural event with supernatural considerations. But we admit the exodus as a totally fictitious religious myth or folk tale. In the world of ideas angels are angels and seraphim are seraphim. There is no question of equivocation, for there are chimeras in Passargada.

Sending nāḥāš to bite nasty people remained one of YHWH's favorite hobbies even after the exodus (Amos 9:3). If by chance someone had ever seen the statue of nāḥāš śārāp or nəḥuštān and been immune to the poison of that species, god would send the nāḥāšîm ṣepaʿîm (צפענים נחשים) because there was no prophylactic amulet (לחש) representing a nāḥāš ṣepaʿ (Ecclesiasticus 8: 16). At the time of King Uzziah's death the sanctuary (hekal) in Israel had a representation of YHWH on a throne surrounded by hinged śərāpîm. The iconographic model of these statues featured a pair of wings on their backs. It also displayed a pair of wings adorning the head and another coming out of the heels, just like the Hermes of Greek mythology. (Isaiah 6:2) They were automata, since at the sound of a gong a śārāp flapped its wings, crouched amidst the cloud of incense smoke, lowered its hand holding a torch, and a blasphemer let himself be purified by putting his mouth on it (Isaiah 6:4-6).

The chronicler of Isaiah 6:2 could see wings on his feet that real-life ophids do not possess because he saw an anthropomorphic model possibly inspired by Greek mythology. The drawing of a statuette of a woman with a serpent head, standing on an altar, was found during excavations at Tel Dan. The man was identified as the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II,[4] perhaps because an older tomb of a priest containing several bronze serpents was found in Ramses II's burial temple at Thebes.[5] The man was identified as the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II.

A 12.7 cm bronze serpent was found at Timnah inside a Midianite temple from 1150 BCE, being the only cult object found in the central sanctuary. In Canaan bronze serpents were found in the territories of Meguid, Gazer, Hazor, Tel Mevorakh and Schehem. In Hazor, two bronze serpents were discovered in the most sacred part of the temple, suggesting that serpents were a sacred symbol in Israel.[6] This may or may not have been used in rituals of sympathetic magic or for apotropaic purpose.


Serpent kings (by representation)

The most common name to denote serpent in the Bible is nāḥāš (נחש). This appears about thirty times. This defines the greatest producer of craftsmanship (ערום) among the animals (Gen 3:1), which, when in the form of the species śepîpōn (שפיפן), is the emblem of the competence of Dan's judicial power (דן) over the tribes of Israel, (Gen 49:16-17). In the local fauna there are about forty species of snakes of which nine are poisonous. This being the totem of the tribe of Dan, it is not surprising that each had a different biblical name:
The Bible quotes (... ) peṯen (Deut 32:33), venomous snake, cobra; śepîpōn (Gen 49:17), the Vipera ammodytes; ʿākšûḇ (Ps 140:4), poisonous viper; qipôz (Isa 34:15), a kind of snake that nests in the desert and lays eggs there; zōḥălê ʿāpār (Deut 32: 24), desert serpent that crawls on dust; ṣepaʿ (Isa 11:8), another kind of poisonous desert asp; śārāp (Isa14:29; Num 21:9; Deut 8:17), a species of (. ...) reptile more or less mythical. (...); tannîn is name used when the writer speaks of a type of reptile of which he has no clear knowledge.[7]
...
Interestingly certain very select humans were ordered to act as nāḥāš! For example, when the Philistines attack and defeat the Israelites YHWH's messenger tells the conquering people that there will be retaliation, for "out of the family tree of nāḥāš will come forth a feathered śārāp," i.e., they inform them that the new leader fit to succeed the vacant throne will come from the invincible tribe of Dan (Isaiah 14:29). Here I call upon Moses Maimonides to help us not to fill these pages with biting vampires:

Undoubtedly it has become clear and manifest that most of the prophecies of the prophets proceed by interpretation of parables; since imagination is a proper instrument of the method. In fact, some things are to be known by means of figurative language and hyperbole, since both sometimes occur in the prophetic books.

If the words are interpreted according to their literal sense and it is not known that it is a hyperbole or exaggeration, or if it is interpreted according to the immediate conventional meaning - not being known that it is a figurative sense - the incongruities jump out.[8]

In Egypt, the funeral masks and royal diadems of the pharaohs bore the emblem of the uraeus (a metal cobra). This is a particularly important symbol, because it was treated as an individual entity that, among other functions, served as protection for the sovereign's life. Upon assuming the throne, they addressed a hymn to the uraeus in which they called it the "fiery serpent":

The doors of the horizon are opened, their bolts are slipped.
He comes to Thee, O Red Crown; he comes to Thee, O Fiery One [seref: winged snake].
He comes to you, O Great One; he comes to you, O Magician.

O Red Crown, O Inu, O Great One,
O Magician, O Fiery Serpent! [seref]
Let there be terror of me like the terror of you.
Let there be worry of me like the worry of you.
Let there be respect for me like the respect for you.
Permit me to rule as a leader of the living.
Permit me to be powerful, a leader of spirits.

(H. Frankfort, 1948, pp.107-108)


Notes:


[1] LANGTON, Édouard. La Démonologie. Trd. G. Waringhien. Paris, Payot, 1951, p 58-59.
[2] The unpersonified famine is raʿab (רעב) in Jeremiah (21:7 and 24: 10), etc.
[3] CHEVITARESE, André Leonardo. "Reflections on a Controversial Topic: are Catholics Idolaters after all?", p 16. Unpublished article, made available to students of the history course by xerocopy to students of the University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), campus Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Sociais (IFCS), under authorization of the Ancient History Laboratory.
[4] In Egypt the scenes from the Book of the Dead always show the spirit before the throne of Osiris. In this case the man on his back, face hidden, holds the traditional scepter of power before an altar where, in place of Osiris, there is an anthropomorphic deity with a serpent head and female body. So I believe that the human figure is not Ramses II, but the spirit of the owner of the amulet that was buried with him.
[5] DAVID, R. "Rationality versus irrationality in Egyptian medicine in the Pharaonic and Graeco-Roman periods". In: HORSTMANSHOFF; H. F. J.; STOLL, M (Eds.). Magic and rationality in ancient near eastern and graeco-roman medicine. Leiden, Brill, 2004, p 135-136.
[6] AMZALLAG, N. "Yahweh, the Caananite god of metallurgy?" In: Journal for the Study of the Old Testament. Thousand Oaks, v. 33, n. 4, year 2009, p 399.
[7] ARTUSO, Vicente and CATENASSI, Fabrizio Zandonadi. "The ambivalence of the serpent symbolism in Num 21:4-9". In: Horizonte, v. 10, n. 25, p 176, Jan./Mar. 2012.
[8] MOSES MAIMONIDES. The Guide of the Perplexed. Trd. Shlomo Pines. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1963, vol 2, p 407.
[9] ARTUSO, Vicente and CATENASSI, Fabrizio Zandonadi. "The ambivalence of the serpent symbolism in Num 21:4-9". In: Horizonte, v. 10, n. 25, p 190-191, jan./mar. 2012.
[10] BRUNO, Giordano. Spaccio della bestia trionfante. XVI century. In: HELLER, Agnes. The Man of the Renaissance. Lisbon, Editorial Presença, 1982, p 354-355.

G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, Heinz-Josef Fabry, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament: Volume IX [1998], p.357:
The Hebrew verb niḥēš, “seek or give omens, prognosticate," 2 also occurs in Aramaic, Syriac, and Mandaic. It is often associated with Arab. naḥisa, in the fifth stem "investigate," with the derived noun naḥaš , "spell, omen." There is no discernible connection with nāḥāš, “serpent," since serpents have no mantic associations in Israel. O. Sauermann derives the verb from the biliteral root ḥš, "make soft sounds, whisper," a theory that might establish a semantic link. E. L. Dietrich, however, proposes interpreting niḥēš as a denominative verb from nāḥāš or deriving it from a common Semitic root nḥš, "practice magic."3 There is no evidence, however, for such a root.4

Outside Hebrewnāḥāš, “serpent,” appears only in Ugaritic.4 It is connected with Arab. hanaš, "serpent, insect, bird," lḥs "whisper," or rhs, "be excited, agitated."5 Sauermann cites Egyp. nḥsy , " be dark, black" ( usually "Negro" or "Nubian" ; cf. Heb. pînḥās < p3 nḥsy , "the Nubian"), but is then forced to accept the unlikely conclusion that the common Hebrew word for “serpent" is an Egyptian loanword . It is therefore probable that nāḥāš is a primary noun.

The nouns n'hûšâ and noḥōšet , “ copper , bronze , " are associated with Arab . nuḥās , " copper . " " Mitchell Dahood cites Arab . ḥasana , “ be beautiful " ; others cite naḥasa , " be hard , firm " ( rare ) . Here too Sauermann sees a direct borrowing from Egyptian , 8 with primary emphasis on the characteristic color of the metal . In one of the Amarna tablets , a Canaanite gloss uses the word nuhuštum , " copper . " 9 d . The noun noḥuštān as a term for the " bronze serpent ” ( noḥaš noḥōšet ) may be associated with this group of words only because it sounds like nāḥāš . 10 It does not appear to be a word native to Hebrew - speaking circles.11 Dietrich cites other personal names containing the element nḥš and thinks an East Semitic origin likely . Alfred Jeremias sees a connection with the Mesopotamian healing deity Šahan ( by metathesis ; cf. above ) , but this is hardly likely.12



Krzysztof Nawotka, The Alexander Romance by Ps.-Callisthenes: A Historical Commentary [2017], p.58:
The identity of the snake in Alexander’s birth story is not obvious from the Greek point of view, since in Greek mythology and iconography a number of supernatural creatures can assume the shape of a snake (for discussion of their identity in the context of Alexander’s birth story see Ogden 2011, 42–52), but Ammon is not one of them. Egyptian Amun (in the Alexander Romance associated with Ammon of Siwah) was, however, associated with the snake-god Šai and was worshipped in the form of other snake-deities (Ogden 2011, 3). This further points to the Egyptian, not Greek, roots of the Alexander birth story in the Alexander Romance.

Krzysztof Nawotka, The Alexander Romance by Ps.-Callisthenes: A Historical Commentary [2017], p.58:
7 ἀπὸ τοῦ Δράκοντος τοῦ κατὰ τὴν Ταφοσιριακὴν ταινίαν μέχρι τοῦ Ἀγαθοδαίμονος: Drakon was probably a canal from Lake Mareotis to the sea cutting through the Taenia, or the narrow strip of land between the Lake and the sea, at its eastern end, while Agathodaimon is in this context either a canal or a temple to the east of Alexandria, close to the city of Canopus (now Aboukir, 25 km to the east of Alexandria). These toponyms are probably the limits of the chora or rural territory of Alexandria in the Imperial age (Adriani 1966, 219; Fraser 1972, i, 4–5; ii, 5). Εὐρυλόχο

...


Frederick Guttmann, Los Caídos - La Rebelión de Sakla III [2015], p.53:
That same word, Maat, corresponds to the Hebrew Emet (truth), and that Emet is associated with Emunah (faith, certainty, conviction, firmness), so that balance is the Order that is precisely contrary to Chaos, and that personifies Chaos, and who personifies Wisdom. The sun is precisely the ruler of the world and representative of light, whose history is lost in the hidden passages of Genesis. But going back to that serpent, some associate it directly with the Greek Typhoon, and even believe which was the god Seth himself as 'Death' and 'Destruction'.



p.121:
The apparently strange history of dragons is not only limited to the realm of cryptology and zoology - including dinosaurs - , but in mythology, as divine beings or the visual form of a demon (in fact, Exodus does not say that Moses and Aaron throw a staff that turned into a snake to surprise the pharaoh, but it was a tannin (dragon), which the magicians imitated, since they intended to impress the Egyptians with their own emblematic symbols: crocodile-dragon). In his book Flying Serpents and Dragons: The Story of Mankind's Reptilian Past [1990], the writer RA Boulay, states: "The reptilian aspect of the biblical gods was a well-kept secret and is occasionally only perceptible in the Old Testament, as for example, the obvious worship of the seraph or 'brazen serpent' during the Exodus which in certain rabbinical sources is equated with Yahweh." As I have mentioned before the word 'saraf' (SH-RF) means 'burn', 'fire' and 'fiery', both in Hebrew and Aramaic; 'saraf meofef' is 'flying serpent' Why? From what source does this appreciation come? Only in Isaiah 14:29 is it spoken of 'flying serpent' as 'saraf meofef', but can that be a 'missile' or a 'projectile shot'? [...] Seraphim translates as The On.


p.171:
These forces, or kosmokrators, are the actual operators of the gears of the Sphere, although in the temple of Hathor at Dendera there is an astronomical map showing the 36 within the control of 12 "entities" that contain the Sphere. In the Dendera zodiac, 4 standing women support the 4 vertices, as if defining the Sphere in 'four angles' or 'four columns.' Between each of these 4 there are two species of 'shemsu-hor' (Assistants of Horus) crouching, but also upholding the Sphere. It is well known that Horus is the god who rules the lower sky, so that Eight creatures or elements intersect with the other 4, adding up to 12 that encompass the other 4, adding up to 12 who encompass the Sphere. [...] the Twelve Spirits [...] represent the 12 solar constellations, and according to Solomon, each one was behind the great sufferings, diseases and misfortunes of men.

Esther Eidinow, ‎Julia Kindt The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion [2015], p. :
The Yahweh theme continues, first with 'Abrasax', a celebrated magical appellation of obscure etymology (with the numerological value 365), but which occurs most frequently with Iao and other Yahweh names, referring to the same great demiurge (Brashear 1995: 3577). Our spell summons identification of this Yahweh cluster with Zeus. Next comes Adonai, 'Lord'; a common Yahweh designation and in Jewish tradition the Qere (what was read in the synagogue) for YHWH (Weingreen 1959:23). Then follows the Sethian pakerbeth (for its ironic identification with Apollo/Horus as well as Yahweh, see Smith 1984–1985: 210; Martinez 1991: 33, 80; Aune 1995: 7–8; Fauth 1995: 61). In the second part of the oracular spell’s first hymn, this idea of the one great solar divinity under a multitude of names and symbols takes fascinating form (305–14): I adjure god’s head, which is Olympos, I adjure god’s seal, which is his vision, I adjure your right hand, which you held over the kosmos, I adjure god’s krater which possesses riches, I adjure the eternal god and Aion of all, I adjure self-existing Nature, mightiest Adonaios, I adjure Eloaios, setting and rising, I adjure these holy and divine names, that they send me the divine spirit and that he accomplish what I have in my heart and mind.

The hymn-spell shifts rhetorically from invocation to adjuration, with the word horkizo (‘I adjure’) repeated seven times with seven aspects and names of the deity designated in the previous section as the ‘father of the kosmos’. In the first four of these, various body parts, properties, and equipment of the great demiurge incorporate the kosmos itself, with his head as ‘Olympos’, most likely with its equivalency to ‘heaven’ (Schmidt 1939: 277–9, 291–2). The hymnist then adjures his ‘seal’, that is, his ‘vision’ (horasis), suggesting a Stoic sense to the word, vision being an actual emanation from the eye (Lindberg 1976: 8–11), here the sun god’s beams or radiance, with which he looks upon the earth (Hom. Od. 11.16), and that also being his outward physical manifestation, stamp, or ‘seal’ (sphragis) by which he is known. The notion approximates a hypostasis, similar in the New Testament to Hebrews 1.3, describing Jesus as the ‘stamp’ or ‘seal’ (charakter) of God’s essence (hypostasis), and the ‘radiance’ or ‘effulgence’ (apaugasma) of his glory. The right hand of the demiurge that he ‘held over the kosmos’ probably does not describe protection or nurturing (for which ‘holds over’ would be more appropriate), but the initial creation of it (cf. Isaiah 48.13; 4 Ezra 3.6). Creation motifs possibly continue in the next adjuration of the god’s mixing bowl (krater), which has Orphic overtones (West 1983: 11, 262 n. 3; Hopfner 1990: 365 § 218; Copenhaver 1992: 131; as a creation trope, Pl. Ti. 34b–5, 41d). Our spell’s obscure reference to this krater motif portrays it in cornucopic fashion: that which holds abundance. This adjuration section summarizes these first four Greek-Orphic based designations in the Kosmokrator title Aion (‘endless time’), in PGM a common equivalent of Helios (Drijvers, ‘Aion’, DDD 22; Betz 1985: 331–2), and then reverts to Yahweh names, Adonaios (here in its declinable form) and Eloaios (Betz 1985: 334). Philosophic ideas again emerge with Adonaios’ bi-name, ‘self-existing Nature’, reflecting Hellenistic Jewish and middle Platonic notions of God as true and absolute existence (LXX Ex. 3.14 ego eimi ho on, ‘I am the one who is’; Philo, Op. 172; Abr. 121; Merkelbach and Totti 1991: 163; Dillon 1996: 136, 155). The fact that both Jewish names are to be identified as the sun god is shown by the epithets ‘setting and rising’. The ‘divine spirit’, which the demiurge is called upon to send, is the spirit of the dead, about whom more will be said (see ‘The Funerary Context’, below).

Bernd Janowski, Gernot Wilhelm, Staatsverträge, Herrscherinschriften und andere Dokumente zur politischen [2019], p.236:

...after receiving the regals of Horus and Seth "17.
14): Similar to Seth, the god Month stands in comparisons with the king above all for godlike physical and warlike competence. S. also already the "naming" of the god in Col.1
15)
16)
17) The whole strophe condenses the analogy of the human world to the world of the gods in the form of kingship. The nesu-bity {King: 'He of the Reed') in the coronation regalia with white crown and double crown appears like a cult statue at the festive procession and represents in the shape of the succession kingship gods Horus and Shu in the reign of god, which cosmology as well as cosmogony establish: Cosmological, in that Horus, son of Isis, as the legitimate successor of his father Osiris, repeatedly enforces his rule against all resistance and thus maintains the order of the human world; cosmogonically, in that Shu, god of life and first emanation (Re)-Atum - Atum, in whom the world assumed Existence -, as Cosmocrator and "Father of the gods" remains Lord of the cosmogonic stages, which he, his sister and wife Tefnut-Ma'at, the order of rightness and then his descendants have born in god form - heaven (Nut) and earth (Geb) and these of theirs with the attributes of Nechbet and Uto18),

Hans Kloft, Mysterienkulte der Antike: Götter, Menschen, Rituale [2010], [p.54]
As the lord of the water, aquarum dominus, Christ took over the inheritance of Osiris and Sarapis in Egypt, whose impressive portrayal as Kosmokrator, as the ruler of the world, influenced the type of Christ Pantokrator, the Universal Ruler.

Shu is the Son of Re-Harakhte/Horon (LINK):
Text A (Right outer wall)
I. Reign of the God-King Shu

I.1 Shu as Kosmokrator
[There] once reigned the majesty of Shu as perfect king over the heavens, the earth, the underworld, the waters, the winds, the Nun, the mountains, and [the sea 2 and enacted] every [ordinance] on the throne of his father Re-Harakhte as triumphant.

Helios Megistos: Zur Synkretistischen Theologie Der Spatantike (Religions in the Graeco-Roman World, 125)
{p.35} The conclusion of the έξαίτησνς is an equation of the Greek Helios with the solar Egyptian Horus (IV 455 465). It is justified by the direct relation of Horus through his father Osiris to the region of the departed. In all other respects the god receives the same predicates as they have met before: next to the pyrogenetic and photogenetic properties, connected with the appearance of the golden shining Discos (IV 461), there are the particularities of autogenesis (IV 459-460) 6 and cosmocracy (IV 460); the inner-worldly embedding (IV 459) touches antinomically with the hypercosmic role of the 'forefather' (IV 458), corresponding to the χρόνου πατήρ of the Orphic Helios hymn, and of the 'imperishable' (IV 461), corresponding to the αθάνατος Αίών of the 'Mithras liturgy'. Moreover, the nomen arcanum of Helios-Horus (IV 455 456),7 is palindromically [p.36 ] is formed and repeated twice meaningfully (IV 465-466), isopsephistically parallels the names of the three Fates (IV 455), in order to corroborate the bond between the all-powerful cosmokrator and the Schicksaislenkerinnen; 8 the parallel version (IV 1980-1986) furthermore extends the personal union Helios-Horus by Iao at this point (IV 1984-1986; cf. o.p. 10).9 For the contact with Egyptian parts it proves to be instructive that the Papyrus Londinensis 122 (PG M VIII 75-84 Τ 119) contains a dream claim to the demon-dwarf Bes (VIII 65), who, as is known, is the aging (i.e. Helios setting) sun-god, but also exhibits pantheistic traits, with a prayer to the setting sun, the opening of which-except for a limited omission-agrees verbatim with the formulation of PGM IV 435-448, while subsequently continuing as follows: 'Send forth the truth-speaking seer-spirit from the underworld, I beseech thee, Lampsouër, Soumarta, Baribas, Dardalam, Phorbëx, Lord, send forth the holy demon Anouth, Anouth, Salbanachambrë, Broad, now, now, quickly, quickly! Come this night!' (VIII 81-84). The request to the sun-god is therefore the same, namely to send a prophesying demon belonging to the subterranean realm, apparently the very gnome-like Bes, although he is by nature neither a sun-genius nor a spirit of the dead. 12 The contact with the underworldly as well as with the solar region results rather - as said - from his confluence with Horus to the double figure of the old and the youthful cosmic light giver ('Ό thou old man who rejuvenates himself in his time, old man who becomes a youth again'), 13 furthermore from the appearance of besimilar goblins (Amamu, Segeb) as gatekeepers and 'heart slayers' of the realm of the departed. 14 Consequently, the magic names Άνουθ, Σαλβαναχαμβρη, and Βρηιθ (VIII 83-84) given to Bes here are not surprising, nor is it surprising that two of them are repeated somewhat later in connection with the attribution of funerary and prophetic qualities to him (VIII 100.103). For the first of them (Άνουθ) contains the Egyptian word Ut ('embalmer'), an appellative of Anubis as Taricheut (pickler/embalmer), that is, as 'wrapper' and mortician of corpses, 15 thus possibly being an abbreviation of Anubis Ut, the functional designation of the jackal-headed god of the dead, 16 who-like Bes-has a Uranian-solar aspect (PGM IV 126-127 Τ 120) 'I am Anubis who wears the crown of Re'); 17 from the parallel PGM VII 222-249 it is evident from the variant passage VII 243-246 (T 121)18 that Bes in the appearance of the 'headless god' (VII 243) brings out dark features approximating Seth and Osiris (Osoronophris), 19 but that he is again brought close to Re by the expression ''whose mouth burns through space" (VII 245), 20 who receives from the Egyptian sun litany from the tomb chambers of the New Kingdom the anakiesis 'flaming one, with tongue spouting fire', but also 'lord of darkness' (nb-snkw) and 'crypt dweller' (xxxx), 'the underworldly one' (xxxx and 'who is in the sarcophagus' (xxx). 2 1 From this the other two Bes names (VIII 84) following Άνουθ are to be understood: Σαλβαναχαμβρη is probably an anagram formation from Βαλ Σαμαν Άχ 'Ρή ('lord of heaven, shining-Re'), 22 Βρτμθ probably originally feminine formation to Re ('Rait, shining like the sun's disk') 23 with the already mentioned Coptic regular article-denoting prothethic consonant (p>b), later in any case also attached to the male Egyptian sun deity. 24 They tie in -in contrast to Άνουθ- with the nomina magica (VIII 82) previously attached to Helios-Horus: Λαμψουηρ contains the Greek root *λαμπ- 'strah


Wolfgang Fauth, Jao-Jahwe und seine Engel: Jahwe-Appellationen und zugehörige Engelnamen in in griechischen und koptischen Zaubertexten (Studien Und Texte Zu Antike Und Christentum / Studies And Texts... [2013], p.8:
Incidentally, from the third epiclesis on, the Graeco-Egyptian Serapis27 assumes the role of Kosmokrator (619-620). Nevertheless, Ιαω {Yaoh} and ιιιααω (623.633) form, besides Semesilam (Hebr. šemeš 'ōlām 'Eternal Sun') 28 and Arsamosi (äg. Hr-śmśw /Hrsmsw 'Horus First-Born')29 shares of his 'true and authoritative name' (622 τὸ ἀληθινὸν ὄνομα καὶ αὐθεντικὸν ὄνομa). At the end of the second version there is a double table of the seven Greek astral regents from Helios to Kronos resp. from Kronos to Selene, between them the colophon Μοϋσέως Μονάς, ἡ καὶ ὑπόμνημα ἐπικαλουμένη, ἑπτάζωνος (724-730). c. For the third version (PGM XIII 731-819 ) 30 finds.

John C. Reeves, Annette Yoshiko Reed, Enoch from Antiquity to the Middle Ages, Vol. 1 [2018], p.283:
Bar Hebraeus, Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon Syriacum (ed. Bedjan):
The ancient Greeks declare that Enoch is Hermes Trismegistus, ... And they (the Greeks) declare that he received this instruction from Agathodaimon, saying that Agathodaimon is Seth b. Adam; that is, the elder (one) who is the ancestor of Enoch.185 They also say that Asqalipidis (i.e., Asclepius) the wise king was a student of Hermes; that is, Enoch. These statements about the identification of Enoch with Hermes and Agathodaimon with Seth stem ultimately from Graeco-Egyptian hermetic writings used by the Säbian community of Harrān.

André-Jean Festugière, La rivelazione di Ermete Trismegisto Vol. 1: L’astrologia e le scienze occulte [2015], p.254:
... think of the mysterious operation of C.H., XIII in which the disciple undergoes regeneration at the very moment he hears the word of the master. It is useful to note these concordances.

But in my opinion it would be undue to come to the conclusion of a spiritual religion of the Nous in magic, for example, as did Reitzenstein1196 who, moreover, indulged in fanciful assimilations: Hermes Thoth would be Agathodaimon 1197, and this Hermes Agathodaimon (or again Horus) would be the god Intellect or Spirit, the Nous1198. "Hermes, Horus, and Ἀγαθὸς δαίμων appear in essentially the same role, that is, as creator deities in the dual nature indicated, and also as representatives of Nous, and, therefore, on the one hand as revelatory deities, on the other hand as the masters of all success in practical life; they are are equated or combined with each other; or brought together on the same plane: the conception always remains essentially similar and even the same formulas carry over from one to the other."1199 However, (a) there is not a single example in the magical papyri of certain identification between Hermes and Agathodaimon; (b) in the Leiden Kosmopoiia {PGM XIII} Hermes is called 'Intellect' or 'Mind' (Νοῦςἢ Φρένες = Nous-Phrenes ~Thoth-Hermes), and if, in a prayer to the cosmic god, he pronounces (XIII, 791): "Come into my mind (νοῦς) and into my thoughts (φρένες) for all my life-time, and fulfill for me all the desires of my soul," this is by no means sufficient to constitute a "religion of the Nous." Actually, one cannot speak of doctrine or system1200 in the Magical Papyri. The magician has no care about philosophy or spiritual life: what he wants is success in the operation. But to succeed, precisely, he appeals to all religious forces. He invokes the gods in all possible names, uses all divine legends, arrogates all prayer formulas. If there is any system in magic, it is a system of counterfeiting and nothing more. But from this it also follows that magical writings can serve as testamonials especially from the 2nd C. on. They help reconstruct the atmosphere of exalted devotion, of murky mysticism, in which some of the Hermetic Logos are immersed (CH 1 & 13). Revelations - about the creation of the world, the origins and destinies of the soul, etc. - are in fashion. - and our magician reproduces a cosmogonic revelation that forms, in his text, a kind of erratic boulder with no connection to the recipe: but it is a suitably mysterious writing, and so it is appropriate. Jargon is in fashion - Nous, Aion (singular and plural), Sophia, etc. - and, without understanding them, he includes these in his compositions because he believes them to be charged with an altogether special virtue, on the same footing as barbarian names. Prayers to the Supreme God, Kosmokrator or Pantokrator, are in fashion, and he hastens to imitate them or even, as he once did, to simply copy a hermetic prayer. Finally, deification is in fashion: it is a widespread belief in the theosophical circles of Egypt that it is possible not only to see a god, but to feel god himself, to experience, by some inner change, to become a god: and our magician applies this grandiose scheme of apathanatismos {a technical term for temporarily achieving of a state of immortality} (IV, 475 ff.) to a divination prescription.

§ 2. Texts of hermetic magic The magical papyri have value, therefore, for Hermeticism as indirect witnesses. It was therefore appropriate to collect a selection of these documents. I have classified them into two groups. In the first, we will find texts related to Hermes-Thoth magus. The second brings together several examples of this Hermetic or, more generally, Gnostic current that magic used for its own purposes. These are only translations accompanied by some indispensable notes. It was not my intention to study these magical texts for their own sake. I considered them only insofar as, in one way or another, they illustrate Hermeticism.

p.343:
Sohrawardi of Aleppo ( i 587/1191) and Ibn Sabin (i 668/1269: the correspondent of Frederick II), referred explicitly to Hermes, the former, associating him with Agatodemone (= Seth), the latter, constructing a curious chain of initiation (isnäd), published by his disciple Shushtari." it descends from the three Hermes to him via Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Alexander (=Dhul-Qarnayn), Al-Hallaj {900 AD}, Shibli, Niffari (the author of the Mawdqif), Habashi, Qadib al-Bàn, Shüdhi (= Hallawi, the cadi of Seville).



Valeriy A. Alikin, The Earliest History of the Christian Gathering: Origin, Development and Content of the Christian Gathering in the First to Third Centuries [2010], pp.25-6:
The society of worshippers of Bacchus, the Iobacchoi {devotees of -}, existed in Athens during many years in the second century CE. On the occasion of the resignation of its president and the appointment of a new one, shortly before 178 CE, the society decided to have its statutes engraved on a stone column. The statutes present a clear-cut picture of the functioning of the society. They include, for instance, rules for admission and regulations for meetings. There are also regulations for those who fail to pay their dues and for those who cause disturbances during the meetings. At the yearly festival, the head of the Iobacchoi (ἀρχίβακχος = Archibakchos) performed the customary rituals, such as libations, and delivered a sermon (θεολογία). The Iobacchoi met on the ninth of each month, on the anniversary of the society’s foundation, and on the festivals and extraordinary feasts of Bacchus. On the society’s annual foundation day, the Archibakchos offered a sacrifice and a drink-offering to Bacchus. Whenever portions of food (meat) were distributed, the officers of the society received their portion in the following order: Priest, Vice-Priest, Archibakchos, Treasurer, Boukolikos {pastoral Poet}, Dionysos {??}, Kore {~Mother Superior}, Palaimon {=Guardian}, Aphrodite {~Sex Mistress}, and Proteurythmos {Dance-Master?}.37 The Iobacchoi operated as a cult association: they held communal meals with an ensuing symposium.38

According to the statutes of an Egyptian association, the Guild of Zeus Hypsistos (first century BCE, probably between 69–58 BCE), its members held a monthly banquet in the sanctuary of Zeus at which they offered a libation, prayed and performed other rites on behalfof their god and lord, the king. The members of the association were supposed to obey the president and his servant in matters pertaining to the association. The members were not allowed to cause discord or abuse one another at the banquet.39

39 See text and translation in Colin Roberts, T.C. Skeat and A.D. Nock, “The Guild of Zeus Hypsistos,” HTR 29 (1936), 39–88, esp. 41–42.

...

Danaos.? Eusebius 33 mentions Usôus together with Melikartho

Aegyptens Stelle in der Weltgeschichte, Volume 4 [1857?]

TBE:
Shamash = samael
https://books.google.com/books/about/Th ... u7BwAAQBAJ

Jewish Sectaries
https://archive.org/details/documentsofjewis01scheuoft

Curious stuff, caveat lector!
24. An Analysis of Sanchuniathon’s Scheme in the Light of the Biblical Account (§§317-354)

The Kabeiroi were the eight members of the family of Noah, viewed as sons of Methuselah (the eighth descendant from Adam). The second set of Kabeiroi were eight sons of Mizraim (see further §626.3, below, >>, and §626.13, below, >>), who were under the instruction of Cush, the Second Hermes (Thoth, Tauthos). The name Suduk, as ancestor of the Kabeiroi, was attached to (1) Methuselah and (2) Mizraim secondarily, because they were both identified with the star-sign Ophiuchus, whilst the star-sign received the name Suduk (Zedek) from the post-diluvian patriarch Melchizedek (Melchi + Zedek), who similarly was identified with the Serpent-wrestling figure (Al Khidr = Hermes/Asklepios) depicted in it, on account of the divine doctrine passed down, via Shem, from Methuselah to Melchizedek.

I want to investigate this further.

Amun Kem-atef (Kem-atef, means “He who has completed his time,” corresponding to the Phoenician Oulomos, and having the form of a serpent)...

According to Mochos, Oulomos = ʿôlām = Eternity; the Axis Mundi as Pole-Serpent.

Thus 1) Aion = Kem-atef = Oulomos = the serpent and/or Lamech as consort of Beroe/Berouth, that is, of Eve and/or Adah-Zillah,...


A difference of no great significance in Sanchuniathon’s scheme is that (El) Elyon (Elioun) replaces (El) Olam (Oulomos) as the name of the father of Khousor, meaning Lamech was identified with a different form of El (El Elyon), but still a “serpent” (Cainite) of the “race” (Genos) of the original serpent (El Olam), the father of Genos-Cain.

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