Berossus
Berossus or Berosus was an early-3rd-century BCE Hellenistic-era Babylonian writer, priest of Bel Marduk, and astronomer who wrote in the Koine Greek language.
His original works, including the Babyloniaca (, are lost, but fragments survive in some quotations, largely in the writings of the fourth-century CE early Christian writer Eusebius.
Berossus has recently been identified with Bēl-reʾû-šunu, a high priest of the Esagila Temple in the city of Babylon, as mentioned in a document from 258 BCE.
Name
The name "Berossus" likely originates from a theophoric name whose first component was Bel, meaning "Lord," which was a common title for Marduk. The original name was either either Bēl-rē’ûšunu, meaning "the god Bel is their shepherd," or Bēl-uṣuršu, meaning "O Bel watch over him!"Life and work
Using ancient Babylonian records and texts that are now lost, Berossus published the Babyloniaca in three books some time around 290–278 BCE, by the patronage of the Macedonian/Seleucid king Antiochus I Soter. Certain astrological fragments recorded by Pliny the Elder, Censorinus, Flavius Josephus, and Marcus Vitruvius Pollio are also attributed to Berossus, but are of unknown provenance, or indeed are uncertain as to where they might fit into his History. Vitruvius credits him with the invention of a semi-circular sundial hollowed out of a cubical block. A statue of him was erected in Athens, perhaps attesting to his fame and scholarship as historian and astronomer-astrologer.A separate work, Procreatio, is attributed to him by the Latin commentaries on Aratus, Commentariorum in Aratum Reliquiae, but there is no proof of this connection. However, a direct citation is rare in antiquity, and it may have referred to Book 1 of his History.
He was born during or before Alexander the Great's reign over Babylon, with the earliest date suggested as 340 BCE. According to Vitruvius's work De architectura, he relocated eventually to the island of Kos off the coast of Asia Minor and established a school of astronomy there by the patronage of the king of Egypt. However, scholars have questioned whether it would have been possible to work under the Seleucids and then relocate to a region experiencing Ptolemaic control late in life. It is not known when he died.
''Babyloniaca'' (History of Babylonia)
Versions at several removes of the remains of Berossos' lost Babyloniaca are given by two later Greek epitomes that were used by the Christian Eusebius of Caesarea for his Chronological Canons, the Greek manuscripts of which have been lost, but which can be largely recovered by the Latin translation and continuation of Jerome and a surviving Armenian translation. The reasons why Berossus wrote the History have not survived, though contemporaneous Greek historians generally did give reasons for the publication of their own histories. It is suggested that it was commissioned by Antiochus I, perhaps desiring a history of one of his newly acquired lands, or by priesthood of the Great Temple of Marduk, seeking justification for the worship of Marduk in Seleucid lands. Pure history writing per se was not a Babylonian concern, and Josephus testifies to Berossus' reputation as an astrologer. The excerpts quoted recount mythology and history that relate to Old Testament concerns. As historian and archaeologist W.G. Lambert observes: "Of course Berossus may have written other works which are not quoted by Josephus and Eusebius because they lacked any Biblical interest". Lambert finds some statements in the Latin writers so clearly erroneous that it renders doubtful whether the writers had first-hand knowledge of Berossus' text.Book 1
Book 1 fragments are preserved in Eusebius and Syncellus above, one of the main sources for knowledge about ancient near eastern cosmology in late antiquity due to its description of the Babylonian creation account and establishment of order, including the defeat of Thalatte by Bel. According to him, all knowledge was revealed to humans by the sea monster Oannes after the Creation, and so Verbrugghe and Wickersham have suggested that this is where the astrological fragments discussed above would fit, if at all.Book 2
Book 2 describes the history of the Babylonian kings from Alulim down to Nabonassar. Eusebius reports that Apollodorus reports that Berossus recounts 432,000 years from the first king Aloros to the tenth king Xisouthros and the Babylonian Flood. From Berossus' genealogy, it is clear that he had access to king-lists in compiling this section of History, particularly in the kings before the Flood, and from the 7th century BC with Senakheirimos. His account of the Flood is extremely similar to versions of the Epic of Gilgamesh that we have presently. However, in Gilgamesh, the main protagonist is Utnapishtim, while for Berossus, Xisouthros is probably a Greek transliteration of Ziusudra, the protagonist of the Sumerian version of the Flood.Perhaps what Berossus omits to mention is also noteworthy. Much information on Sargon would have been available during his time, but these were not mentioned. Similarly, the great Babylonian king Hammurabi merits only passing mention. He did, however, mention that the queen Semiramis was Assyrian. Perhaps it was in response to Greek writers mythologising her to the point where she was described as the founder of Babylon, daughter of the Syrian goddess Derketo, and married to Ninus.
Book 3
Book 3 relates the history of Babylon from Nabonassar to Antiochus I. Again, it is likely that he used king-lists, though it is not known which ones he used. The Mesopotamian documents known as King-List A and Chronicle 1 are usually suggested as the ones he used, due to the synchronicity between those and his History. A large part of his history around the time of Naboukhodonosoros and Nabonnedos survives. Here we see his interpretation of history for the first time, moralising about the success and failure of kings based on their moral conduct. This is similar to another Babylonian history, Chronicle of Nabonidus, and differs from the rationalistic accounts of other Greek historians like Thucydides.At the time of the Jewish historian Josephus, the historical records contained in Berossus' third book of his History were still extant and were used by Josephus in citing the regnal years of six Babylonian kings. Josephus' record of regnal years for these kings is also corroborated by Ptolemy of Alexandria in his Canon, excepting for the fact that the king that reigned between Neglissar and Nabonnedus is omitted by Ptolemy.
Transmission and reception
Berossus' work was not popular during the Hellenistic period. The usual account of Mesopotamian history was Ctesias of Cnidus's Persica, while most of the value of Berossus was considered to be his astrological writings. Most pagan writers probably never read the History directly, and seem to have been dependent on Posidonius of Apamea, who cited Berossos in his works. While Poseidonius's accounts have not survived, the writings of these tertiary sources do: Vitruvius Pollio, Pliny the Elder, and Seneca the Younger. Seven later pagan writers probably transmitted Berossus via Poseidonius through an additional intermediary. They were Aetius, Cleomedes, Pausanias, Athenaeus, Censorinus, and an anonymous Latin commentator on the Greek poem Phaenomena by Aratus of Soloi.Jewish and Christian references to Berossus probably had a different source, either Alexander Polyhistor or Juba II of Mauretania. Polyhistor's numerous works included a history of Assyria and Babylonia, while Juba wrote On the Assyrians, both using Berossus as their primary sources. Josephus' records of Berossus include some of the only extant narrative material, but he is probably dependent on Alexander Polyhistor, even if he did give the impression that he had direct access to Berossus. The fragments of the Babylonaica found in three Christian writers' works are probably dependent on Alexander or Juba. They are Tatianus of Syria, Theophilus of Antioch, and Titus Flavius Clemens.
Like that of Poseidonius, neither Alexander's nor Juba's works have survived. However, the material in Berossus was recorded by Abydenus and Sextus Julius Africanus. Both their works are also lost, possibly considered too long,. Eusebius Bishop of Caesaria, in his work the Chronicon, preserved some of their accounts. The Greek text of the Chronicon is also now lost to us but there is an ancient Armenian translation of it, and portions are quoted in Georgius Syncellus's Ecloga Chronographica. Nothing of Berossus survives in Jerome's Latin translation of Eusebius. Eusebius' other mentions of Berossus in Praeparatio Evangelica are derived from Josephus, Tatianus, and another inconsequential source.
Christian writers after Eusebius are probably reliant on him; these include Pseudo-Justinus, Hesychius of Alexandria, Agathias, Moses of Chorene, an unknown geographer of unknown date, and the Suda. Thus, what little of Berossus remains is very fragmentary and indirect. The most direct source of material on Berossus is Josephus, received from Alexander Polyhistor. Most of the names in his king-lists and most of the potential narrative content have been lost or corrupted as a result. Only Eusebius and Josephus preserve narrative material, and both had agendas. Eusebius was looking to construct a consistent chronology across different cultures, while Josephus was attempting to refute the charges that there was a civilization older than that of the Jews. However, the ten ante-diluvian kings were preserved by Christian apologists interested in how the long lifespans of the kings were similar to the long lifespans of the ante-diluvian ancestors in the story of Genesis.