The Phoenician History of Philo of Bybios: A Commentary

324 Pages·1981·24.505 MB·English

by  Albert I. Baumgarten

THE PHOENICIAN HISTORY
OF PHILO OF BYBLOS
A COMMENTARY
ETUDES PRELIMINAIRES
AUX RELIGIONS ORIENTALES
DANS L'EMPIRE ROMAIN
PUBLIEES PAR
M. J. VERMASEREN
TOME QUATRE-VINGT-NEUVIEME
ALBERT I. BAUMGARTEN
THE PHOENICIAN HISTORY
OF PHILO OF BYBLOS
A COMMENTARY
LEIDEN
E. J. BRILL
1981
ALBERT I. BAUMGARTEN
THE PHOENICIAN HISTORY
OF PHILO OF BYBLOS
A COMMENTARY
LEIDEN
E. J. BRILL
1981
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the
Canadian Federation for the Humanities, using funds provided by the
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. A further
subsidy was awarded by the Arts Research Board of McMaster Uni
versity.
ISBN 90 04 06369 2
Copyright 1981 by E. J. Brill, Leiden, Netherlands
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
translated in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche
or any other means without written permission from the publisher
PRINTED IN BELGIUM
To the memory of my Father

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments. IX
Index of Abbreviations and Bibliography
XI
I. The Main Problems I
II. The Greek Text 8
III. Biographical Data . 31
IV. Porphyry's Account of Sanchuniathon 41
V. Philo's Account of Sanchuniathon 63
VI. The Cosmogony 94
VII. The Discoverers 140
VIII. The Life of Kronos 180
IX. Kronos' Victory & Philo's Conclusion 214
X. Child Sacrifice & Snakes 244
XI. Conclusions 261
Index of Names 269
Index of Passages 277

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My acquaintance with Philo of Byblos goes back many years. What
was first proposed as an M.A. topic became a doctoral thesis, and
now this book. Over these years, I have been helped by family,
teachers, friends and institutions whose assistance it is a pleasure
to acknowledge.
First comes my family who have encouraged me to pursue an
academic career. A life of teaching and research makes special de
mands. My wife and children have always been helpful and supportive,
for which I am grateful.
The members of tile doctoral supervisory committee at Columbia
University contributed significantly to my education and to the original
thesis. lowe a special debt of gratitude to my former supervisor,
Professor Morton Smith. Many of his oral suggestions have been
incorporated in the text and notes of my commentary. Numerous
suggestions by the other committee members-E. J. Bickerman, M.
Held, J. Teixidor and J. Schmidt-also appear. Responsibility for the
contents is, of course, mine.
A book, I believe, belongs to a somewhat different academic genre
than a thesis. In the process of turning my thesis into a book, I have
had the advantage of extensive discussions with my colleague, E. P.
Sanders of McMaster University. I have a double obligation to
Professor Vermaseren, the editor of EPRO. He has supplied much
good advice and encouragement in the process of accepting this book
for the series.
The problem of how to integrate the Greek text of Philo's fragments
with my translation and commentary was hard to resolve. The solution
I have adopted (see the discussion below, p. 7) has been facilitated
by the permission to reprint the fragments as edited by Jacoby, granted
by E. J. Brill and Co., the holder of the copyright on Jacoby's work.
If education has become expensive, publication is prohibitive. This
book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian
Federation for the Humanities, using funds provided by the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. A further
subsidy was awarded by the Arts Research Board of McMaster Uni
versity.